Director Report Cards

I am writing these reports cards to give everybody my impression of how directors have represented students in the past year. In so doing I am putting my own point of view and bias into the conversation. I try to explain myself as rationally and objectively as possible, but realize that it is impossible to completely do either. With that said, it is obvious there will be people who disagree with me. I originally wrote this in December, but chose to hold off on posting it until after the elections and CFS referendum so it wouldn't be so political. So without further ado, here is my point of view.

Executives

Chair - James Coccola

James has done his job as Chair very well. He has done his best to remain as impartial as possible during board meetings on most issues and trying to keep meetings a civil space for everyone to participate. He has been a strong advocate for student's interests, lobbying on issues of tuition, student housing, and public transit. He was also probably the most instrumental person in getting the referendums to stabilize the student society's finances.

Grade: A-

Director of Finance - Kelsey Hannan

Kelsey worked hard to get the new health plan and make it cheaper for students, but at the same time, he was often late for work and even missed some meetings in which he was supposed to chair. It is behaviour such as this that has caused other executives to have to pick up his slack (which they have done quite well), and he was censured in late November for not meeting his responsibilities. He was an instrumental part of getting a lawsuit against the CFS to get a referendum on whether UVic should stay with the CFS or not. Another issue many board members have with Kelsey is that they feel he takes over meetings by dominating conversations and not listening to others. This is not a good trait when your job is to listen to students and representing their needs.

Grade: C-

Director of Academics - Rajpreet Sall

Rajpreet works hard and doesn't say overly much or overly little during meetings. The way she does her job as an executive is very much how I think I would do it if I were in her position. I definitely have disagreed with her on some issues, but that is bound to happen with anybody. The only issue I have is that she can sometimes get set on a certain outcome and doesn't seem to allow for any other perspectives. Overall, I respect Rajpreet and would be willing to work with her in the future.

Grade: B+

Director of Services - Remy Hall

By his standard, Remy has done a great job delivering on his campaign promises, though I'm sure he would have liked to thrown more events. In this regard I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do next year when he'll only have events on his plate. He has organized very successful events on campus, and has made the Clubs system more organized. I have disagreed very strongly with Remy on many issues, but he is always well reasoned and willing to look at the other side of the argument, and this is all one can ask for.

Grade: A-

Directors at Large

Jose Barrios

I will start by noting that I disagree with Jose on almost every big issue that comes to the board, so my bias will clearly be against him, so take this as you will. Jose was by and large the number one driving force behind the CFS referendum push. Unfortunately, other than that, I have not seen Jose do much. He has attended the bare minimum of committee meetings, and they only seem to be when an issue comes up that concerns him personally. For me, this is unacceptable, as it is a director's job to represent students on all issues, not just a director's pet issues. I understand a director can't be everywhere and go to every committee, however, directors are mandated to regularly attend at least two committees and Jose does not do that. This is one of the reasons that I feel that Jose Barrios only cares about Jose Barrios.

Grade: D

Jenn Bowie

When Jen first got elected to the board, I thought "How in the world did that person get elected???". That is the not very nice way of saying my first impression wasn't very good. However, between then and now, it has been a pleasure to get to know Jen and discover how hard working she is and how much she cares about student issues. She has been a tireless campaigner for every issue I can think of and she works hard on events and on committees. I have to say that Jen has been the biggest surprise for me and it has ben an enjoyable experience to see her growth as a person in her time on the board. She has become much better able to deal with the political pressures of the board and has exhibited and increasing willingness to engage with different points of view.

Grade: B+

Laura MacLeod

Laura is the opposite of Kelsey as she is the most quiet person at meetings. Don't let this fool you, I have sat next to Laura several times at meetings and can attest to the fact that she is very engaged in the meetings in her own way and does care about the issues. She has worked hard campaigning on student issues and attends numerous committees regularly. She is also one of the nicest people on the board and I feel she helps the group get along better.

Grade: B

Jaraad Marani

Jaraad is one the hardest working directors on the board. Always controversial, he was very active campaigning against sororities and fraternities on campus as well as combating racism in regards to the McLeans magazine issue. He was also the lead person for creating the "Passed up WTF" campaign to bring more attention to transit issues, and he is very active during board meetings. I feel that Jaraad is too negative sometimes and that he needs to work on being less distracted by the petty issues are always bubbling beneath the surface of student politics, but overall I feel he has been a great student representative.

