EDST students are invited to vote for our department representatives in the GSS Council. There are 2 student nominees – Rachel Goossen and Ashenafi Alemu – for the 2 available seats, and you are asked to confirm these nominees.

The deadline to submit your votes (which takes less than a minute) is November 9, 2017. The nominee statements are presented below:

VOTE NOW

Rachel Goossen (profile)

Hi team EDST! I am Rachel Goossen, a second year M.A. student in the SCPE stream of Educational Studies. For six years, I worked in schools in the United States and China, prior to returning to my native Canada for graduate school. In my undergraduate work, I served in leadership positions with the University Admissions team, the student Judicial Board, and a local community service organization. I’m interested in serving as an EDST student representative on the GSS Council to represent the many varying interests in this department on a larger scale. EDST is my UBC home, and I would be proud to hold a GSS Council rep position. Thanks for your support!

Ashenafi Alemu (profile)

Ashenafi is a Ph.D. Candidate and sessional lecturer at the Faculty of Education UBC. Currently, Ashenafi is also a volunteer trainer for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Intervention program at GSS; and a researcher at UBC Sustainability Scholars Initiative. Ashenafi was a candidate for the students’ vice president position at GSS and a frequent volunteer at UBC Reading Week Project for the past three years.

Why should I become your representative?

As your representative at GSS, I will promote EDST from multiple perspectives making use of my familiarity and earlier experiences with the GSS. I learned that some earlier experience is essential to engage more effectively in GSS and I think I am a good fit for that.

As an EDST student, I take this opportunity as a payback time for all the good things given to me by EDST students and faculty members. As a departmental representative at GSS, I will review policies, discuss directions that the GSS follow, promote and solicit more funding opportunities for graduate students at EDST. As a Ph.D. student in the higher education area, I will review and initiate discussions about GSS policies that need assessment to benefit my EDST Community. I will ensure that the GSS is in a good posture to guarantee the happiness and mental well-being of graduate students in general and my EDST graduate students in particular.

Being a departmental representative at GSS requires a time commitment and passion for volunteer activities. I would like to make my engagement as an EDST representative a way to share my earlier and current volunteer experiences with EDST Community and all the GAAs in EDST as well. Last but not the least, I think I will be able to be a voice for the EDST graduate students and represent them very well on issues of general concern as a greater part of the UBC Graduate Student Society. Thank you very much for your consideration!