the Queen’s University
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journal
Vol. 150, Issue 15
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F r i d ay , N o v e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 2 2
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Situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples.
Since 1873
No candidates ran in the NSS elections AMS working to support lack of engagement in faculty society A sbah A hmad Senior News Editor
PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL
S ee G olden W ords
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ArtSci Faculty Board discusses suspension of Fine Arts S ophia C oppolino Assistant News Editor Faculty members erupted with concerns over the suspension of the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) at the Arts and Science Faculty Board meeting on Nov. 18. The meeting was held online, over Zoom. The Faculty Board meets once a month to discuss issues and updates within the faculty. After a tense discussion and ‘consultation’ from thirdparty consultant Larry Graham, no consensus was reached on recommendations for the future of the BFA. “That was not a consultation,” Senator Jordan Morelli said as the meeting ended with no clear direction for the BFA program. The discussion was a result of the University’s recommended procedures for temporary suspension of admissions to academic programs. The Faculty of Arts and Science recently initiated a consultation into the temporary suspension of admissions to the BFA program. According to the Temporary Suspension of Admissions Checklist, the Dean should “ensure that alternatives to temporarily suspending admissions to the program have been explored and explain to the affected individuals and groups, including Faculty Board[s] or equivalent[s] and Senate, the feasibility [or lack of feasibility] of these alternatives.” queensjournal.ca
Graham conducted the consultations with all the BFA stakeholders over the course of the semester and moderated the meeting. His questions for the Faculty Board were met with dissent from members who felt they were asked the wrong questions. “This feels like something that’s being done to say a consultation happened, but we can’t properly answer these questions without other knowledge,” Abby McLean, president of the Global Development Student Council (DSC), said at Board. The questions up for discussion revolved around how improvements can be made to curriculum and resources for the BFA. “I just have to echo a point that was right earlier about the utility of having a group of faculty heads who don’t particularly have expertise in in this area being invited to comment on that,” Norman Vorano, History department head, said. Within the BFA, staff and faculty are advocating to revitalize the program without implementing a temporary admissions suspension. “I want to say that I absolutely, at this point in time, disagree with the need of any suspension and want to strengthen the program without suspension. [There’s] no promises of resources if BFA gets suspended,” Rebecca Anweiler, BFA professor, said a Board. There are time pressures for Queen’s to move through the @queensjournal
procedures outlined for temporary suspension of admissions, with two students having applied to the BFA for fall 2023. “From a student perspective, I have to say that I agree that suspension would not help towards assisting the program,” Lauren Russo, president of the Fine Arts DSC, said at Board. “We saw student participation at an all-time high at one of events last night. I would really hate for the rich community that we’ve managed to build in our program to be taken advantage of.” Russo called the BFA a “safe haven” for BIPOC and LQBTQ+ students on Queen’s campus, positing a suspension to admissions would be harmful to marginalized groups. BFA student Meenakashi Ghadial won the Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation’s grant for $17,000 for work she produced in the program. According to Ghadial’s artist statement, she explores her identity as a queer woman of colour through her art. Another BFA student, Jobelle Quijano, received the Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation’s grant this year. Despite the program’s success, BFA faculty member Alejandro Arauz said there’s room for growth, referencing the recommendations outlined in the BFA’s 2016 Cyclical Program Review. See News on page 2 @queensjournal
With campus-wide elections around the corner in the winter semester, the Nursing Sciences Society (NSS) is struggling to find executives for the upcoming term. According to NSS President Crystal Sau, the 2022 election period passed with no candidates. Originally, the nominations period opened on Oct. 15 with the deadline to submit applications being Nov. 1. The election was originally supposed to be held Nov. 10 and 11. Unlike other faculty societies or the AMS, NSS runs on a December-to-December term. This means executives are elected in November, with their terms starting Dec. 1, rather than in May. As it stands, the NSS said they have deferred into a hiring period. The NSS is holding a special assembly at 7 p.m. on Nov. 30 to address the issue. Sau said any student from the Faculty of Nursing can run for a position, either individually or as a slate of three. AMS Secretary of Internal Affairs Amir-Ali Golrokhian-Sani said the NSS provides a very important perspective, and it will be difficult representing the student’s perspectives because there’s currently a lack of engagement with the elections process. “It’s one of the smaller faculty societies [so] it’s hard for them to get candidates to fill their full roster. That’s a reality of having fewer people to select from,” Golrokhian-Sani said in an interview with The Journal. Golrokhian-Sani said the Nursing program is naturally demanding with clinical hours and other requirements, especially as students progress into their upper years in the program. “Certain faculty societies have added a lot of positions to reduce the workload. I think that is among many options Nursing can take, and we can support them with that,” Golrokhian-Sani said. With no candidates, Golrokhian-
The NSS will be hiring the next executive.
@queensjournal
Sani said the NSS constitution defers to the AMS elections process, as laid out in the AMS constitution. Quite soon, he said, the AMS will coordinate a timeline for next steps with the current NSS executive. “That looks like either getting an interim [executive] in or getting a special election happening. Someone appointed until it’s possible to hold an election,” Golrokhian-Sani said. “If this happened for AMS exec, we would be going through this process in March, so we’re going to figure out this timeline.” Because of the unique situation, Sau, Golrokhian-Sani, and AMS President Eric Sikich have been working under the framework provided in the AMS constitution. Golrokhian-Sani said they’re working to ensure Nursing students have their voices heard. Speaking to the general engagement among students, Golrokhian-Sani said he would like there to be more students voting and running—despite the increase in voter turnout in the fall referendum. “We are planning on a lot [for the AMS elections in January] with the marketing office. We are having meetings with executives who will be talking about their experiences, same with undergraduate trustees. Our giveaways are very successful, so [we’ll run] more online ads since they are more effective, based on analytics,” he said. Golrokhian-Sani said he doesn’t need a contested election, but he wants, and needs, to have compelling candidates. He wants to ensure there are passionate candidates and there are debates. The Secretariat’s office will continue supporting faculty society and other elections where needed, he said. In her closing remarks to The Journal, Sau reflected on the challenges of nursing amidst the search for NSS’s next executive. “With the state of nursing globally, it has been difficult to engage students. Nursing is a wonderful career, but the future awaiting us has its challenges as we fight never-ending wars just to be treated fairly,” Sau said. “I only wish that more people knew how political nursing is and the impact of student government on their education.”
PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG
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