I hope by now most of you have heard that Traill College is undergoing an external review this year. Though I’m hoping the review will result in a reinvestment in Traill College, the importance of gathering widespread student opinion on the subject cannot be overstated.
With this in mind, representatives from LEC Cabinet, Champlain College Cabinet, Otonabee College Cabinet, the Graduate Student Association, and myself from the TCSA gathered last Wednesday evening to discuss how the elected student leaders wanted to respond to the review.
Though no one from Gzowski Cabinet was able to attend the meeting, they later confirmed their participation. We have formed a student task force to undertake the collection of student opinions, with the end goal of creating a comprehensive student-led review of Traill College.
Over the past couple of months, the TCSA executive and Student Senate Caucus (all the student senators, two from each cabinet) have been pushing for the inclusion of student voice in the review of Traill.
We previously discussed how to get a student onto the review committee (now a single external reviewer), and how to center student voices in the discussion.
TCSA President Alaine Spiwak and I had several meetings with President of Trent University Leo Groarke during the fall exam period. Though the administration took the time to listen to our concerns, ultimately the decision to remain with a single external reviewer remained final.
Out of this context, during the meeting on Wednesday, we decided that collectively the College Cabinets and the TCSA should actively try to engage students in the
review process.
To this end, over the next two weeks, starting Feb. 1 until Feb. 12, there will be tables set up at Champlain College, Lady Eaton College and Otonabee College during Cabinet office hours.
The Gzowski Cabinet Office will also be open during this time to collect feedback. There will also be people tabling at Bata Library on Monday, February 1 and Tuesday, Feb. 9, and at the Trend at Traill College throughout the week. The goal is to collect student feedback and questions about Traill and the review that is happening.
So, please stop by one of these locations throughout the week and make sure your voice is heard. Please also take the time to fill out our online survey about Traill College that we will be circulating though Cabinet newsletters and on social media.
At the beginning of Reading Week, once as much student feedback as possible has been collected, we will consolidate the results and make the feedback public.
Beyond participating in the conversation or asking questions at any of the tables, we would love for any student to get involved in the task force. Our sole task at the moment is to collect all student opinions in as unbiased a way as possible. Any opinions or lack of opinion is still important to recognize.
If you are interested in volunteering for the task force, including table sitting at the Trend, please e-mail me at vpuc@trentcentral.ca or contact any of the College Cabinet senators.
