Three contenders are in the running for the Vice-President (Graduate) position in the upcoming Society of Graduate Professional Students (SGPS) election.
The three-way contested ballot is set to elect an executive who will represent and advocate for graduate students to the Queen’s administration and the broader community. SGPS Vice-Presidential (Graduate) candidate Ikeoluwapo Baruwa, a PhD candidate in Education, Surabhi Velagala, a MSc Epidemiology candidate, and Ali Fathi, a PhD candidate in Civil Engineering, all sat down with The Journal to discuss their campaigns.
Ikeoluwapo Baruwa
For Baruwa, honesty and integrity aren’t just campaign buzzwords—they’re a way of life. According to Baruwa, he has a firsthand understanding of the challenges faced by graduate students, particularly those dealing with food insecurity, and he wants to be the voice that addresses them.
One of Baruwa’s key focuses is the representation of graduate students, particularly within the Faculty of Education. He argued there’s a lack of vocality within graduate and professional student government from the Faculty of Education.
Reflecting on his time at Queen’s, he recalls his involvement in establishing the Faculty of Education’s first open-access journal, a significant accomplishment.
“When I first came to Queen’s in 2022, the Faculty of Education didn’t have an open-access journal,” Baruwa said in an interview with The Journal. “I worked with others to create it, and now I want to continue improving access to academic resources for all students.”
The Queen’s Journal of Education, the University’s open-access journal, was launched as Research in a Nutshell in the fall of 2016, providing a platform for graduate students in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University to present their research.
According to Baruwa, he’s particularly aware of the potential gap between expectations and reality when assuming a position of power. He acknowledges unforeseen complexities, obstacles, and dynamics often arise once in the position, but he’s prepared to handle all the challenges.
“I’ve learned that clear goals and collaboration with other executive members can help overcome the hurdles that come with leadership,” Baruwa said. “I’m confident my experience will allow me to navigate these challenges effectively.”
Surabhi Velagala
As a first-generation immigrant, Velagala has seen the impact of food insecurity and housing instability on her peers, and while running for Vice-Presidential (Graduate), her focus is on addressing food insecurity, mental health, professional development, and community-building among graduate students.
“As leaders of the SGPS, we need to ensure our students have access to resources that enable them to focus on their studies and professional development, not just basic survival,” Velagala said in an interview with The Journal.
Velagala, with a background in mental health research, serves as her cohort’s student representative and an events planning executive member for the Public Health Sciences Student Association. She aims to improve graduate student well-being by making mental health services and resources more accessible and visible.
“Because of pressures in [our] academic and professional lives, students aren’t really having time to work on themselves, and they’re not able to find these mental health resources in a fast way. They kind of put their mental health to the side because of they’re not able to find these resources quickly enough,” Velagala said.
One challenge she anticipates within the Vice-President (Graduate) position is securing adequate funding and stakeholder support. She recognizes building strong relationships and engaging consistently with both internal and external partners such as the University and the Kingston community will be crucial.
“By making sustainable improvements, we can achieve our goals not just for this year, but for the future. I want to start something that grows—creating measurable outcomes, maintaining open communication, and ensuring graduate voices are heard to drive these changes,” Velagala said.
Ali Fathi
Fathi hopes to secure the resources graduate students need to succeed, emphasizing that a stable environment is crucial for career success. His campaign centres on improving the financial and living conditions of graduate students, with a key focus on tackling food insecurity, ensuring fair compensation, and providing affordable housing.
“Income and outcomes for graduate students are currently inadequate—we need to increase the quality and quantity of food programs, secure more funding for financial aid, and address the high cost of rent,” Fathi said in an interview with The Journal.
If elected SGPS Vice-President (Graduate), Fathi plans to advocate for increasing the funding and availability of food programs for students, proposing a subsidized meal plan for graduate students and working with the AMS to explore solutions like raising the SGPS student fee to fund these initiatives.
“Graduate students need stability in housing, which is why affordable options like John Orr Tower are so crucial,” Fathi said. “I have experienced housing struggles myself, and I want to make housing a priority if elected.”
Despite the challenges ahead, Fathi is committed to staying accountable to students. Having experienced these issues firsthand, he’s determined to resolve them and ensure future students don’t face the same struggles.
Tags
Faculty elections, SGPS elections, SGPS executive
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.