The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) is holding its biannual student board elections from March 24 to 26. This time around, there are 17 positions opening up, including external executive, finance executive, Interurban and Lansdowne executives, Indigenous director, international director, pride director, student wellness and access director, sustainability director, women’s director, and off-campus director-at-large, as well as four positions for directors-at-large at Interurban and two positions for directors-at-large at Lansdowne.
The CCSS provides student services like, for example, the health and dental plan and bus passes as well as lobbies for student causes to the college and government.
“CCSS is the union… for students by students,” says Regina Cervantes, a former Lansdowne executive who is now doing a co-op work term with the CCSS. “So what we’re trying to do here is encourage the students to be more involved in the community and give them a little chance to see how working at CCSS is, and giving them also an opportunity to advocate for other students.”
Students will get an email with instructions on how to vote and information on all the candidates (see page 5 for the platform statements from all candidates).
“Once they get an email they’re going to see a little link in that email so they will just press it,” says Cervantes, “and then they will see all the students that are running, and then you’re going to see the position that they’re running for and then you just select the name you want and then you just submit the form.”
Although the nomination period is closed for this round of elections, the next student board elections will be in the fall; as most seats are a one-year term, these paid positions will be vacant again next spring. The director-at-large positions are a six-month term.
“If you want to run, you have to register, and there is a link,” says Cervantes. “You can go to the CCSS webpage and if you click on ‘get involved’ you’re going to see the elections part and you’re going to see the nomination form.”
Cervantes says that the student society is always looking for volunteers.
“Oh, we are always looking for volunteers because we have a lot of events happening so we always want volunteers. I started as a volunteer for bread days,” says Cervantes, referencing the CCSS initiative where students are given free loaves of bread. “I started doing a little bit more events and then I became a work student for CCSS and then I was on the board; I was the Lansdowne executive. It’s a great way not just to get to know the school and other students, but also getting you a little bit of sense of what it’s like to work.”
Cervantes says getting involved with the CCSS is a good way to see what it’s like to be in the workforce after school is finished.
“It actually gives you a lot of responsibility, but in a very good way,” she says, “and it’s not that stressful that you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I cannot do both.’”
Cervantes says that talking to students is her favourite part of being involved with the student society.
“Also seeing that you can make a change as a student, you can make a change and seeing the students being happy about… cultural events and listening to their struggles and being able to advocate for them,” she says. “So, for example, we know there’s a lot of food insecurity, so being able to have the food bank and being able to do the bread days and just being out there talking to students and seeing what their real struggles are.”
For more information about the CCSS and its elections, go to camosunstudent.org.