Unopposed, Social Director claims the top job in next year’s student governmentUnopposed, Social Director claims the top job in next year’s student government

Next year’s president will be one of fifteen positions on next year’s Student Representative Council to be acclaimed without election

By Simon Jack

UNBSJ Student Elections are over almost before they’ve begun.  Of the sixteen elected positions in student government at UNBSJ, fifteen had only one applicant – and thus have been automatically filled by acclamation.  The remaining position, that of Vice-President External, is being campaigned for by current VP Student Affairs Leah Richardson and current Arts Representative Isaiah Richards.  Voting will have commenced by the time this article is printed, and will end on February 24th.

SRC President-elect Anthony Enman graciously agreed to answer a few questions for the Baron regarding both his plans as President and the SRC elections in general:

Baron: Why did you run for SRC President?

Anthony Enman: Because of my interest in student government and my interest in the SRC as a company.  I have been an employee of the SRC for the past three years, and I’ve really gotten to see the good that comes out of being able to affect change and enhance the student experience.  Being president of the SRC is obviously one of the best ways to do that.

Baron: What changes would you like to effect and how would you like to enhance the student experience?

Enman:I feel the past couple of years have been positive ones for the SRC and I feel the presidents who have preceded me have done a really good job at keeping student interest at the forefront of the SRC’s operations, and I want to continue that by further opening the lines of communication between the SRC and the students.  Once the lines of communication are open, students will hopefully be better able to communicate their concerns to the SRC and the SRC be better able to communicate its actions to the students.

I’d also like to find ways to better enhance how we operate so that every student on campus can receive the best student experience while they’re here at UNB Saint John.  Again, I want to build upon what has come before.  A lot of great things have happened this year in terms of the student experience, and as a team we’ve really been able to improve upon some of the areas where we were lacking and enhance many of our strengths.  I want to continue working on that with the Social Director, the VP Student Affairs, and the rest of the team, to make sure that students continue to have a positive student experience.

Baron: How do you plan to effectively communicate the needs of the students to the university administration?

Enman: I believe that we have a responsibility to ensure that all students have a voice.  The needs of the students are the most important variable in terms of our operations. From my involvement in student government and various other groups on campus, I have been able to become acquainted and build relationships with the university administration. I believe that those relationships will translate into open lines of communication; so that myself and the rest of the SRC can do just what you are asking about, effectively communicate the needs of the students when they arise.

I also feel that there is an opportunity to have students become more involved at an institutional level, and in turn allowing them to voice their concerns directly. There are a number of committees that require or request student members, but when the committees meet sometimes do not accommodate student schedules. If there was one thing I would like to try and change, it would be to have the committees schedule their meetings around student schedules, creating more opportunity for students to become involved.

Baron: What are your thoughts on the poor nomination turnout?

Enman: I feel like there is a sense of disconnect between students and their student government. I don’t want to get into passing blame or pointing fingers on this issue, but I just feel that, over the years, interest in student government has really started to dip. This being said, I know that we can change this. It truly boils down to letting students know that we are here for them, when they need us and will to the best of our ability meet their needs, individually and as a whole.

Bridging this gap is something I am passionate about and would like to try and improve on. How we do that, I am not sure. I feel like it is a trial and error type thing and the result will ultimately be a mixture of ideas, programs and services being implemented to address the issue. However, the most important message that I want to reiterate is that we want to help students and make their experience the best it possibly can be. So if students have an idea, come see us about it because we are here for you.

Baron: What is your favorite monkey?

Enman: The majestic mandrill.

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The following people have been acclaimed to various posts: Anthony Enman (President, Student Representative to Board of Governors, Senator), Melissa Colwell (VP Student Affairs, Senator), Vasoula Papadopoulos (Member-at-Large), Colin Rouse (Athletic Representative), Joshua Jackson (Social Representative), Rika Nason (Mature Student Representative), Bilal Tariq (International Representative), Colin Landers (Business Representative), Stephen Doucette (Science Representative), Caitlyn Carpenter (Science Representative), Nancy Vos (Arts Representative), Richard Seguin (Arts Representative).

Simon Jack is a Baron staff writer.