The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) held its fall student elections from Monday, October 28 to Wednesday, October 30. 877 Camosun students voted, which is approximately nine percent of the student population at Camosun.
CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte says those numbers are typical for the student elections, and that the numbers have increased since switching from paper ballots to online voting in 2017 (by way of comparison, 697 students voted in the fall 2018 elections). The elections serve a dual purpose, says Turcotte: to bring student representatives onto the CCSS’ board of directors (which is the governing body of the CCSS), and to raise awareness of the CCSS.
“Sometimes students don’t understand the distinctions between the college and the independent organization that represents their interests,” says Turcotte.
Melaniia Frolova was voted in as the CCSS international director; Hayley Lamb and Shivam Gupta were voted in as Interurban directors-at-large. Yara Abaza, Mai Nguyen, Quinn Cunningham, and Katrina McNeely were voted in as Lansdowne directors-at-large.
Also in this election, CCSS external executive Fillette Umulisa was voted in as a student representative on Camosun College’s education council, as were Paige Martin and Isaiah Jurkuch. Umulisa says that being on the education council ensures there is a student voice to provide input on how best to develop curriculum to meet students’ needs.
“Just be there to represent students so that there’s some sort of equality,” she says. “My whole point of this is, I want to be there to make sure that students get the best out of the programs that are developed in terms of materials, prices, tuition, and time.”
As an example of this, Umulisa points to the cost of textbooks for Camosun students.
“Myself and the student society are pushing toward more open education resources,” she says.
Umulisa says the student society, and the elections, are a fundamental part of democracy.
“We are a democratic student union. We believe in the power of democracy,” she says. “Every student at Camosun College is a member of the society; casting your vote and having a say in who gets to represent them is the first step toward our democracy legitimacy.”