Candidate profile: Jay Fradette

Jay Fradette.

Name: Jay Fradette
Age: 27
Program: Integrated science

Relevant experience:

A: I have a lot of life experience, dealing with educators and stuff. That’s what really qualifies me.

G: Why are you running for the Senate position?

A: To see what I can do to make sure the university and the students really care about these alternative learning and integrated learning programs.

G: What do you think the role of the Senate representative is?

A: I think the role of the Senate representative is different on different committees. For me, I would make sure I understood what each committee is specifically for and bring my experience to each role and fight for what I am passionate about.

G: If you were on the Senate this year, what issue would you have brought to the table?

A: I think that just making sure that the university and faculty of the university are aware that students would like to see innovative learning approaches moving forward.

G: What is your stance on NSCAD University being absorbed by Dal?

A: I don’t think I can really talk about that because I’m not aware of the issues but I do know some students who went to NSCAD and loved it and, from the few who I’ve talked to, are really passionate about it being its own independent school. They have their own independent spirit and I like that they are an independent organization. It would be great for Dal to have NSCAD as a faculty but I’m not sure how the students of NSCAD would feel about that.

G: What changes, if any, would you make to Dal’s plagiarism software/policies?

A: I’m not sure if this is the first year that science students were required to complete an online module for plagiarism. I think it was not engaging at all for me and the other science students. I think plagiarism is a huge issue and we want to make sure that we encourage independent thought but at the same time that we don’t discourage collaboration. So I think it could be handled, and students could be educated, in a more interesting way.

G: What committees would you hope to serve on if elected and why?

A: I would like to sit on the science discipline committee or the appeals committee. I am interested in academic integrity issues and that’s what would draw me to those positions. Specifically the learning and teaching committee, because of my interest in alternative learning programs, would be the most relevant to me. I would be interested in sitting on all of them but those specifically are interesting to me.

Other candidates for Senate are: Alexandra Killham, Rebecca Eldridge, and Ryan Hartigan.