MSU Elections 2018: Ikram Farah's Platform Overview

Ikram Farah is a level IV Honours Political Science and Labour Studies student. Her platform focuses on advocacy and improving student life.

Within the university, Farah has worked at the circulation desk in Mills Library, as a Community Advisor and as a student partner for the MacPherson Institute.

In the McMaster Students Union, Farah has served as an Ontario University Student Association delegate and represented the Social Sciences faculty as a caucus leader on the Student Representative Assembly during the 2016-2017 year.

Under her “Transit — Your Destination” pillar, Farah hopes to work with various groups to improve transit for both international and commuter students. Farah plans on partnering with Airways Transit Limited to create a service that transports international students to and from airports. She also plans on working with Metrolinx to extend GO bus hours to better match student schedules.

Farah’s “Revamping Your Campus” pillar focuses on the need for more outlets on campus, improved lighting in low-traffic areas and student-populated areas off-campus and reduced physical barriers.  

The “Re-EXAMining Exams” pillar seeks to improve students’ academic experiences by advocating for an extended study break before exams and the opportunity for students to reschedule exams when two consecutive ones are on the same day.

Through her “A Student’s Success” pillar, Farah also seeks to develop what she calls a “Brighter World Transcript,” meant to highlight students involvements outside of academia. She also hopes to improve the McMaster Student Absence Form by adding a part outlining the student’s estimation of assignment completion and standardize the three day period of the MSAF to be three business days across the board to ensure students have the time they need.

Farah also focuses on improving food options on campus.Two platform points that centre around this are Farah’s plan to implement a “Tax-Free Tuesdays” initiative that would make McMaster Hospitality Services food tax-free on Tuesdays and working with Bridges Café to offer healthier options at other restaurants on campus.

Farah also plans to reduce financial barriers for students by advocating for an earlier bursary date and re-evaluation of the OSAP structure to ensure that accounts for program cost discrepancies.

Farah plans on addressing student support by making improvements to the Note-Taker initiative currently offered by Student Accessibility Services. She hopes to collaborate with their office to incentivize students by offering them MSU Courtesy Cards as a short-term plan, and then eventually offer honorariums.

Farah also hopes to foster a safer campus for students by advocating for the addition of a second Sexual Violence Response Coordinator to improve the university’s response to sexual violence on campus.

To learn more about Farah's platform, visit her Facebook page and website: www.ikram2018.com

https://www.facebook.com/itsikramfarah

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