Hey everybody! My name is Don Tu and I am campaigning to be your next Vice President of Finance! Now, I am sure that it comes as no surprise when I say that being an undergraduate engineering student at the University of Waterloo is not cheap. Even with the rewards of co-op, it’s no small thing to start every academic term off by opening up your wallet and sacrificing your hard-earned money to QUEST. If you look through the details of your promissory note, you’ll see a fee labelled “ENG Student Society”. This term, it carries a price tag of $15.45. This is the fee that every undergraduate engineering student pays to the Engineering Society, every term. This term, their total amounted to over $40,000 – and that figure is only growing as the number of engineering students continues increases every year. $40,000 is one pretty penny! And while $15.45 by itself is not a massive sum, every dollar counts – both for you as a student and for the student body as a whole. It is this money that goes towards improving student life in the form of the many events and services that the Engineering Society offers. Resume critiques, interview workshops, printing services, semi-formal – all of these great things and more are funded by our money!
When you really think about it, it’s amazing how $15.45 can grow into so many fantastic services. The reason that I say “really think about it” is because I don’t think it’s something a lot of people put too much thought towards. Not only is being an engineering student expensive, but busy as well. Sometimes we just see price tags and fail to remember the things that those price tags get us. As VP Finance, I want to change that. Not only do I want to make sure that student money is being spent wisely, I want to make sure that students actually know what those wise expenses are! As VP Finance, I plan on:
· increasing financial transparency by keeping Engineering Society budgets up-to-date online so that everyone can see what their money is buying;
· expanding the student deals program so that engineering students can enjoy better pricings on foods and goods in the area;
· analyzing past budgets and developing financial guidelines for directors;
· expanding the Novelties and Ridgidware inventories;
· and communicating with students to gather ideas and feedback of how their money is being spent.
Those are my hopes as a VP Finance candidate in a nutshell! In the week of campaigning ahead, feel free to stop me in the halls and talk to me – I always love meeting new people! I hope that I’ve inspired you to take a moment to think about how you want your money to be utilized, and that I’ve convinced you that I am the man for the job of helping you do so.
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