VP Academic

By Jamie Hellewell

Like the many other qualified and enthusiastic candidates, it is unfortunate when the competition hits a home run. Such is the case for Rosie Nagra. While she is mostly qualified and would make a good VPA, the reality is that Darby Semeniuk is just too good to pass up.

Experience

While Nagra has never been an elected member of the SU, she prepared herself well. She is energetic, knowledgeable and comfortable with the VPA portfolio-although she was unaware of some of the key groups and people she would interact with. Nagra has also had a colourful existence at the U of C, including volunteer involvement with several organizations.

Platform

Nagra’s platform was competent, highlighted with some unique ideas. One such idea is to create a mentoring program through each department and ensure mentors are listed on course syllabi. However, students seeking “mentors” usually already have resources available through department club offices. This example is emblematic of Nagra’s ideas. While creative, she hasn’t really asked herself simple questions like whether or not she would be duplicating someone else’s efforts or if her idea really was the best way to accomplish something.

Intangibles

Nagra is not quite ready to be a VPA. Her enthusiasm is reassuring and would make up for her lack of knowledge in implementation. For these reasons, Nagra would have been a great academic commissioner-a position that would get her both experience and depth before taking on the VPA position and would have put her past her competition.

Magic Eight Ball says:

Yes.