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Contact: Mercedes Deutscher, News Editor
M41 news@theotherpress.ca

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And more!

What will Douglas DO?

» Students asked for input on college’s future direction

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reoorter

ast Friday, students and

faculty met in an open format
to discuss their likes and dislikes
for the college in an effort to
gain some knowledge on the
aspects that were working and
those that were not. Douglas
College officials knew that only
a certain group of people held
the answer—the students.

The Strategic Plan Town
Hall consisted of two simple
questions. First of all, “What
is Douglas College doing
well for new students?” and
secondly, “What could the
College improve upon? What
initiatives can you suggest for
improvement?” After an amount
of time for discussion among
groups, students were asked to
speak freely about their praises
and concerns.

When it came to praises,
many people spoke up,

: commenting the success of The

: E.D.G.E., Douglas’ three-day

: orientation every fall, saying

: that it helped them find a sense
: of belonging in the school, and

: become aware of the many

: services available at the campus.
: Additionally, students were

: content with the Registrar’s

: Office’s efficiency, the Douglas

: College app, the many free

: events held by the DSU, the class :
: sizes, and the overall sense of
: community at the college.

When it came to

: improvements that students

: desired, a sea of hands appeared,
: eager to have their voices heard.
: Many students recognized the

: need for teacher evaluation

: earlier in the semester, since

: the current forms are only

: completed during the final

: class. Many of the athletes spoke
: up, admitting that the focus

: on sports had been lacking,

: especially with home game

: crowd turnouts.

: some suggestions for academic

: advising: firstly, the fact that it

: should have more flexible hours

: for high school students seeking :
: assistance, and secondly, that

: awareness among students of

: such advising needed to be

: raised.

: opened up many avenues upon

: although the college has more
: than enough reminders for

: events, there isn’t a system of

: organization. Should a club,

: event, or meeting be promoted
: on Facebook, Twitter, or

: Instagram, the likelihood of
attracting significant attention
: is slim to none. A suggestion

: was made bya student that a

: section of the Douglas website
: be dedicated to a year-round

: calendar, outlining every

: activity, club meeting, or social
: event taking place at both

: campuses.

Two students brought up

The topic of awareness

which students alike agreed—

  

Image via thinkstock

: “We will see what we get
today with the feedback we

: have. We're early in the process
: with talking to the college

: officials,” commented Manuela
: Constantino, Associate Dean

: of Language, Literature &

: Performing Arts.

“I can't give you a specific
: answer [for time of completion],
: but these focus groups are a part
: of our strategic plan from 2015
: to 2020, so within the next five
: years. With most of them, we
: can act on very quickly, so what
> we can do, we will do.”

 

Get to know: Representative Committee
of the Douglas Students’ Union

» Accomplishments from the 2015-16 term

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
& news@theotherpress.ca

reg Teuling and Pardeep

Jaswal, both members
at large, are 2 of 12 students
who represent Douglas
students as a whole.

The Representative
Committee of the Douglas
Students’ Union provides input
and oversight of the DSU’s
operations. They ask students
for their input on college events,
such as DSU food events, and
focus on student life. They focus
on providing a wide variety
of inclusive and diverse clubs,
and celebrating what makes
Douglas students unique.

The committee itself is
made up of a College Relations
Coordinator (Ruab Waraich), a
David Lam Campus Coordinator
(Pawan Johal)}, an External
Relations Coordinator (Chris
Budzynski}, an Internal Relations
Coordinator (Derek Goundar),
a Treasurer (Karan Bains), three

: Members at Large (Pardeep

: Jaswal, Greg Teuling, and

: Makailey Preston), an Aboriginal
: Liaison (Garaline Tom), a

: Disabled Students’ Liaison (Jerzy
: Mazurek), a Pride Liaison (Marni
: McMillan), and a Women’s

: Liaison (Raquel Amado).

Jaswal explained that the

: committee acts responsible as

: avoice for the students, and

: emphasized that the committee’s
: first responsibility is to act in the
: best interest of the student body.

Teuling described the

: overarching goals of the

: committee, which are “to

: provide Douglas college students
: with advocacy on the local,

: provincial, and federal levels.”

The committee works

: to represent the concerns of

: Douglas not only within the

: college, but externally as well.

: They ensure that Douglas

: College is represented within the
: Canadian Federation of Students
> (CFS)—in fact, members of

: the committee attended the

: CFS Annual General Meeting

: in Ottawa this year to ensure
: the issues of Douglas student
: were heard on a national level.

: to elect a new committee once

: per year in April. Both Teuling

: and Jaswal described the election
> as hard work, where candidates

: campaigned on different

: slates (platforms of student

: issues) to appeal to the general

: Douglas student population.

: despite being entrusted by

: voting students to run DSU

: operations, students still need to
: be involved between elections.
According to him, the lack of

: student involvement last fall

: nearly resulted in Douglas

: students losing their U-Pass.

: almost voted to get rid of the

: U-Pass for all Douglas students
: based on low turnout anda

: confusing referenda question.

: Students need to be active on

: campus and be aware of the

: issues that affect them.”

Students have an opportunity

Teuling explained that,

“A minority of students

 

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