Geoff Lister/The Ubyssey

Though the VP Academic & University Affairs portfolio is wide reaching, the topic that most divides the candidates this year is their stance on developing the summer semester.

The current proposal for the summer semester looks to standardize course starting dates and lengths, meaning that more intensive three-week courses would generally no longer be offered. The candidates reacted differently to the loss of the three-week courses.

Kiran Mahal described herself as a “huge advocate” of their removal, citing personal experience taking a three-week course. Mahal characterized the stress of the accelerated learning rate as “not healthy for mental health,” and that she had found the quality of education in the summer term to be significantly less than the regular year.

Bahador Moosavi also came out in support of the removal of short courses. Moosavi argued that the creation of more six-week courses would guarantee that “the summer term is sustainable in faculties like engineering, where there are no three-week courses and the courses that are offered are very limited.”

However, both Carven Li and Iqbal Kassam thought the university should continue to offer intensive courses to students.

Li argued that the university should try to accommodate many types of learners. “I think that they should definitely keep some of the intense courses for students who learn better at a more intensive rate,” he said.

Kassam, agreed, and said that three-week courses offered flexibility to working students. “I honestly just like the way it is now, I like the flexibility.”

The manner in which the summer semester is developed will also impact campus life and the financial health of businesses during that season. Though the candidates agreed that a more lively campus during the summer should be encouraged, their strategies to achieving it varied.

A lively summer term is dependent on the expansion of year-round student housing on campus, argued Moosavi, “because it guarantees the traffic that’s needed to support those [campus] businesses over the summer.” He said that expanding the course offering during the summer term will “make the AMS stronger in terms of lobbying the university, especially in housing.”

Mahal thought similarly, and added that the increase in year-round traffic will also give the AMS more sway with Translink over the creation of rapid transit to UBC. “I think that there is potential to keep this campus vibrant all throughout the year, and I think that’s what everyone wants.”

Maintaining student services during the summer was prioritized by Li. He advocated for more four-month course options in the summer, “so that AMS services like Safewalk and tutoring are more feasible during this time.” However, he also acknowledged the difficulties surrounding maintenance of a year-round campus.

Kassam argued that a lively campus in the summer required more housing, “in particular for the faculty.” He pointed to commute times of both professors and students as being problematic, and maintained that students “could have a much busier campus life if we just made it possible for more students and more professors to live here.”

A very different approach to the summer term is envisioned by joke candidate Ian “Party Rock” Campbell. Though it might not be financially sound, the idea to “scrap the summer term, and install and exchange program to Ibiza” might be favoured by the student population. Plus, as “Party Rock” put it, it will most definitely “make UBC a more fun place.”

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