The Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG) released its new Student Voices Committee article-writing initiative on Oct. 17, aiming to facilitate discussions about academic advocacy within the student body.
Students will be able to write articles about their academic concerns, which CASG will then use to support its advocacy to the university, said Alison Kocsis, CASG’s vice-president (academic).
CASG acts as a voice for students to communicate their academic concerns directly with the university, Kocsis said.
Nora Draper, last year’s vice-president (academic) said when students can express their advocacy concerns in an organized and coherent manner, they “tend to get a bit more credibility.”
This organized structure will help CASG address students’ academic concerns to the university, she added.
Kocsis said the initiative is an opportunity for the student body to both advocate for itself and engage with CASG.
“They get to write about the issues that they’re passionate about and what they would like to see Carleton change moving forward,” she said.
Students can contribute to the initiative by submitting articles and article ideas through CASG’s Instagram. The committee will accept drafts and pitches, then write articles about issues affecting students.
Kocsis said the article-writing initiative is a team effort.
“The committee will be structured like a writing workshop,” she said. “Articles will be produced and then revised within our committee meetings.”
CASG intends to publish the articles throughout Carleton’s various student-run newspapers including the Charlatan, the Iron Times, the University’s the State of the Raven and on CASG’s website.
Kocsis said the goal is to engage the entire student body and “try to make Carleton a better place for students.”
“The biggest struggle right now is that nobody really knows what CASG is and what we do,” she added.
The Student Voices Committee has two seats for each Carleton faculty, a seat for the Carleton University Students’ Association, two seats for CASG equity officers and seats for all four CASG executives.
“The big goal with this is to get the word out,” said CASG physics councillor Gabrielle Lachance. “It will be good to have people actually know what CASG is and to be able to come and talk about their concerns.”
Kocsis said CASG’s form accepting pitches will “always remain open,” and email suggestions are also encouraged.
CASG vice-president (internal) Aidan Patrick said students aren’t going to the right place to get their concerns addressed by talking to their classmates and not addressing the issues further..
“My big hope is to make [CASG] a household name,” he said.
Featured image by Katelyn Stevenson.
