International Community Representative
Moazzam Faisai
What would you like to achieve if elected?
I am planning to help students to sit with the executives and different representatives of the university to stop increasing the tuition fee.
Moreover, I want to increase the amount of employment opportunities on campus, while working with different private organizations on campus. I would also work with the deans and administration to create more bursaries and scholarships for international students. I want to bring interest free loans for international students so that they could easily access it because they are paying a lot for their education.
What experience do you bring to the position?
I have been pretty involved in the international community from past six months. Being an active member, I have worked with international and domestic students at the Day of Action.
What do you feel are the most prominent issues/concerns facing the international student community on campus?
One of the basic problems for international students is tuition fees. International students pay almost three times more than the domestic students. Not everybody is economically strong enough to pay that off.
The other issue is about residence. The residences on campus are expensive so [international students] have to go off-campus to live in a cheaper place. I know some people — friends of mine — who are living miserably in those off campus houses and apartments.
How would you work to ensure there is effective communication between yourself and members of your community, and that their concerns/issues are then communicated to UMSU?
As soon as I am elected, I will contact all the other international student associations that will have one member of each international student association so that there is a process of communication between me and them. Then, I am going to bring the issues to the council meetings and discuss it with other councillors and find possible solutions.
How would you work to ensure there is better representation of the need and interests of your community on campus?
It is important that I keep on communicating with international student associations on campus. I am planning to have a lot of communication between me and them and I will raise the issues in the council meeting. It will be really up to the executives how they respond to that.
Monica Igweagu
What would you like to achieve if elected?
I would like to achieve [a better] level of representation for the international students at the U of M. I would like to get some certain goals that I have already set that I would like to achieve.
What experience do you bring to the position?
Back home, I was into politics in my school. I was also elected the executive to my council there. I have a lot of experience in representing a group of students.
What do you feel are the most prominent issues/concerns facing the international student community on campus?
The biggest issue is the school fees. Most of the students from other countries are facing issue because the exchange rates are different; it is a lot of stress on students.
How would you work to ensure there is effective communication between yourself and members of your community, and that their concerns/issues are then communicated to UMSU?
I have already investigated to find out different international student groups on campus. I have already made calls to their leaders to see what problems they have and how I can help them. I may not be from their country, but I could bring their issues to the council.
How would you work to ensure there is better representation of the need and interests of your community on campus?
Communication is the key . . . If I could get the councillors to communicate with me, I could then communicate all the international students.
Can Lui
What would you like to achieve if elected?
I think the most important thing that I want to achieve when I am elected is to promote the real cultural diversity on campus. I want to do more realistic stuff for international students. We can have the opportunity to improve the communication between different kinds of cultures.
What experience do you bring to the position?
I am a transfer student, before that, I have been an international student in the United States for many years.
What do you feel are the most prominent issues/concerns facing the international student community on campus?
There are not many opportunities available for financial aid, for example scholarships, bursaries and employments. They have to pay a very high tuition to study here, this is the main concern.
How would you work to ensure there is effective communication between yourself and members of your community, and that their concerns/issues are then communicated to UMSU?
I would like to communicate with different minority groups and try to have them work together.
How would you work to ensure there is better representation of the need and interests of your community on campus?
I think communication is the most important thing. I would love to hear suggestions and opinions from every international student here and try to deliver the message in a peaceful way.
LGBTT* representative
Kyle St. Godard
What would you like to achieve if elected?
Well, I want to raise awareness for the blood ban with the Canadian Blood Services. Also, to get involved in different issues regarding LGBTT* rights.
What experience do you bring to the position?
I was on UMSU council this past year and went to the CFS national meeting in Ottawa.
What do you feel are the most prominent issues/concerns facing the international student community on campus?
I think stereotypes basically, especially with the blood ban … also, to make sure that campus is safer for students, including LGBTT* students.
How would you work to ensure there is effective communication between yourself and members of your community, and that their concerns/issues are then communicated to UMSU?
I am at RPM pretty much every day so students can let me know if they have any concerns and I can take it to UMSU. I will make sure that students know I can represent them.
How would you work to ensure there is better representation of the need and interests of your community on campus?
I would speak up at the UMSU council meetings and get the students involved in UMSU events.
Women’s Representative
Irene Fubara-Manuel
What would you like to achieve if elected?
A better space for discussing gender and being okay with your gender on campus.
What experience do you bring to the position?
I’ve been a research assistant with the women’s and gender studies department since August last year and I’m writing my thesis in women’s and gender studies.
What do you feel are the most prominent issues or concerns facing the female community on campus?
Women feel very very unsafe on this campus and that’s not really something that is typical of just this campus, it’s something that’s typical of society. People feel unsafe and but then there’s an issue that I think has somewhat heightened. I think people on campus, when you talk about feminism, they don’t get it, they see it more like a women’s issue instead of seeing it as a human issue and that is actually one of the things that creates the unsafe environment.
How would you work to ensure there is effective communication between yourself and members of your community, and that their concerns and issues are then communicated to UMSU?
When it comes to communication I’m pretty open, I’m approachable and I ask questions. I will be asking people around campus questions, people that I know, people that I meet, and whenever it comes to UMSU and I’m called upon to give my own analysis, my point of view on campus, I’ll say what I have heard from people and what I’ve concluded from their opinions and their complaints and all that.
How would you work to ensure there is better representation of the need and interests of your community on campus?
The only thing I can guarantee is that I will try extremely hard to make sure that peoples’ voices are heard and I’ll ensure that it is not just one person’s voice. …Whenever I go to the women’s centre …I see the same people over and over again and that’s not really encouraging to me, so I think for me most of my job for representation would basically be finding more people out of that space like talking to people outside of that particular area who might not know about that area and finding out their opinions. That’s how I think more than one voice might be represented.
