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Volume 106, Issue 42
USC aiming for change with USC planning on an second annual unconference introspective look Jesica Hurst News Editor
Julian Uzielli Gazette
Aaron Zaltzman News Editor Change was on the menu Wednesday night, along with various finger foods, at the University Students’ Council’s second annual ChangeCamp. The “unconference” was aimed at promoting discussion among participants from all over the university. “We had students both inside and outside of the USC, sophs, non-sophs, university staff and administration,” Alysha Li, vice-president university affairs for the USC, said. “It was great for students to talk to them, and feel that their voices carried up to the top decision makers. The diversity of the turnout is what we’re really happy about.” “I think the worst thing we can do, as an organization, is to become insular and not be aware of people’s opinions,” Amir Arya, university affairs commissioner for the USC and organizer of the event, said. “ChangeCamp is based on the idea that every single student, administrator or staff that wants to express themselves has a forum in which to do that.” The brainchild of former vicepresident university affairs Pat Searle, the event was first held last year when it was promoted as the opposite of a regular conference,
due to its bottom-up organization. “The main point of ChangeCamp is that it’s participantdriven. People can come in and talk about whatever they want, and they are able to find people with similar interests and [can] discuss with them those interests” Li said. “This really allows for a free flow of dialogue, and allows students to find common interests.”
I think the worst thing we can do, as an organization, is to become insular and not be aware of people’s opinions. —Amir Arya
University Affairs Commissioner for the University Students’ Council and organizer of ChangeCamp
The unique structure of the event involved participants writing down topics for discussion on sticky notes and posting them on a wall. They then voted on the propositions, which were grouped into six topics—O-Week and sophing culture, charity on campus, classroom experience, the best student experience, cost of tuition and mental health support. Partic-
ipants could move around the tables at the event and discuss each topic. “Participants had the opportunity to sit at the table with the issue they wanted to discuss,” Ahsan Syed, a first-year student at the Ivey School of Business who attended the event, said. “With different priorities and interests coming together, it was interesting to hear different perspectives on an issue, and everyone definitely came away learning something they didn’t know before.” “It was a really good event, and it was really interesting to hear different points of view,” Sarah Kanna, a third-year political science student and moderator-scribe for the table discussing charity, said. “It will be interesting to see [at the next one] more people come out with more opinions. “ The next step is to compile the discussions into a report that can be accessed by any interested party, and possibly be used to determine USC policy. However, the event doesn’t stop there. “We’ll have one next semester, and we’ll have people coming in afterwards to give people an idea of some of the various ways they can turn their thoughts into action,” Arya explained. “This year, we’re really focusing on empowering people to take what they discuss and make a change.”
Late last month, in an address entitled “The Untold Story of Western,” University Students’ Council president Adam Fearnall announced the USC would be redefining its relationship with the university. Since then, Fearnall has continued this discussion with presidents of the faculty and affiliate students’ councils to discuss the future of the student experience, as well as how to ensure student voices are taken into consideration in university planning. After meeting, it is apparent the most important question the USC needs to answer is whether or not it has institutionalized advocacy in a way that fulfills their mission statement—“to enhance the educational experience and quality of life for all undergraduates at Western University.” “If you look at what the core mandate of the USC is, advocacy has always been a big part, and I think that for us to become truly relevant to students-at-large on campus, we need to put ourselves in places where they can actually feel the effect of what we’re doing,” Fearnall said. “That means being relevant everywhere from in the classroom to the bus shelter, and some of the more traditional things we’re known for doing, like the Wave and putting on concerts.”
“We need to try and find out what students are thinking and amplify that voice to a higher level.” According to Fearnall, meeting with the presidents was the first step after announcing the USC’s future plan during his address on October 22. “It’s a good thing that we put all of these new ideas out there, but council has been asking what the next steps are, or how we’re going to follow through,” he said. “This was the start of that follow-through to get a smaller group of people together in a room to try and figure out why the USC is currently a bit misunderstood, and to figure out what we need to do to make us a more legitimate partner at the table, and how we can be a more accurate representative of what students want.” Jordan Coop, president of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies Students’ Council, believes discourse is a necessary precursor to change of any kind, and having these discussions is constructive. “Self-reflexive conversations concerning the efficiency of the USC’s structural organization is a good starting point to address heretofore neglected student needs,” Coop explained. “In this context, I think it is useful for the USC—or any organization, for that matter—to clearly identify its role on campus.”
Ritchie Sham Gazette