CANDIDATE INFO
CANDIDATE INFO
CEESS 2021-2022
Meet the candidates and read their portfolios!
VP-FINANCE AND OPERATIONS CANDIDATE (no candidates yet)
VP-COORDINATION CANDIDATE (no candidates yet)
PRESIDENT CANDIDATES
Jason Tao
Hello, my name is Jason Tao and I’m running to be your next Civil and Environmental Students’ Society President. I will be in my 5th year of civil engineering in the upcoming 2021/2022 school year. If elected, this will be my 3rd year with the Civil Club. I’ve served on the Civil Club as your VP Finance and Operations for the last two years, and a number of positions on the ESS (such as senior advisor to the president, junior editor, FAMF project lead, etc.). Community has been an integral part of my life growing up.
During my first year of engineering at the U of A, I was fortunate to meet many people who inspired and supported me to get involved and give back to the engineering community. From there, I was introduced to a community that was very supportive, inclusive, and diverse allowing students (including myself) to prosper and be involved.
I hope to bring about positive change during these unprecedented times and to give back to the community that has always supported me. My goal as president is to build a strong sense of community through student engagement, professional development, and instilling the core values of inclusivity, diversity and belonging.
My platform to you is built around three major pillars, and one overarching theme: unity.
I will work to prioritize student engagement in this online environment. Being online has created many exciting new challenges for us all and I hope to increase our engagement through new and meaningful new events, collaboration with discipline clubs and meaningful consultations with students. As well, I plan to emulate Civil Club’s ‘open door policy’ through inclusivity/diversity initiatives, virtual office hours, a Discord server, and new volunteer opportunities. I plan to work closely with student groups such as the ESS, and it’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) department. Furthermore, I plan to continue our professional development opportunities and to strengthen our ties with faculty/department, and alumni. I am committed to bringing back an increased Civil Club scholarship (with a focus on building community, and leadership), developing unique competition categories and themes, and increasing our event reach through collaboration with student groups and organizations such as the ESS, the CSCE, and other discipline clubs.
Nina Cen and Aline Ljubichich
Hi everyone! We are Nina Cen and Aline Ljubichich, and we are running to be your next co-Presidents of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Students’ Society. We are both in our fourth year of co-op, Nina in environmental and Aline in civil engineering. There is a lot of work to be done in the Civil Club, and we hope to have the opportunity to do it next year.
Between the two of us, we have a combined six years of experience as student leaders in organizations such as the Engineering Students’ Society as well as the Civil Club. After serving as VP Technical for the Civil Club this past year, we were able to witness how our events directly impacted students and provided them with unique opportunities. This inspired us to run for co-President, a position that will allow us to make our vision for Civil Club a reality, and to foster the sense of community we got to grow up with ourselves. All we really want is to see more and more civil engineers at our events, making the most of our services, and making connections which serve them like they have served us.
Our platform is centered around providing students with numerous opportunities. We will work around the COVID-19 pandemic to continue offering safe events for all students, and will communicate with the Department, the Faculty, and the students to fill in the gaps, and ensure transition back to campus will be as seamless as possible. In the meantime, we will continue to work with technical clubs on campus (GNCTR, EIA, etc.) and our industry partners to help students build a strong network. For those wanting to join the Civil Club, we hope to expand the club by opening more volunteer opportunities (new positions) and implement additional services like a mentorship program and a civil engineering Discord server to connect all students. Our doors will always be open for those looking to join the Civil Club, and we aim to make the Civil Club as inclusive as possible by mandating Diversity and Inclusivity Training and starting the first-ever and much needed Civil Advocacy Committee. Finally, all students will be included in important decision making processes. All civil and environmental students’ voices will be heard regarding decisions that will impact them. We have so much to talk to you about- there is lots of work to be done- we only ask that you let us do it.
We hope that you will vote for Nina and Aline for Civil Club President on March 17-18!
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VP-COMMUNICATIONS CANDIDATE
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BIJAN BOROUMAND AND MOKSHITA SHARMA
Hello, we are Bijan Boroumand and Mokshita Sharma, and together we are running for the position of Vice President of Communications (VP Comms) for the Civil Environmental Engineering Society (CEESS). We are both third-year Civil Environmental Engineering Co-op students.
This year, we will be focusing on improving the digital marketing aspect of the VP Communications position while representing the sub-discipline of Environmental Engineering in the CEESS. Due to the current and indefinite remote nature of University as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, online communication has become more integral than ever in the operation of student organizations. We will work to improve on the efforts of last year’s incumbents of this position to accommodate the required changes during these extraordinary times. Some major points of focus for our campaign include:
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Increasing effectiveness of communication through frequent visuals while following a posting schedule for social media
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Ensuring a consistent design, visual, and colour style for coherent graphic presentations
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Improving opportunities for student engagement by posting interactive content to strengthen social media presence.
Both of us have held various leadership positions with different organizations in University which has been a catalyst in making us confident communicators and effective presenters, which are the key qualities that a VP of Communications must possess. Being upper year students, we possess the knowledge and skills that are required to address student inquiries or concerns. Having volunteered with CEESS before, we understand the core values and working environment of the club. Our diverse backgrounds, experiences and different working styles make us the best candidates for the position.
VP-STUDENT LIFE CANDIDATE
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FRANCHESCA DRUMMOND AND MADELINE BARKER
Hey! Our names are Francesca Drummond and Madeline Barker, and we are running for VP Student Life (2021/2022). We are both in our third year of Civil Engineering and are excited to have a chance to engage and unite students across the Civil/Environmental discipline. We both performed this role for the 2020/2021 academic year and hope to continue. Working with the CEESS team this coming year, here are some of the goals and ideas we would like to make happen:
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Create new and creative merchandise that has something for everyone as well as fine tune the merchandise process
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Create and develop new online and Covid-friendly events to engage the Civil/Environmental community
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Increase efficiency and appeal of fundraisers such as the spring roll sale and potentially creating new fundraisers (if Covid circumstances allow)
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Increase participation of new Civil and Environmental students through promotion of events and activities on social media.
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Maintain positive and productive relationships with members of the CEESS
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Work closely with VP Finance to maintain budget while still providing the best possible quality of fundraisers & events
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Be friendly and approachable to all students, creating a comfortable, inviting environment where everyone feels welcome to attend events, ask questions, and be a part of the CEESS
VP-TECHNICAL CANDIDATE
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HAMIZ ADIL AND TAARIQ SANYA
Hey all, this is Hamiz Adil and Taariq Sanya and we have held positions as an AVP Technical (Hamiz) in the CEESS and Philanthropy Coordinator (Taariq) in the ESS. This coming year we want to organize outstanding, exciting and sociable engineering events and make them as accessible and fruitful as possible. The COVID uncertainty has taken a great amount of events and opportunities away this year, but the CEESS has worked extensively to work their ways around this. As a current member of the CEESS as Assistant VP Technical we have learnt to handle the online nature of events that may be happening this coming fall. We will be looking to use our platform to secure sponsorship packages as soon as the academic year begins, and then move onto coordinating the potential online events such as the research and specialization panels. During the second half of the academic year we will be looking into getting young aspiring civil engineers to connect with professionals in the industry. This will be done through working with the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers (CSCE) towards a goal to bridge the connection between aspiring and professional engineers. We believe our experience and drive will allow us to maximize the opportunity that we hope you will trust in us.