ASUS student representatives fail to represent students
When a cut to outside-faculty credit allotment left many Arts and Science students with questions during course enrolment, a transparent answer from their former student leaders was noticeably absent.
As The Journal reported last month, the number of outside-faculty units permissible to be counted towards graduation requirements for Arts and Science students was cut from 24 units to six in April.
The Arts and Science Faculty Board cited budgetary reasons for the change, but the issue isn’t the change itself as much as the lack of communication with those it impacted.
While the onus is on both faculty and the ASUS executive team to be transparent, one of these two were elected into their position with the sole expectation of being a voice for and to students — an expectation they failed to meet here.
When asked about the change, former ASUS President Brandon Jamieson told The Journal that it wouldn’t substantially limit opportunities for students. “There are hundreds and hundreds, thousands of courses in Arts and Science,” he said.
Not all Arts and Science students will suffer as a result of the change or the lack of awareness about the change prior to course enrolment.
But many students met added stress during course selection due to a situation communicated poorly and many students’ transcripts may suffer as a result.
To them, Jamieson’s offhand reference to these “thousands” of courses is trivializing.
This indifference to openness at the tail-end of their term is especially surprising given the amount of press given to the pass/fail course option they introduced earlier in the year, an initiative to encourage diverse course options that seems at odds with the later credit allotment change.
If handling the change in outside-faculty course allotment was a pass/fail, ASUS wouldn’t be getting the credit.
