By Vanessa Broadbent (The Cascade/Photo) – Email
Print Edition: February 18, 2015
Derek Ward-Hall
Professional studies rep candidate
Third-year HR major, communications minor
Campus involvement
Student Life CCR program assistant
Campus engagement work-study
Board of directors for The Cascade
How would you describe what SUS is? What do they do?
The Student Union is your voice on campus. They are your advocates, they’re your first-line defense if you need to go up against the university for anything, and they’re also here to try to make your life as comfortable as possible while you’re here.
What appeals to you about this position?
I really want to get to know more of the ins and outs of SUS and maybe try to make things a little better for all students, not just professional studies students.
How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?
As the campus engagement work-study co-ordinator, right now we’re trying to do different types of events. I’m doing classroom presentations — I’m going from classroom to classroom talking about campus engagement, why students should get involved, and that they can earn CCR on top of that.
The only way to really change things is to have a massive culture change. My theory is that it’s a four-year plan: you start with a brand new crop of students at new student orientation, and then with every subsequent new student orientation over the next four years you make more changes so we can change the culture around here.
Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you want to implement?
I have to research more about what they actually have control over before I can decide what I want to go for.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