Grade: A-

Rob McDonald

Who does this jerk think he is writing report cards on everyone he works with on the board? This guy is way too full of himself. In all seriousness though, I can't really write about myself here. How I have done in my position is up to you. Read my blog, read other blogs if you must, talk to people that are on the board, there is lots of information will let you know what I have done, and you decide from there. If I had to compare myself to anyone it would be Tara, I feel I have done a good job especially on sustainability issues, but there is definitely room for more.

Mehak Mehra

I don't like to have to write about Mehak because I get along with her very well personally, and we have common ground on several issues. However, Mehak has done nothing that I have seen in her time on the board. I think she might have attended one committee meeting and I haven't seen her do anything else outside of board meetings.

Grade: F

Caitlyn Pal

Caitlyn is difficult to write about as I feel that her interests are very much different from my own; as such, she probably does a lot of work that I don't see. That being said, I can only comment on what I know, and Caitlyn has seemed pretty average in her time on the board. She attends her committees, and volunteers for things (especially special events). She can get flustered at board meetings and sometime has a hard time articulating herself, but has grown into the role as the year has gone by. I see lots of room for improvement from Caitlyn, but I also feel that she does have the potential for that improvement.

Grade: B-

Tara Paterson

It's funny, I haven't really thought about how Tara has done her job very much. She is just solid. She is very strong on the issues that she campaigned on such as ensuring women's rights on campus and equality in general. She is an active member on her committees and at board meetings. I feel that her only weak spot is that she hasn't devoted much time to issues that wouldn't be considered her pet issues.

Grade: B+

Karina Sangha

To me, Karina is the biggest enigma. She contributes to board meetings and is on the personnel committee, but otherwise I haven't seen much from her. I feel like she is active behind the scenes, and does more work than what I see, and I am told she does care passionately about the issues she takes on. I have not gotten to know Karina that well, and she hasn't given me much to really like her or dislike her. Like Caitlyn, I feel she has been pretty average.

Grade: B-

Dylan Sherlock

I feel that Dylan is the hardest working Director at Large. He seems to take on every issue and is chair of the student services committee, co-chair of the Environmental Responsibility Committee, and was the CFS representative on the board. He attends most committees regularly, and works closely with Kelsey on the finances of the board and with James on various student issues. My only critique of Dylan is he can sometimes talk down to people when he disagrees with them and can also lose his temper if things don't go his way.

Grade: A

Nathan Warner

Fail, just Fail. Take everything negative I said about Mehak but worse. He has done nothing that I have seen. Not only have I not seen him do anything for students, he also took a leave of absence for most of the fall semester, but was here the entire time and taking advantage of the benefits directors receive. He was also censured for stuffing the ballot box during the elections. Just fail.

Grade: F-

Advocacy Reps

Robyn Spilker - Women's Centre

Robyn has done a wonderful job representing women's interests on the board and it has been a real pleasure working with her over the year. She always knows who she is representing, but is also very considerate of other points of view. She has been a very calming influence in tense situations for everyone else who is there. She is a very hard worker and I genuinely hope she continues in the same position next year.

Grade: A+

Jessica Humphries - Students of Colour

Jessica is another person I don't know that well. She is not incredibly active at board meetings, but has represented UVic, and her constituency in particular a few times at CFS meetings. I feel she generally does a good job, does a lot of constituency work that I don't see, and cares about student issues in general.

Grade: B

Gabrielle Sutherland - Pride

Gabrielle is a tough person for me to understand. She always votes the way Pride instructs her, even when it conflicts with her values. The problem I see is that her values conflict with Pride often enough that I wonder if she is the best person to be representing Pride on the board. On the plus side, she does campaign tirelessly for Pride as an organization, and was a leading factor in getting increased funding for Pride this year.

Grade: C

Tanille Johnston - Native Students Union

Tanille has done a wonderful job representing the NSU. She consistently brings up the concerns of Native students and issues of colonialization. She has at times spoken incredibly eloquently at board meetings to calm tempers and facilitate a more respectful atmosphere for making decisions, although once in awhile she'll say something that doesn't make sense to me. Overall, I think whoever is NSU rep next year has big shoes to fill.

Grade: A-