Chris Scott is a third-year student like his opponent. But unlike Alan Ehrenholz, Scott has only been at UBC for a year. Scott transferred into his political science major here, but got involved right off the bat. Scott has occupied the position of vice-chair of the Student Administrative Committee. He has also learned about campus from being a driver at Safewalk and about the inner-workings of the VP Admin portfolio from being the system administrator for the club management software called OrgSync.
Describe your platform and what sets it apart from your opposition in a few sentences.
I think what really sets me apart … is that I want to focus on community engagement rather than events planning because we already have an entire staff dedicated to events — we really don’t need to add the VP Admin onto that staff as well. The VP Admin should be focused on building communities through things like lunchtime programming and precinct programming in the offices.
What drew you to this specific position?
The reason I wanted to get involved with the AMS is because what I’ve noticed about Canadian schools versus American schools is that … students who what to see a change basically have power to make that change. I think one of the most important aspects of university is the social learning aspect of it and that’s through leadership.
What are the challenges facing this position in the next year?
In my experience, the VP Admin portfolio is somewhat understaffed and so I think that’s probably one of the biggest challenges. Specifically working on SAC, there’s just not enough people to handle all of the clubs and then also make all of the changes that need to be made. I really am going to advocate for adding an assistant clubs administrator.
What are the issues you’re trying to tackle and why do you think they haven’t been addressed already?
I think that a huge portions of the VP Admin’s efforts have been focused on building the new SUB. It’s kind of a big task to ask of someone who’s 21, 22 years old to lead this project. For previous VP Admins, I haven’t seen any come from the “under-ranks” of the VP Administration, so it might just be lack of experience knowing exactly how things work on the lower level and on the upper level.
Who is the most important body or person you need to collaborate with in this position, and how will you foster a relationship with them?
I think the most important body is SAC. The VP Administration’s responsibilities and duties are based in SAC. According to our governing documents, everything basically comes out of SAC. I think it’s just really important to have an open relationship with everyone sitting on SAC.
What’s the weakest part of your campaign or platform?
I don’t have any kind of name recognition — that’s the thing I’m most worried about because I’m a transfer student.
Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.