Why am I running for this particular position? To begin, I talk way too much. So naturally, communication is something I am well versed in. All jokes aside, I find value in providing accessibility to services that are offered by the faculty of science, whether it be research opportunities or social events such as the SUS Gala. Being the VP Comms allows me to bridge the gap between what the students want and what SUS can do to accommodate their needs—after all, we are ~all in this together~ ;). My primary goal as VP Comms is to further develop a feedback system that gives students a voice in how they want their faculty to be run. In other words, I hope to reach out to more students within SUS to provide them with the necessities for success at McGill.
My Vision
As I have mentioned before, my priority as the VP Communications is to reach out to those who may be unfamiliar with what McGill and the Faculty of Science has to offer. This can be done by enhancing the methods of communication:
1) redesigning the SUS Facebook page to be more interactive and engaging
2) expanding SUS’s social media presence with more accounts on multiple platforms
3) placing a greater emphasis on the SUS General Assembly (perhaps more frequent and further promoted) so that motions can be debated to reflect the collective agreement of students
4) promoting SUS Office Hours to facilitate a more casual environment for feedback and conversation
5) asking students to submit science memes that can be posted on the biweekly listservs to perhaps alleviate some of the inevitable stress throughout the school year (this one is a personal favourite)
Question #1
Hi Gretl!
As the current VP Communications of SUS, I have a few questions for you regarding your platform:
- In what ways do you think your past involvement makes you the best candidate? In other word, what skills did you develop from these positions that you can carry over as the Communications for SUS?
- Which social media outlets do you plan on using to effectively reach more people? Why do you think these platforms would be the best at reaching the largest number of constituents?
- How do you plan on redesigning the Facebook page to make it more engaging? Would this require more funding or more scheduling?
- How would you go about advertising a General Assembly so that more people would come? Do you plan on advertising General Councils as well to encourage a greater turnout? If so, how would you go about this?
- We have our office hours listed on our door, website and are linked in the listserv. In what other ways do you plan on making students feel comfortable to stop by and voice their concerns?
- You briefly mentioned the committees under the Communications portfolio in your platform. Are there any changes you’d make regarding them? Do you have any ideas to make them more efficient?
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!
Best,
Victoria
Answer #1
Hi Victoria! Thank you so much for reaching out!
1. My past involvement with FUSS has generated a great deal of experience in terms of the VP Communications position. Having already been in the role of a VP Comms for FUSS, I’ve learned how to work around mailchimp (for listservs), respond to emails/concerns from departmental councils, and use Canva to promote events. I’ve also learned the importance of punctuality as well as cooperation with other executives to establish a united society, all of which I hope to reflect in the Communications for SUS if elected.
2. As I’ve done the same with FUSS, I hope to implement an instagram account for SUS, since I’ve seen more engagement on instagram over facebook. I also hope to start a reddit thread for SUS announcements, as McGill has quite an engaging and entertaining reddit page. I think instagram and reddit would make great additions to expanding SUS engagement due to the fact that many people within science are already on these platforms on a daily basis, while facebook is used for more professional purposes and generally lack some of that recreational attention.
3. I plan on redesigning the facebook page into a forum-like structure. This means that councils within SUS can promote their association/event (e.g. social events, research opportunities, sales, etc) which can generate more interest from those who are part of that department. Obviously, some measures have to be taken in terms of approving posts, but I think allowing more people to post on the SUS page is a great way to distribute information in addition to listservs. The best part is, this would not require more funding or scheduling as the page will essentially be built by the students themselves!
4. I think a part of promoting that is often overlooked is word of mouth. Simply spreading the word to councils, friends, and classmates (especially during labs) is a great way to create a ripple effect of advertisement. This makes promotion a lot more intimate and custom to the audience (e.g. encouraging an activist to vote on a climate strike). In addition, I would increase awareness to the General Council by having some representatives present during Office Hours. This can encourage members to submit questions for referenda and further involvement with General Assemblies.
5. As a student, one of the biggest factors that would attract myself to an event is food. Having beverages and snacks can ease the initial awkwardness that is associated with entering a lounge of strangers. This can generate that initial “interest” in office hours and through friendly greetings and discussion of SUS related topics will more people be comfortable stopping by and voicing their concerns. My top priority would be creating a friendly, approachable environment for members of science.
6. I think that there are some positions within the Communications committee that can be done under an umbrella position. To be more specific, I think that having a graphic designer also fulfil the role of the First-Year Handbook coordinator can reduce costs within SUS. In addition, there seem to be more positions offered than I think is needed for the smooth running of SUS. By reducing the committee (less people per position) and instead redirecting those resources to finding a better student space is.a more valuable use of resources.
Sorry that was really long but I hope that answers your questions! Feel free to dm me for clarification/more questions!
Best,
Gretl
Question #2
Hi Gretl! Hope you had a wonderful spring break!
Every year constituents have criticized of the lack of outreach SUS does. Many chose to not use social media platforms like facebook and instagram due to privacy concerns and voiced their dissatisfaction of simply receiving listserv emails. Despite having the office open to students every single week day, SUS engagement with the student body still does not meet some constituents' expectations.
How do you plan to address the issue that conventional means of distributing information (apart from listserv email and having daily office hours) cannot reach every single constituent?
To what extent is it in you and the society's best interest to invest more effort (in terms of time, manpower and money) to address this specific issue in light of the fact that SUS is no where near as privileged in terms of finance, student space and community engagement as AUS, EUS, etc.?
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Answer #2
Hi Bob, I’ve had a very productive spring break (for once) and I hope you’ve enjoyed yours as well!
I understand that SUS engagement may not have met certain expectations, especially when compared to other large faculties, but I do believe there have been changes made in the past couple of years that have definitely garnered more attention to SUS, including a significant improvement in reader engagement through listservs (I, for one, absolutely love reading them!).
That being said, there are also many improvements that can be made to reach even more constituents, some of which I’ve already mentioned in my platform:
SUS General Assemblies
I find these extremely valuable because those who are part of smaller groups within SUS (including departmental councils) can debate motions that directly impact the wellbeing of their council. Furthermore, those who have yet to join a group within SUS can attend to learn more about said councils and perhaps join them in the near future.
SUS-hosted events
- Fundraising: While I understand that finance is always an issue with any council, fundraising not only alleviates some of that stress but also leads to further self-promotion. The continuation of such events can pave opportunities for resource expansion in terms of finance, student space and community engagement. Some examples include plant sales, raffles, and the all too familiar samosa sales :)
- Diverse events: In addition to fundraising, I think hosting events that cater to more than the social aspect of SUS can diversify and expand its target audience. Some examples off the top of my head include arranging an upper-lower year mentor service, encouraging volunteering involvement, and facilitating inter-faculty activity ([double majors, transfers, etc).
As VP Communications, it would be my job to promote the above not only via conventional means (listservs and office hours) but also through physical promotion (tabling in McConnell, classroom announcements, and posters). I find a combination of these methods the most diverse way to reach out to those who may not be as accustomed to one method of communication or the other.
To summarize (sorry that was quite a bit and not as clear/concise as I would’ve liked haha), I would increase the means of distributing information by diversifying the methods of reaching out to members - social media, email (online methods) vs. tabling, classroom announcements, and hosting smaller events to promote SUS (physical methods). In terms of increasing community engagement, I’d place further emphasis on the general assemblies as well as events that cater to a more diverse target audience in hopes of reaching out to those who have not been interested in what has been offered so far. I hope this answers your questions and feel free to dm me for any clarifications!
