External President (1)
Libby Wrightman – Hi all! My name is Libby Wrightman and I am running for External President for this upcoming school year. Over the past year I had the opportunity to serve on SLUGS as the Design and Marketing Coordinator. In this time, I have gotten to discover and explore the inner workings of how SLUGS works, something I feel would serve me well in this role. Outside of SLUGS, I have served as Vice President of WRC, Upper Year Representative of UTNR, and an upper year mentor in the Woodsworth Mentorship Program, among other positions I held this year. All of these positions have continued to develop my leadership, communication, and engagement skills. From a wide variety of roles I have had the honor to hold, I possess effective communication skills, the ability to work both collaboratively and independently, and the capability to think critically and creatively problem solve, all skills that are critical for this role. I feel that all of these skills and experiences would serve me well in the role of External President this upcoming school year.
Anastasia Koutlemanis – I am excellent for the External President of SLUGS as I have experience working with upper-level student organizations such as ULife and VUSAC. I have been on the Executive Council for UofT’s Greek Students’ Association for 2 years now and have assisted on the many application forms that student clubs are responsible for. This gives me an advantage as the main responsibility of the External President is working closely with the ASSU. As one of the academic event coordinators for SLUGS, I have a strong understanding of the structural and functional organization of SLUGS and the Department of Linguistics. I will ensure SLUGS receives the appropriate resources for us to host events that will ultimately benefit all students. Overall, I am a strong candidate for the External President position as I have the prior experience and desire to ensure another successful year. Thank you!
Naim Lim – Hi everyone! I’m Naim, currently a third-year Linguistics and Cognitive Science student and I’m running to be your External President this year. As the SLUGS Secretary in the last year, I’ve become familiar with how SLUGS operates and I would love to contribute more. Additionally, I have experience with funding and budgeting, leading and facilitating school communities for a variety of clubs and non-profit organizations. Some things I would like to implement to ensure accessibility for Linguistics students to make suggestions or get accessible help are SLUGS office hours, where you can make your suggestions about what you would like to see and need from SLUGS or ask questions. I would directly use these suggestions to make decisions about funding distributions. Personally for me, I would like to push for a greater variety of Linguistics minors offered by the Linguistics department so that Linguistics students can gain specific skills that are applicable to their career path and add it to their degree without having to take too many more courses on top of their Linguistics program (eg. Linguistic Research Methods). I would also love to see a wider variety of Linguistics courses offered here on the St. George campus. Additionally, I would like to work with the secretary to keep you closely updated with ASSU regulations and internal amendments by means of newsletters and uploaded minutes and make funding decisions transparent. I hope you’ll consider voting for me! Thank you!
Internal President (1)
Anastasia Koutlemanis – This year I was one of the academic event coordinators which provided me with a solid foundation regarding the structural/functional organization of SLUGS and the Department. This role allowed me to connect with both students and faculty. Currently, I run the Department’s social media, which allows me to cultivate relationships between the faculty and students. Working closely with both students and the Department provides the unique ability for me to voice students’ questions and concerns. TULCON is a responsibility for this position and I have the advantage as I have previously attended and presented, allowing me to plan effectively. I’m on the Executive Council for UofT’s Greek Students’ Association where I assist in organizing events (both online and in-person). My experience in organizing large in-person events will be advantageous when planning a hybrid TULCON. To obtain students’ thoughts on the department, I would like to create short pulse surveys for students to complete at the middle and end of each semester and a space on social media where students can share their opinions on the program. I will share the response from faculty members to students to ensure students know their voices are being heard. This would be included as a section in the SLUGS newspaper. As Internal President, I will ensure transparency between students and faculty. Overall, I have the experience and connections to ensure success as Internal President. Thank you!
Mechelle Wu – Hello everyone! I had the pleasure of being your Social Events Coordinator this year and would love to continue fostering a safe and welcoming space for undergraduate Linguistics students to meet new people, destress, discuss interesting Linguistics-related topics, and develop technical skills next year. Having gotten to speak with a lot of you, I have gained insight into what SLUGS could be doing more of and am confident in my ability to address your concerns/suggestions (both within SLUGS and by bringing them to the department’s attention).
Some changes I would bring include:
1. More Workshops and Panels: I would provide more support by organizing workshops similar to the Research Opportunities/Tips and LaTeX for Linguists workshops I hosted earlier this year. Other ideas I have include an Excel workshop and Career Paths Panel. Featuring professors and graduate students, these would equip students with the skills needed for conducting research!
2. First/Second Year Representatives: To allow for more involvement, representation, and better communication with the larger 100/200-level courses.
3. Monthly Newsletters and Feedback Forms: As your Internal President, I would work with the other execs to compile a comprehensive list of event and opportunity dates every month. Additionally, I would love to add a research spotlight and other interactive elements that would create a further sense of community!
I hope you’ll consider voting for Mechelle!
Secretary (1)
Libby Wrightman – Hi all! My name is Libby Wrightman and I am running for Secretary for this upcoming school year. Over the past year I had the opportunity to serve on SLUGS as the Design and Marketing Coordinator. In this time, I have gotten to discover and explore the inner workings of how SLUGS works, something I feel would serve me well in this role. Outside of SLUGS, I have previously served as Administrative Director for WRC, a role that refined my communication and organization skills. In this role I was responsible for maintaining a joint email, taking and sharing meeting minutes, maintaining contact with appropriate staff members, and scheduling meetings throughout the year. This year I have served as Vice President of WRC, Upper Year Representative of UTNR, and an upper year mentor in the Woodsworth Mentorship Program, among other positions. From a wide variety of roles I have had the honor to hold, I possess effective communication skills, the ability to work both collaboratively and independently, and the capability to think critically and creatively problem solve, all skills that are critical for this role. I feel that all of these skills and experiences would serve me well in the role of Secretary this upcoming school year.
