It’s time to take the Waterloo Engineering Endowment Foundation to the next level. Over the last 20 years, WEEF has contributed millions of dollars to student teams, lab equipment, computers, teaching facilities and most recently, one million dollars to the construction of E5. It has an enormous history of contributions but even greater potential. My name is Praveen Arichandran. I’m in 2A Computer Engineering (Joint Honours Economics) and I love WEEF. Today, it’s time to make strategic decisions and take on initiatives to grow the endowment fund and make sure that the next 20 years are even more prosperous than the last.
If elected, I plan on putting focus on the following key initiatives and bringing them to fruition during my term.
Employer Contribution Forms/Diversified Funding
The primary source of WEEF funds currently is student donations. In order to begin the process of increased growth, we must diversify sources of funding. I would like to implement contribution forms that would be distributed with work term evaluations, where employers would have the opportunity to make a donation to WEEF to foster the education of their co-op students. Many companies have charitable budgets and we should capitalize on this.
Create a Campus-Wide Endowment Council
I want to create a UW Endowment Council for all Endowment Directors. WEEF is not alone. We are by far the largest endowment, but there are many other endowment foundations on campus including those from Math, Environment and Grad Studies. This council would form the groundwork for high-impact, inter-faculty projects in order to optimize benefits both within engineering and across campus.
Increased Promotions and Transparency
Many students do not know of the contributions that WEEF has made to UW Engineering. I would like to organize an extension to the ‘WEEF is Good’ campaign, raising awareness of the many contributions through an improved website and advertising. I want to implement a perpetually increasing digital endowment counter to reflect our growth. I would also like to provide complete transparency of the WEEF funds beyond the $85000 that we distribute. More importantly, I will ensure that every class has a committed WEEF Rep on Funding Council. These initiatives will allow us to instill a great sense of WEEF pride throughout our faculty.
Experience
I am currently a WEEF Assistant and have been involved with EngSoc since 1A through various directorships and as a Class Rep. I understand how WEEF works and where it can be improved. I am a Feds Engineering Councilor and have served as the President of the Toronto District School Board’s SuperCouncil, representing 86000 students. I want to use my experience to create a bright future for WEEF.
The multi-billion dollar endowments of MIT and Harvard weren’t created overnight. We need to plan today for the future of Waterloo Engineering. It’s time to step up the status quo and create something phenomenal. With your support, we can make that happen.
Please join us on Facebook at tinyurl.com/PraveenforWEEF or email me at parichan@uwaterloo.ca with any questions. Happy voting!
Leave a Reply