The Political Science Department has granted voting rights to student representatives in future department meetings.
The move reversed a January 2023 decision from the department to revoke voting rights from Graduate and Undergraduate representatives. The decision was met with ire and confusion from the Undergraduate and Graduate Societies at a subsequent town hall.
The Undergraduate Student Society highlighted that the decision would damage relationships between students and professors. The department then tabled the decision following the town hall.
The reversal received a warm welcome from Political Science students and executives, both former and current. Former Academic Representative, Nathan Gillingham, cited the importance of student representation and their roles in the department’s decision-making.
“This is a big win for Political Science students who have been advocating for issues like student accessibility and more consultation for years,” Gillingham said. “This decision serves as an example for other faculties that are representation in important decision-making. We can only hope it leads to more departments emulating this model. ”
Gillingham also recognized how multiple professors within the department have advocated for students.
“We have a few faculty members to thank who have been huge advocates for us,” Gillingham said.
Political Science professor Kelly Blidook says he is very pleased with this outcome and says professors Amanda Bittner and Sarah Martin as instrumental in advocating for this change. “If our goal as faculty is to see the university become more democratic then I think this is a logical step that faculty across the university should support.”
“When students have a say in what is happening around them, I think they’ll bring new ideas and innovation – and I think those are things we should be encouraging as much as possible.”
Student representation has been a hot-button issue at MUN in recent years. With many feeling left out or ignored by the administration, they have called for further democratization and representation for students.
While this decision is far from a democratic overhaul at the highest levels of the university, it can be used as a stepping stone towards greater representation at MUN.
Despite its warm reception from Political Science students, it is unclear whether this will shift other departments towards democratizing their fields. This is unlikely, as the push would most likely come from the students, as was the case in the Political Science Department.
