Today I was (late) at the first Open Forum with a candidate for the new Arts Dean.
I was only there for the last five minutes of Angela Esterhammer’s talk, but I was really impressed by something that I saw. Or rather, something that I didn’t see.
I didn’t see m/any young faces.
I don’t have anything against older people, and I know that some students here are adults. But there’s no denying that at least 98% of the people present, which by the way were not many, where professors or university administration.
The thing is, Arts if almost 1/4 of UBC. About 10,000 students take Arts courses each year.
How is it possible that 10,000 students are going to let about 50 professors make the decision of who OUR new dean is. How are we going to be able to ask that dean to work FOR the students if the students show such a lack of interest in being a part of taking this decision.
THE DEAN OF ARTS WORKS FOR THE STUDENTS.
How big do I have to write that?
THE DEAN OF ARTS’ FIRST PRIORITY SHOULD BE THE STUDENTS.
How loud do I have to say it?
Open Forums are spaces where we should be showing our next dean that we are active students, that we care and we will have expectations for that seat. Expectations that she/he will have to fulfill because we are the ones hiring.
Any student that cares about the Arts faculty should be in these Open Forums asking questions and contributing to the taking of this huge decision for our faculty.
The next to Open Forums are
Gage Averil – Wednesday, April 14, 12:00-2:00 pm @ Angus 492
Angela Redish – Tuesday, April 20, 12:00-2:00 pm @ Angus 492
There’s also a student session for Angela Esterhammer
Wednesday, April 7, 5:00-6:00 pm @ BuTo 104A
