election

The Candidates are:

President:

  • William So

Vice President:

  • Matthew MacRae-Bovell

Treasurer:

  • Benjamin Karstad

Director of Academics:

  • Adam “Tennessee” Payzant

Director of Social:

  • Tiffany Lau
  • Omar Garcia-Flores

Director of Inclusion:

  • Caleb Berry
  • Faareha Khalid
  • Anoushka Singhal

The Campaign Platforms:

William So - President:

Throughout my academic career over the past two years at Carleton University, I have been heavily involved with the CCSS - as a First Year Representative last year, and as the current VP Social. In that time, I have gained many great experiences, and learned a lot about organizing student events and making important decisions with a team of people. However, I have also seen firsthand the pitfalls that can arise with the way our current administration operates, and I believe that it is time for me to address the prevalent issues that we face as your next CCSS President.

If elected, I vow to vastly expand on all efforts of the society so that the CCSS lives up to its mission of serving all Carleton undergraduate computer science students. I plan to accomplish this mission through three prongs: communication, collaboration, and diversification. In the past, many of our events have suffered low participation rates due to a general lack of communication to our members in advance of those events. To solve this, I will implement a system whereby all CCSS events and initiatives must be planned well in advance, so that there is ample time to spread the word. My hope is that we will successfully introduce a CCSS email newsletter, both to keep the executive team on track with our duties, and as a reliable method of communication with our members.

In addition to keeping all CCSS members in the know, I would also like to take our society’s initiatives to the next level. To achieve that, I aim to create more opportunities for members as well as other student groups to collaborate with us to help make our events bigger and better than before. I will reform our volunteer structure to make volunteering with us a simple and straightforward process for all parties involved, thereby expanding our organizing team. I will also reach out to other clubs and societies, whose interests align with ours, to create joint events for our mutual benefit. In doing this, I believe that we can effectively diversify our events and initiatives to interest a larger population within our student membership. To further broaden our horizons to the interests of our members, I would like to set up a system that encourages members with great ideas for the CCSS to share those ideas with the Board of Directors, so that we can help you make your ideas a reality. I am running for President because I want the CCSS to play an important role in more students' lives, because at the end of the day, the CCSS is nothing without its members. You are the reason that I do what I do. So a vote for me is really a vote for you.

Matthew MacRae-Bovell - Vice President:

If elected, my primary objective as Vice President will be to increase our outreach and accessibility through more timely scheduling, improved executive communication, and thorough event promotion. I intend to do this by working closely with the newly elected board of directors to ensure we develop a diverse variety of services and events that cater to the interests of all society members. Additionally, I will also continue the previous Vice President’s offering of CCR credit for active society volunteers.

This year I had the pleasure of working with the 2018-2019 board of directors and had a hand in helping with several events and internal affairs. One of the VP’s responsibilities I would like to improve on if elected is our society’s scheduling of general meetings. Instead of scheduling general meetings close to the end of each term, I would like to hold a general meeting in the first month of each semester so the board has the oppurtunity to properly discuss events planned for the upcoming semester with the student body. Additionally, I would like to introduce a third general meeting near the end of the winter semester for reviewing the board’s accomplishments and discussing the end-of-term election. Scheduling general meetings earlier will lead to higher attendance due to the lack of midterms present in early months, and allow the board to inform a greater demographic of students about volunteer opportunities and the dates of upcoming events. It will also allow our Treasurer to publicly discuss an upcoming semester’s budget before it’s actually spent and allow our Directors of Social and Academics to receive student input on upcoming workshops and social events.

The other problems I wish to tackle if elected are untimely event scheduling and the neglect of traditional outreach strategies. This year I felt event attendance was hurt by the fact that many events were planned with little more than a weeks notice and many were solely advertised through mediums only active society members see on a regular basis. I feel the 2018-19 board neglected to fully take advantage of around campus promotion, in-lecture announcements, and mediums of advertising that reach students unaware of our events and services. Especially with events that are indirectly funded by students, it is unethical to deny our members the opportunity to take full advantage of our services by failing to give them adequate notice. We should instead be doing everything in our power to engage the greatest possible student demographic. Planning events further in advance would also allow the CCSS to not only take full advantage of promotion via the SCS website, but also allow for a possible reintroduction of the CCSS newsletter. An increase in public awareness would also lead to an increase in volunteer participation, giving the society the chance to further expand its services.

Benjamin Karstad - Treasurer:

Reelected as treasurer, I will ensure that the financial activities of the CCSS are transparent and organized. In the past year, as treasurer, I strove to ensure sure that spending on the CCSS’s behalf was reimbursed quickly, and students were well informed of how money was being spent. Outside of my official duties, I also took on other initiatives such as electoral reform, and I hope to stay involved in making sure that any necessary improvements are made as the new Electoral Code is tested in the years to come.

As upper year students graduate, new blood in the CCSS is of utmost importance; if I am elected for next year, I am committed to keeping the CCSS community active and growing by promoting events and encouraging new students to become involved.

