Name: Scott Rairdan
Age: 19
Hometown: Calgary, AB
Program: Sustainability Management
Nominated for: Senate
Relevant experience: Organizing with Divest Dal, ally of NSPIRG; South House and other levied societies, works with residence councils, current residence representative on DSU council
Editor’s note: This interview occurred on March 20, over a week after other Senate candidates’ interviews were published. Scott Rairdan says he was sick during the first week of campaigning and he did read other candidates’ Gazette interviews prior to this interview.
Dalhousie Gazette: Prior to this interview, did you read the other interviews we have published with Senate candidates?
Scott Rairdan: I did. Going into this, I may have had an advantage compared to the other Senate candidates.
DG: You’ve said you were sick for the first week of your campaign.
SR: That’s true. It was really unfortunate that I did get sick and was unable to campaign until Tuesday. On top of that, snow has plagued campaigning for all students. So, my lack of presence is due to illness.
DG: Why are you running for a Senate seat?
SR: I am running for a senate seat because I believe the student voice is necessary when the university is making academic decisions. There’s been a big issue in this race, about what senate actually is – I think it’s good to clarify Senate is the governance structure for academics at this university, not anything else. So anything else that’s being discussed is slightly irrelevant.
DG: What role do you see Senate having in the upcoming year?
SR: I believe that Senate’s going to be a really crucial place to be making change in the next year. We have a culture of budget cuts at this university – and that’s across the country – and that’s simply unacceptable, when students are here to get an education. Not for their student life, not to get fancy new buildings. We are here for an education, and I want strong academics at this university. I want education with integrity, and I believe that budget restraints at our university shouldn’t restrain what the university teaches, and that the quality of our education shouldn’t be affected by those budget cuts.
DG: What experience do you have with policy?
SR: I’ve done a lot of work with non-profits, and lots of societies within the DSU. Within that, I am a president of one of the societies, so I know how DSU policy works. And I’ve been involved with the university’s governing board as well.
DG: If you were on senate this year, what’s the biggest issue you would want to bring to the table?
SR: One of the biggest issues that I see is that there’s major issues with the university budget. It’s focused towards enrolment, rather than getting a good education. The university doesn’t take into consideration how a fine-quality education institution should have a well-rounded education program, and not just base it on who’s wanting to study what at the time.
DG: What senate committees would you like to sit on, and why?
SR: I’d like to sit on the planning and governance committee, the academic discipline committee, and the academic programs and research committee. I’d like to sit on the planning and governance committee because I believe it’s really important for the student voice to be given when we’re planning for the future of our university. That’s something that is necessary and with the limited number of seats at the Senate, I think that every senator should try and have a voice there.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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