ELECT DAYLE BALMES FOR SUS PRESIDENT
Advocacy | Transition | Connections
ABOUT
What does the SUS President Do?
​If you want a simple analogy, the SUS President is like a manager of a restaurant. Some VPs/portfolios are back of house and some VPs/portfolios are the front of house. The manager must support both sides to keep the place running.
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According to the Governance Documents, the SUS President shall:
Be the main spokesperson for the Society;
Chair all general meetings of the Society and meetings of Council in the absence of the Speaker of Council;
Supervise and coordinate the Executive of the Society;
Be a non-voting member of all committees of Council, unless otherwise stated;
Be responsible for the planning of the Society’s involvement in Imagine Day, and liaise with UBC Orientations;
Be responsible for the organization of the Annual General Meeting;
Maintain communication with former Executives of the Society;
Act as liaison to the Faculty of Science and the Dean's Office;
A major part of the role is to support and supervise the Vice-Presidents in their roles. Next year, the SUS President will be navigating the return back to in-person learning.
PLATFORM
Student Advocacy | Transition | Connections
ADVOCACY
Robust Advocacy and Student Representation
Lobby with leverage using the Back2School, BIPOC, and AMS Academic Experience Survey results. Work with the Faculty of Science, Science Student Engagement, AMS VP Academic & University Affairs Office to look for more advocacy and student representation opportunities for science students ranging from EDI, sustainability to academics. Maintain our student presence on the existing committees the President, VP Academic, AMS Representatives and Senator sits on.
Maintain a close working relationship with the Dean and Associate Deans and be sure to provide student input whenever possible and hold them accountable
Create student representation opportunities regarding Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Academics, BIPOC etc. with the AMS VP Academic & University Affairs Office and Faculty​
Distribute the advocacy workload with the VP Academic by serving as the second student representative on the Curriculum and BSc Neuroscience Steering Committee
Distribute 1 or 2 surveys to gauge what students want from SUS and the faculty regarding the transition to in-person learning
Work with the VP Academic to advocate for land acknowledgements to be done at the beginning of each lecture and faculty level meetings
Recruit a BIPOC Working Group Chair and codify the working group if successful
Reform the Science Caucus (President & AMS Representatives) to include the Science Student Senator and VP Academic to discuss student advocacy and effectively relaying the information to students
TRANSITION
Transition Events and Support
As UBC approaches the end of quarantine, SUS needs to effectively pivot from its virtual platform back to in-person. SUS will come back swinging by holding those fun and well-executed events that you’ve been missing. On top of that, the SUS Executive will work in tandem with the faculty, orientations team, the student engagement office to help plan transition initiatives to support the academic, mental, physical and social wellbeing of new-to-campus UBC Science students.
Work with the SUS VP Administration to plan a grand re-opening of the Abdul Ladha Science Student Centre that will feature a more welcoming, COVID-19 safe and our new amenities (new printer and furniture!)
Train SUS to be well-versed with in-person and virtual events
Refine the event planning master document made this year
Through the Faculty of Science Orientations Committee:
Ensure that domestic and international students are accommodated when returning back to campus
Ensure that the UBC Administration communicates with students efficiently about new plans and developments
There is a discrepancy between the brand new to UBC students and students who have experienced online learning only, so these two groups must be addressed
Plan events and initiatives that target both new-to-UBC Science students (incoming first years and transfer students) AND the new-to-in-person learning students (second years and older transfer students) in UBC Science
Use the Back2School Survey and AMS Academic Experience surveys to ask students how SUS can support their transition
Quality Campus Connections
CONNECTIONS
During my term as SUS President, I would like to take our return to in-person learning as an opportunity to foster quality connections with clubs, constituencies, local businesses and the student body. SUS should be an organization that students can turn to for help and rely on.
Work on a structured event collaboration document to prevent miscommunications and make it easier for external organizations to work with SUS
Work closely with other student groups and clubs to connect them with relevant portfolios to maximize outreach and collaboration opportunities
VP Academic and Science Student Senator = advocacy opportunities
VP Student Life = flagship SUS events
VP External = Careers and Professional development opportunities
VP Communications = marketing and social media platforms
Work with the VP Administration in making sure that SUS members provide a welcoming environment within Ladha
e.g. Front desk members practicing good customer service and respecting quiet study spaces
Actively acknowledge the Musqueam indigenous land UBC is on through more well-informed land acknowledgements → get committee members to take turns reading them
DOGGO BREAK!!
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
SUS Vice-President, Academic (2020/21)
Chaired the Academic Standing Committee where I facilitated discussions regarding advocacy work with the Faculty and the AMS
Advocated for the reduced use of Proctorio to the Faculty of Science and suggested alternative ways of exam invigilation
Facilitated the new BSc Neuroscience tuition consultation process with several Behavioural Neuroscience students
Launched an online Academic Integrity campaign and a UBC Interfaculty Mental Health Week
Increased the number of participants in the SUS Mentorship program to 110 participants
Opened up the @movewithSUS Instagram page to feature physical health and wellness initiatives, food and drink recipes and (memes!!?)
SUS Associate Vice-President, Administration (2019/20)
Structured the Administrative Assistant program to include GANTT charts and other organizational methods to better serve working groups
Adjudicated club awards to the Science Student Recognition Awards Night
Oversaw several pilot sustainability and building management projects such as the sustainability handbook and Ladha cleaning process
Served as the SUS Council Secretary
Other SUS experiences: RXN Logistics Coordinator (2019) & Health and Wellness Administrative Assistant (2018/19)
Imagine Day Orientations Senior Orientation Leader (2020)
Facilitate the recruitment process of 130+ Science Orientation Leaders
Trained a group of 12 student leaders to support incoming first year UBC Science students through professional development workshops
Oversaw the execution of Virtual Imagine Day 2020
Supported the first year transition process by hosting events and check-ins
CONTACT ME
If you'd like to get in touch, please fill out the contact form or send me an email! daylebalmes@gmail.com Feel free to follow me on Instagram of add me on Facebook as well!