My name is Daniel Lucas Nicholson, I am a leap year baby.

I was born and

raised in the small city of Sault Ste Marie in beautiful Northern Ontario. I chose
Dalhousie for its reputation as an open and accepting community of students, its
progressive stance on large and influential topics and, of course, to experience
this magnificent east coast lifestyle.

I have always strived to stand at the front and face problems head on. I
consider opposition as a challenge, not a hindrance. From leading sports teams,
to student coalitions, to grasping hold of leadership positions in the classroom; I
cannot help but work as hard as possible, because that is the only way I can
operate. I sacrifice to make things happen, the long term goal is better than the
short term gain. I always have and always will jump at the opportunity to
improve and grow. I encourage criticism in order to gain a more robust
understanding of the situation. Boldness is a quality that I refuse to part with.
Be prepared because I will say what needs to be said. I have the proven track
record of successful leadership and I plan to continue on in the same way.

The Dalhousie student body is calling for change. The abysmal voter
turn-out speaks volumes to the level of trust between the students and the
union. There needs to be an overhaul of the current policy and operations. We
are currently choosing to continue with practices that are outdated and
inefficient. I feel abandoned by my union because of their lack of presence
around all Dalhousie campuses. The severe disconnect between the governed
and the governing body is festering a collapse of the support system. The utter
failure of the Union to represent the entire contributing student mass has driven
me to challenge the current leadership and bring a fresh perspective to table.

I bring a refined ability to look at situations with an objective mind and

to utilize all evidence available. My strongest characteristic is connecting with
people, networking and forming genuine relationships from the very beginning
of any conversation. I bring a passion for change fueled by the slights against
myself and my fellow peers, but also by my ambition to transform what we have
at Dal into the greatest student led union in the Nation. We are a population
with magnificently inspired minds and a vastly diverse outlook, I want to
empower each and every one of these minds. We, the students have the ability

to work together as a single unit of immeasurable force and I am ready to lead

the way to realizing this potential.

Platform

It is no secret that the student body, in general, is dissatisfied with their

Student Union. Several groups feel neglected or underrepresented, and many
simply do not know what the DSU does for them. This invisibility of operations
is generating disconnect between faculties and creating an us and them
dichotomy between the Union executive and the student population. The
following will aim to address these issues, bringing our DSU into a more visible,
and more importantly, accountable relationship with the students they
represent.

VISIBILITY

Many

student politicians will promise you transparency, to the point

where the word is meaningless. That's why I'm highlighting visibility - making
what the DSU does visible to students, so the executive can be kept accountable
by knowledgeable and informed students. I have three methods to make this
happen: a definedbudget, clear executive timelines, and campus outreach.

The DSU receives just over $1 million from student fees each year. I will
clearly communicate and display all resources, services and groups that are
funded from student fees- including the budget, which has not been released
this year for reasons unknown. Once a better understanding of the DSU budget
is achieved, there is potentialfor council to consider reallocation of funds, on

advice from constituents. In conjunction with the VP Finance& Operations, as

well as financial staff at the DSU who have relevant institutional knowledge,I
aim to uncover the details of the DSU budget and reform areas that are not
currently as effective as they could be.

I want to be accountable for the actions I am expressing I will achieve

now. Over the summer, I will lead the executive in creating goals with concrete
timelines to be made public by September 2015, so that the student body can
track the progress of DSU initiatives.In order to ensure that the students are
kept up to speed with all DSU progress, I plan to implement a video log strategy
which will include uploading bi-weekly 2-3 minute video summaries from each
executive and sending them to all forms of social media. The videos will include
problems and barriers that executives are facing and will encourage students to
give feedback and provide solutions.
Lastly, to increase visibility on campus, I will be holding regular weekly
office hours at various hotspots around the campuses. I will include methods to
attract students to come talk including music, friendly signage and snacks. I
want the student body to know that I am genuinely interested in talking to
anyone and everyone who is willing to come over and say hello. I want the
students to recognize me based on our interactions. This includes the
agricultural campus, whichI am committed to visiting at least once per month
to spend the day with the students in Truro. I thrive on face-to-face interaction
and I think it is essential to building any healthy and trusting relationship. I
plan to work with the DASA council to continue on the ground work laid out
over the past year to maintain their level of autonomy and self-governance but
to develop a mutually benefical relationship. Some options that have been
discussed are purchasing gear together for o-week, increasing the number of
video conferences between councils and planning more frequent visits to the
Truro campus.

REPRESENTATION

 The unions internal structure is currently outdated and inefficient. It

does not enable for effective council meetings, substantial changes to current
obsolete policy and generally causes confusion and chaos within meetings.We
need a new council structure which equally represents all students and
empowers non-council students to generate change. This can be accomplished
through a committee-based council and senate reform.

