Lily Polenchuk During the Augustana forum on February 25, all of the 2025 candidates for vice-president (academic) (VPA) of the University of Alberta Students’ Union (SU) expressed a strong desire to make the lives of students as positive as possible when it comes to academic success. Aamir Mohamed, Manyu Rathour, and Katie Tamsett preached substantial growth in advocacy for student resources. This includes exam accommodations, mental health accommodations, and overall transparent communication. At the same time, though, this forum seemed to have little to do with anything about Augustana students and their specific wants and needs. This lack of conversation regarding Augustana students has me concerned for the future of their academic resources.
I, like many others, have little knowledge about the Augustana Campus and the students that take classes there. After listening to VPA candidates talk about the changes they would like to make, I cannot say I know much more. In some ways, however, students at both North Campus and Augustana have similar needs and desires when it comes to academic help. On the other hand, I can’t help but feel there is a certain disconnect between Augustana students and the SU. Especially when it comes to addressing those needs that may be more specific to them.
The VPA candidates addressed some of Augustana’s issues, such as funding falling short and the lack of academic help. However, it felt as though the candidates were waiting to be told what to do in response to these problems. It is a nice sentiment that the candidates want to understand what needs changing to be able to help Augustana students. But, it is also concerning that candidates didn’t address the issues which may be there from the start.
On the brighter side of things, all of the VPA candidates want to make students’ lives better academically. Rathour emphasized making it easier to find a psychologist to have assessments made and making it easier to address exam accommodations. As well, each of the three candidates made their intention to increase transparency in the changes they plan to make. I strongly believe that creating that transparency between the VPA and students will be of a lot of help when it comes to understanding what resources are available. Moreover, I am glad that each candidate shows a desire to make it easier for students to achieve academic excellence.
Ultimately, the candidates for VPA are there to boost student academic help in just about every way, shape, and form. My concerns, though, still lie rather heavy on the fact that the knowledge of Augustana students’ needs and desires may differ from those of North Campus. It is my hope that whoever is elected to VPA is understanding of these differences and how they can be addressed and materialized in meaningful ways.