Adam “Tennessee” Payzant - Director of Academics:

My goals are to ensure the continuation of Dev club, run a seminar on the use of computer science outside of conventional paths, to run several one-day hackathons to allow more people to participate, and continuing to run workshops on how to use useful tools for CS as well as teaching other useful elements in CS not usually taught in Carleton courses.

Tiffany Lau - Director of Social:

I believe that having social events available for students are extremely important!

Why are they important? Here are a few reasons: to build relationships, to understand different perspectives, to develop emotional intelligence, and to take a well deserving break.

Social events provide awesome opportunities to meet people you wouldn’t necessarily meet in class. These events are a great way and time to interact with other CS students from different class times as well!

If elected as Director of Social, one of the many things I will also do is establish a sense of community. I would really love for all of us CS students to form a strong community together! Most of us CS students don’t know each other all that well. I plan to do this by creating events that get you excited!

I will ensure that CCSS will have various social events for YOU throughout the Fall and Winter semesters. I will plan and organize these social get-togethers by having a variety of activities for those with different interests. I will lead the social initiatives of the society by providing everyone with these opportunities while encouraging all members of the society to interact with one another in a positive manner. You may wonder what social events I have in mind! In addition to holiday parties and the regular coffee socials we currently have, I plan to organize events like music night, paint night, ice skating get-togethers, escape rooms, rock climbing, laser tag, socials at Oliver’s, movie nights, end of the year BBQ, and a lot more! Since these socials are so varied with all kinds of activities, it is an awesome way to try something different, something that you probably wouldn’t do alone/by yourself! One specific thing I plan to change is to have regular coffee socials, each with different times of the day so that you will all get the chance to come and join everyone else.

Many students are just not aware of CCSS social events. That is why I will also ensure better communication of these social events/event promotion to allow you to plan ahead of time so that you can attend. These events will be announced through social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Slack, and also with the possible reintroduction of monthly newsletters!

I will also ensure that an anonymous feedback and suggestion form is implemented, so all your ideas are heard and considered.

Last but not least, I will lead a committee of amazing and dedicated volunteers to assist with the planning and organization of these social events and encourage all CCSS members to get involved within our society.

Omar Garcia-Flores - Director of Social:

As Director of Social, I will largely focus on creating events and organizing meet ups outside of the school context.

These would include:

  • Athletic events (running, biking, etc.)
  • Camping events
  • Meet ups in restaurants
  • Skating events

My main concern is that a large variety of our current events target only a very specific demographic within our program and I believe everyone would benefit from diversifying the societies' events.

I will also attempt to diversify the topics and context within the lounge and making it more inclusive in the process. I understand that there are many students that have interests outside of computer science and I believe this is something that should be addressed. Not everything needs to be about code and technology.

Faareha Khalid - Director of Inclusion:

As the Director for Inclusion, my goal for the next school year is to:

  1. Connect CS second degree / transfer students with each other. Coming back for a degree / transferring in between is different than doing it for the first time. We’re not alone so let’s connect! Bringing students together includes having a speed networking round, having lunch-learn session with an upper year second-degree student, etc.
  2. Make CCSS events overall more inclusive and welcoming for women in CS, second-degree students, students with mental health disabilities, etc. Do this by being proactive in the CCSS and bringing to the attention of the Board when an event may deter members of a certain group from attending because of its nature, location, etc.

As a current second-degree student and woman in CS, I’m in those shoes as well. I can empathize with the challenges and struggles and I want us to be able to identify / know some familiar faces from our classes, meet new people, find group members for projects, and be able to rely on one another after having done University at least once.

Anoushka Singhal - Director of Inclusion:

My name is Anoushka Singhal and I am in first year. I am running for Director of Inclusion for 2019-2020 because I believe inclusivity builds a community. Our computer science society is a community full of different students from different places. I want to help every student be a part of this society and make it even better. That is only possible if their voices can be heard and that’s why I am here. For the minorities to feel welcome and not hidden. As a woman and of Indian decent I am a minority. I can connect with all the different minority groups who don’t always feel like they belong. I want to help students in computer science feel included and become a family. I want to help the students make the best of their years here. For example, if we must make events, wheelchair accessible or washroom arrangements. Other questions or needs one might have. I am here to help fulfill them and shed light on people’s needs. I hope you will elect me as your Director of Inclusion.

Caleb Berry - Director of Inclusion:

Why choose me? I have helped run many outreach programs fostering interest in STEM programs. I have been very involved with the CCSS board of directors for four years. Thus I understand the history of the CCSS and its goal.

What will I do? I will ensure that all decisions made by the CCSS will consider all members of our society. I want to make CCSS events inclusive to all students regardless of race, religions, ethnicities, or gender identity. I will ensure the CCSS lounge is a safe space for all students to discuss, science, technology, games, etc. Finally, I will ensure the CCSS works together with the school to foster a safe environment for all CCSS members.