I want to improve upon the current committee based system such that
we can be presented wth pre-vetted soloutions to existing problems. By
reformatting the voting structure in council in order to ensure that each voting
member of council has a specifically defined constituency, we can make sure
that each member of the student body has a clear understanding of who their
DSU representatives are and that each councillor will be held accountable for
thier decisions. For example, this may come in the form of increasing the
proportion of health professional positions available on council. I want to work
towards making sure that meetings will no longer be a frustrating, time
consuming and unproductive session;council would now be an effective
decision making body, which it cannot effectively be with 41 voting members.
Imagine productive council meetings of a reasonable length - sounds pretty
good, doesn't it? I do not claim to be an expert in restructuring organizations,
but I am eager to consult with external professionals to continue the process of
refining the system to achieve the best result.

On the administrative representation side, currently, the students make

up a mere 8% of the Senate representatives, which if far below some of
Canadas leading universities. By lobbying for 13students, onerepresenting
each faculty and one representing the DSU,this would bring Dalhousie to the
gold standard of student voice within Senate.It would also hold senators
directly accountable to their faculties, connecting students to the senate in a way
that can't happen with 3 senate reps who may all be from the same program.

SERVICES


Students are not aware of manyof the services and resources their fees
fund. I aim to increase access and awareness of these resources,both from the
DSU and from the University administration. There are several items in
addition to what is available now that I would like to make a reality for
students,by working with my executive team:

The Dal Health Clinic and Counseling Services will also be a priority to
address. Wait times for counselling appointments are too long, aggravating
pre-existing problems that the service is meant to resolve. I would like to
collaborate with these organizations to devise a strategic approach to
enhance health services. Further, staff and students in leadership roles,
such as Residence Assistants and society leaders, must have mental health
and victim support training to create a more robust support network for
those struggling to maintain a healthy mental state or who have faced
sexual assault.

Continuethe project of refining a user friendly mobile app to provide an

organized social network hub. This will ensure that students have
numerous opportunities to join events and socialize with peers.

A shuttle service to the downtown airport bus stop would provide students
with access to more affordable transportation;Tiger Patrol could be made
use of here as a way to integrate campus services.

DSU can improve Tiger Patrol by adding another van and further
developing the security app to include booking options and a map to
monitor where the cars are using GPS technology.

Work with DISA to develop a program for international students, andout

of province students, to help them get acquainted with the city of Halifax.

Being buddied up with a Halifax Native could reduce isolation of

international students, and integrate the diverse community we have at
Dal.

An open increase in support for the LGBTQ community and

organizations like South House. This cancome in the form of making more
universal washrooms on campus, and have designated Safe Spaces on
campus in every building for students to go for refuge. I want to open
dialog to ensure that these spaces encompass all student needs.

Increase the number of water bottle filling stations at all campuses.

Currently there are only a few on Sexton Campus, and Engineers,
Architects, and Plannersneed accessible, fast water dispensers too!

To encourage sustainable habits, coffee should be subsidized more than

$0.10. As a University, we can reduce our impact on the environment
while continuing to stay awake to study.

Classrooms are all too frequently inaccessible and by unlocking doors;this

could increase study space on campus without the need to book a room
ahead of time. In larger rooms, cubicles or dividers could be used to limit
distractions.

Not only is our campus in need of study space, but also lounge space. Nap
rooms have been raised as a necessity on campus by many graduate and
professional program constituents. There are several seemingly empty
rooms on campus that could be utilized for this.

When choosing courses, the course descriptions are often general and

vague and students sign up for courses only to drop them right away as
they did not meet their expectations. I will advocate for posting past syllabi
up on the academic timetable which will decrease waitlists, prevent the
number of students that have to rearrange their schedules at the beginning
of the year and decrease the amount of class missed within these first few
weeks.

Begin discussions with the sexton campus coordinator to create a

functional co-op resource office.

Work with the currently existing daycare facility coordinator to address

the overwhelming need for child support

Vote

Each and every student on this campus has the capacity to change
Dalhousie University to become something better. Together, the student body
and your DSU executive, we can ensure that change happens. From projects,
such as including syllabi on the Academic Timetable, to increasing
representation of the diverse population that makes up our university, we can
change the DSU to OUR DSU.

On March 21 to March 24, voice your opinion by voting. We are a

powerful group of innovative, intelligent, hardworking students that deserve to
be heard and have the means to execute change. I can facilitate this change as
DSU President of 2015-2016. Vote Dan Nicholson.