Vanessa Liu – Hi everyone! I’m Vanessa from Hong Kong. I’m currently in my first year and decided to major in Linguistics. I’m running to be secretary for next year. I love keeping things neat. I would love to keep meetings for SLUGS organised, reply the email and most importantly , reduce the workload of SLUGS. I had been a secretary of History Society in my high school. I helped the society to answer emails and take minutes.I believe that this previous experience enables me to take effective minutes and respond emails efficiently for SLUG. I would love to be a part of this amazing SLUGs community and make contributions to the linguistic community.
If elected, here are the few things I will do
– create and send monthly newsletter
– respond SLUGS email
– take minutes and upload them to ensure transparency
Academic Event Coordinator (2)
Patrick Kinchsular – Hi everyone! My name is Patrick, and I’m running to be your Academic Events Coordinator! I’m a second-year student at St. George who’s specializing in Linguistics. I’m super passionate about linguistics and love the linguistics community I’ve found at UofT. I’ve really appreciated the events that SLUGS has organized, and now I want to be a part of that organizing process. I’ve worked alongside multiple professors in the department, presented at TULCON, and led or co-led many RSGs for nearly every linguistic course I’ve taken here. As your Academic Events Coordinator, I would like to increase the amount of FSGs throughout the year for linguistics courses (during and outside of exam seasons) and encourage and increase membership and participation in RSGs for linguistics courses. I hope to provide plenty of opportunities for undergrad students to meet and work with faculty and graduate students. I also would like to have regular meetings for undergraduate students to discuss current interests and projects within linguistics. There are many things I would love to do to be able to give back to the UofT linguistics community, and I hope you’ll take me up on the offer! Vote for Patrick!
Tony (Juntao) Hu – Hi everyone! My name is Tony and I’m running for your Academic Events Coordinator. I am a second year (turning third year) Linguistics specialist and Computer Science major. As your AEC, I will set out to revamp and update our resources catalogue on the SLUGS website. I will promote research and other academic opportunities by hosting more academic-oriented workshops and events. I also hope to increase the salience of FSGs and offer more peer-led study sessions… I’ve been assuming you care about any of that. If you don’t, just know that I won’t make fake promises. So vote for me!
Naim Lim – Hi! I’m Naim, currently a third-year Linguistics and Cognitive Science student and I’m running to be one of your Academic Events Coordinators. As the SLUGS Secretary in the last year, I’ve become familiar with how SLUGS operates and I’m excited to contribute more. I also have experience planning and hosting events for a variety of clubs. Additional to my existing responsibilities, I would also want to host:
Degree planning sessions: I’ve noticed the SLUGS discord is full of students wondering about which courses they should take and sharing their opinions, and syllabus to help make these decisions. What if we made this into an organized session and syllabus bank? You can learn about how you can plan your degree to best suit your interests and your career path by asking upper Linguistics students questions.
Mentorship program: I would love to pilot a casual mentorship program where we can pair undergraduate students with graduate linguistics students. You can receive guidance in any way you choose from your mentor.
Linguistic careers fair: I didn’t know about the variety of career options in Linguistics until my second year of university. I would love to promote what kind of options are available to Linguistics students/students considering Linguistics by hosting a career fair! We would have professors, a Speech Language Pathologist, Audiologist, Computational Linguist etc. come in, present and be part of a panel.
I hope you’ll consider voting for me! Thank you:)
Social Event Coordinator (1)
Vanessa Liu – Hi everyone! I’m Vanessa from Hong Kong. I’m currently in my first year and decided to major in Linguistics. I’m running to be social event coordinator for next year. I would love to create a strong bonding among Linguistics students and a welcoming space where they can relax and have fun discussion on Linguistics after class. I have experience hosting and promoting social events.
If elected, I intend to run these social events.
1. A first-year student social where first-year students hoping to pursue Linguistics can meet their fellow schoolmates who are also interested in Linguistics and executives. They can meet new friends and learn more about Linguistics-related courses and upper-year individual projects.
2. A fun dancing party where you can enjoy delicious food, have fun with friends and take a break from studying.
3. fashion show where you can work with other Linguistic friends to create a beautiful clothing and showcase their artistic talent.
4. weekly social (online / off-line) – you can meet up with your friends regularly, destress and seek help for Linguistics whenever you need.
5. wordle competition – you can pick up letters and create words with your teammates. You can stand a chance to win a prize!
Mechelle Wu – Hello everyone! I had the pleasure of being your Social Events Coordinator this year and would love to continue organizing social events for Linguistics students at U of T! Having held this role for the past year, I have gained insight into what sorts of events you want to see more of and will be able to hit the ground running once the new year rolls around. As restrictions are lifting, I am also excited about the prospect of organizing in-person events for you in addition to online ones!
These are some social events I intend to organize:
– Technical skills workshops (like the LaTeX for Linguists workshop I hosted this year)
– More “themed” CommuniTEA’s where you can ask questions about specific topics (e.g., CS x Linguistics session where students can socialize and also ask for Excel and R help)
– Joint events with the Linguistics Graduate Course Union and other course unions for students to learn about what Linguistics research later on looks like/other programs
– Pub nights, movie nights, and board game nights (but in-person with food and drinks)
– First-year student social for first-year students interested in linguistics to get to know the community and get some advice on course selection and conducting research
I hope you’ll consider re-electing for Mechelle!
Design and Marketing Coordinator (1)
Log in with your UTORid and then look for “Society of Linguistics Undergraduate Students (SLUGS) 2022-23 Elections”