Voting for the Durham College Student Association (DCSA) executive chair closes today (March 26). Two candidates, Keiran Popela from Business Administration – Finance, and Carolyn Turner, from the Paralegal program, are running for the position.
To help students make an informed choice, the DCSA has facilitated engagement with meet-and-greet sessions and a debate on March 17 streamed on Riot Radio.
“The whole structure of governance and the ability to be a student on the governance at the college gives us some control,” says Turner. “You know, this isn’t high school anymore. We’re paying to be here, and that means we should have a voice.”
Popela says leadership positions are “something that allows students to have their voice heard and not just simply be a student in a classroom.”
During the debate, Turner pitched her focus on making the campus community more inclusive by specifically catering to mature and international students.
“I thought it was a perfect opportunity for me to bring what I can to help the college, to help the students have an improved lifestyle,” Turner says.
Popela is also an athlete on the Lords men’s rugby team and says he will bring his leadership abilities to the executive chair role, adding he wants to “create more school initiatives so that there is further pride in DC and to establish a well-knit community.”
Challenges in student governance roles
In an interview following the debate, Turner and Popela addressed the challenges they anticipate if elected and how they will deal with potential differences.
Turner says her main challenge would be to gather all the information she needs to deliver results in a one-year term.
“We need to work fast, basically to gather the information of what the students have for needs or wants and to implement activities and changes to bring those needs and wants to fruition,” says Turner. “So, I see that as the biggest challenge, [because] it sounds like a long time, a year, but it’s really not.”
Popela says getting adequate information out to students is the challenge he wants to address.
As a student of advanced finance, he will work on promoting financially sound decisions by the college management, especially regarding recent program cuts at Durham College.
“As a representative of the students, it’s my job to make sure that if a program is cut, it’s for the right reasons. It cannot be just be an easy cop out,” he says, adding “if a program is successful, it has retention and other colleges are offering the same thing… it’s something we need to fight for.”
The voting period for the DCSA executive chair elections from March 24 through 26. There are nine members on the DCSA board of directors, including the executive chair. For more information, visit www.mydcsa.ca