On Feb. 6, seven students declared their campaigns for UVU’s Student Body Elections. However, none of those seven were running for Vice President of Academic Senate, leaving the position only open to write-in candidates.
For students unfamiliar with the term, write-in candidates, as defined by the Utah Valley University Student Association page, are students who meet the requirements for candidacy but did not submit the Elections Packet prior to the deadline. This means that the candidate cannot participate in events hosted by the UVUSA Elections Committee nor display campaign material.
The Review had a chance to sit down with a student who seeks to be a contender in the office’s race. Majoring in Criminal Justice, sophomore Mike Erikson is seeking to “give students the education they deserve,” stating that he has three major goals to achieve that promise as VP of Academics.
First, Erikson wishes to create a grading deadline for professors. Believing that students deserve a timeline for grading, Erikson wants to help provide students with quicker feedback. He mentioned how it has affected students’ progress and even gave a first-hand account of only just this week receiving a grade for a class he’s currently enrolled in this semester.
Erickson stated that his second goal is to have some sort of required attendance for professors. He knows this would be complicated to implement, but he thinks that professors should be held to the same standard as students when it comes to attendance.
Lastly, Erickson wants to rework the current university surveys. He’s primarily focused on the end-of-semester SRI survey that students can fill out to rate their classes and professors. Erickson stated that he sees the survey as an “autopsy” rather than a “surgery.”
Instead of feedback that improves the quality of teaching at the end of the semester, Erickson wants to supply students with the opportunity to give feedback halfway through the semester to help adjust professors’ teaching with the goals of the students.
To vote in the upcoming, visit the hall of flags from Feb. 27 to March 2nd. To vote for write-in candidates, a blank space is provided for students to fill in the name of their choosing.
