Every year, UFV’s Student Union Society (SUS) hosts the annual elections that give students the opportunity to run for various positions on the SUS Board of Directors and executive members. This year’s election period runs from Jan. 8 to Mar. 6, and the candidate debate took place on Feb. 10 from 10-12 p.m. in Evered Hall.
There are five positions open for election: President, Vice President Internal, Vice President External, Vice President Students, and Student Representatives At-Large.
This year, initially 24 candidates expressed their interest to run in elections, but one was absent in the debate. However, after the debate, three candidates were disqualified, leaving 21 who continues to run.
Hosted by the SUS Electoral Officer Patti Neufeld, the debate followed a structured format with timed responses and moderated questions.
Neufeld began by going over the agenda and laying down the ground rules. This was followed by the debate among the Vice-President Internal candidates, which included Prabujot Bagri, Trimaan Singh Bhatti, and Toshit Dawar. Candidate Prasoon Tyagi, was not present.
Bagri described the role as an opportunity to give back to the UFV community. He believes that his experience as the vice-president of the Political Science Students Association (PSSA), and his involvement in campus events and public board meetings has made him well-equipped to run for the behind-the-scenes leadership that the role requires.
- Bhatti emphasized that his background in accounting and finance and his past work experience has given him an “attention to detail” skillset needed to succeed in the role.
Dawar reflected on his experience with student startups and non-governmental organizations, explaining that these roles have taught him consistency, persistence, and how to turn challenges into opportunities.
Next were the vice-president students candidates: Jahan Arora, Soum Majumdar, and Saif Qazilbash.
Majumdar said that, if elected, he would focus on improving the back-end process for clubs and associations including streamlining event approvals and clearer feedback systems for club executives.
Qazilbash stressed the importance of relationship building within the executive team and the extended student community. He proposed allocating a specific budget toward the Chilliwack campus and distributing funding across multiple events rather than concentrating resources on one large annual event.
Arora expressed interest in launching pop-up booths and surveys to gather student feedback. He also intends on fostering effective communication with students and helping create an even more inclusive campus for students from diverse backgrounds.
The vice president external candidates included Arveen Bhatti, Zack Castiglia, and Manmeet Chhabra.
- Bhatti described the role as being transparent, honest, and fearlessly advocating for students. She added that she aims to succeed in the role with clarity, integrity and transparency. If elected, she intends to bridge the gap between domestic and international students, ensuring equal representation for both. A. Bhatti also wants to bring down the cost of the Route 66: Fraser Valley Express bus, as it costs five dollars each way.
Chhabra expressed her strong interest toward student representation on campus. She aims to ensure student voices are not just heard but represented clearly and acted upon externally. She also spoke about building strong relationships with external stakeholders and representing student’s concerns and voices.
Castiglia believes in the importance of strong advocacy for students on a local, provincial, and national level. He got his inspiration from his peers who previously held similar positions at SUS and he hopes to continue their work by dedicating his last year as a student to the role wholeheartedly. Castiglia is also confident that his degree focusing on intergovernmental relations, advocacy, and public policy has helped prepare him for this position.
Following were the presidential candidates Tanvir Hundal and Gurpreet Singh.
Singh, who is currently serving as the SUS vice president external, believes his experience in this position has prepared him for the presidency. He proposed introducing pilot-based student involvement opportunities and emphasized his understanding of how the society operates.
Current Vice President Internal, Hundal, wants to use her background in advocacy and student involvement to build a SUS that students can rely on. Hundal also wants to focus on successfully advocating for what she can realistically do for students, recognizing that there are limitations to her role.
The debate concluded with nine candidates running for student representatives at large reps: Chloe Boughen, Amtoj Brar, Gurarmaan Dhillon, Balkarn Singh Gill, Prabcharn Singh Mahal, Josh Parson, Pranya Rana, Rudhar Sachdeva, and Abhayjeet Singh.
Each candidate expressed their interest in stepping up as student leaders and dedicating their time toward the student body at UFV.
With voting open until Mar. 5, students are encouraged to cast their vote in the voting ballot sent to their UFV email to decide who will represent them in the upcoming term starting May 1.
