One student position available on Education Council
By Atiba Nelson, Staff Reporter
The Education Council is looking for a new student member.
Douglas College’s Education Council, which is mandated under the British Columbia College and Institute Act, posted a call for nominations notice on the college’s main page. The current call is the third call for nominations for the vacant student seat on the 20-person council.
Typically, four of the voting council members are students; however, with only three students elected to the council, the College is seeking a fourth and final student member.
The current student members are Rachelle Andrews, Ariel Ataiza, Sherlyn Tang, and Manvir Heer. The term of this group ends on August 31, 2020. Then on September 1, a new group consisting of Gurpaneer (Jinia) Kaur Mand, Peter Curson, and holdover Ariel Ataiza—who is also Director of Membership Development for the Douglas Students’ Union (DSU)—start their term in office.
The council’s terms of reference state that to apply to be a student member of the Educational Council, a student must be “recognized to be enrolled and in good standing in a course or program of studies at the institution.” Douglas deems that a student enrolled in a one credit course and in good standing with the institution is eligible. However, the student cannot be directly employed by the college.
Students have until 4 pm on July 8, 2020 to submit nominations for the vacant student position. Interested students must submit 15 completed nomination forms (one from each nominator) to Admin Officer Mary Cope, and a brief election platform statement to the College Registrar, Rella Ng. A bolded rule states: “Do not send fifteen (15) separate emails.” Nominated students can then campaign, and Douglas students can electronically vote a new student member to the Educational Council.
Douglas aims to start student voting for the vacant student position during the campaign period from July 14 to July 21. The Educational Council meets monthly, with the last meeting occurring virtually via Microsoft Teams software on June 15, 2020. The approved May meeting minutes show that the council discussed several program revisions and received updates on the fall 2020 term from President Kathy Denton and Associate Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Sarah Dench.
“…until we know exactly what the guidelines and directives are for post-secondary institutions, instruction will continue to be delivered on-line,” Dench said according to the May minutes.
