COUNCILLOR

Medha Barath

Since my Semi-Annual Report in the fall semester, I have been committed to improving the first-year experience at Vic.

My fellow first-year councillors and I have been organising various activities to build the community in our year. Our first event was Valentine's Karaoke, which helped us provide students with a relaxing and entertaining night during the midterm season and gave us a sound foundation for our future events. We are excited to plan a mocktail night for students to celebrate the end of their first year and collaborate with student representatives from other colleges to organise a trivia night in the upcoming weeks.

I am also making progress on my initiative to expand the Peer Tutoring program for first-year courses at Vic. I have been in contact with the Registrar's office. While there are many administrative challenges behind implementing this idea, I hope we can brainstorm ways to increase assistance for first-years in their large courses.

My work on the various portfolios I am a part of has also been fascinating. For example, I volunteered at some helpful Academic Commission events last semester. My role as councillor is also one tied to learning about the workings of VUSAC, which I was able to do by sitting on the Budget Steering Committee this winter. Something I've found particularly interesting is the Vice President External portfolio, where we've been exploring rising residence fees and changes in various university policies. I hope to continue learning more from these portfolios in the coming weeks.