Lynne Alexandrova is a PhD candidate in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She was the Internal Commissioner for the UTGSU until she was pushed out of office by the General Council in November. She is now running for University Governance Commissioner.
Alexandrova, in a statement to The Varsity, wrote that her motivation to run for an executive position on the UTGSU again is the recently announced changes to postsecondary education funding by the provincial government, which Alexandrova believes will require “serious negotiations” with the university and coordination with other students across Ontario.
Addressing her history with previous UTGSU executives, several of whom are running for re-election, Alexandrova wrote that there was “implicit mistrust” and “progressively escalating misunderstanding and estrangement.”
She hopes to continue some of the work she had started as Internal Commissioner, “depending on the composition of the new executive.”
Alexandrova also hopes to address funding issues and the lack of Indigenous studies programs at the graduate level, as well as provide mentorship opportunities, among other things.
To achieve her goals, Alexandrova wrote in her candidate statement that she will “stretch the current limits of procedure and existing formats of student participation,” expressing a hope to make UTGSU services worthwhile to students.
