Amrith John David is running for vice-president academics & university affairs on the UNIFY UTSC slate in the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) spring elections. He is in his fourth year, pursuing a specialist in international development studies and a minor in human geography.

In an email to The Varsity, David shared his prior experience that he believes will help him perform the role effectively. David wrote that he worked as an apprentice to the director of student engagement of the International Development Studies Students’ Association (IDSSA) in 2019. He was also involved in the Tamil Students’ Association as a first-year representative in 2019 and as the association’s director of events at UTSC in 2020. He is currently the president of the IDSSA and the vice-president external at Water.org UTSC.

According to his platform on the UNIFY UTSC website, David hopes to introduce an academic advocacy coordinator position to provide assistance to students that may have been accused of academic offences. 

David also intends to create more avenues for student academic support in the current teaching landscape as it fluctuates between in-person and online learning. Specifically, in order to encourage both in person and virtual student networks, he wishes to establish “peer tutoring sessions and department-based study sessions during exam periods.” If elected, David has also committed to investing in the SCSU’s Academic Support Centre and, specifically, the centre’s Free Book Network program, which allows students free access to student-donated textbooks. David aims to make sure students can access current textbooks through the program.

The voting period for the SCSU elections is being held from March 1–3.