The plan outlines each lead director’s goals for their term, and strategies to achieve them
Photo via the University of Victoria Students’ Society.
The 2026-2027 UVSS Board of Directors have put together their 2026-2027 strategic plan — a collection of goals and strategies for each lead director to accomplish.
The report begins with an executive summary outlining the board’s mission, values, and more, followed by a portfolio from each lead director, containing the director’s role, a summary of their goals, and finally timelines and action plans to achieve those goals.
Director of International Student Relations (ISR) Cherop Lyoba outlined three long-term projects aimed at creating more capacity to support international students.
Her first goal involves expanding the ISR director role to an “adequately funded,” full-time position, intended to take effect after the current term, which ends in April. Lyoba is building her case by conducting comparative research on other student unions, and creating a funding model that “survives election-cycle turnover.”
Lyoba said the ISR director position “is significantly underfunded relative to the other roles.”
“I do want to impact students as much as I possibly can, but with those resources and that time constraint … it’s not as feasible,” she said. “It doesn’t allow me to fully impact students to the capacity that I would like to.”
She initially wanted to make the ISR role full-time to match other lead directors, but has since shifted away from that goal.She told the Martlet that the UVSS is running a deficit, and persuading the rest of the board to approve increasing the hours and wage for the ISR role might prove difficult.
She added that it is generally unrealistic for a student role to be full time, specifically for an international student, who “just can’t afford to only take one course per semester.”
For these reasons, Lyoba says that she has turned her attention to her main goal, “which is to make [the position] adequately funded.”
Lyoba’s other two goals are to create an international student section within the UVSS annual general survey, and to increase international student engagement with the UVSS.
She told the Martlet that both of these goals will support the ISR director in delivering supports to international students.
Director of Finance and Operations Mariah Luzon outlined three goals intended to increase student involvement with the UVSS “while delivering something of real value.”
According to the plan, Luzon’s top priority is increasing food security on campus. She intends to increase food bank awareness and capacity by running campaigns and identifying “needed” upgrades.
Luzon plans to start a recurring free breakfast club through sponsorships and partners in the community, as “a direct way of fighting food insecurity on campus.” She also aims to increase and promote financial literacy on campus through sessions with “subject matter experts.”
Her last goal is to raise foot traffic for SUB businesses. Her strategies include promoting SUB businesses at UVSS events, coordinating regular business campaigns, improving social media content, and tracking sales patterns to review the effectiveness of these initiatives.
The Martlet requested to speak with Luzon about her part of the plan, but did not receive a response.
Director of Student Affairs Maddy Vanderhooft’s section of the strategic plan includes three goals. Her first two goals are to increase club engagement, and improve club management software and administrative processes.
Over the last couple of months, she has been working on the implementation of a new club management software, Rubric, which has caused frustration among some club and course union (CCU) executives.
Her last goal is to expand accreditation opportunities for CCU executives as a more formal way to acknowledge the work they do, alongside expanding training and resource offerings. Vanderhooft wrote that CCUs often dedicate significant time and energy to building communities on campus, and she is working to expand accreditation opportunities to recognize these efforts.
Additionally, resources will be expanded to include more workshops, updated resource guides, and more opportunities for student leaders.
Vanderhooft declined the opportunity to interview about the plan.
Director of Outreach and University Relations Matthew Curtis outlined two goals pertaining to awareness and student engagement with the UVSS, as well as one goal to support more student-driven projects.
For his first two goals, Curtis plans to run a recurring video series on Instagram titled “Mornings with Matt,” His other plans include tabling, running campaigns and more.
Curtis told the Martlet in an interview that his goal with the video series is to “help make people more aware of what the UVSS does for them, in a way that they feel like they can relate to.”
To achieve his goal of supporting more student-driven projects, Curtis plans to make himself more available to students for collaboration. Curtis wants to act as a facilitator between students and the groups or individuals that can help develop their ideas.
“I do know people, and I can connect them with each other to make the ideas come to fruition,” he said.
Mohan Selvarajan, director of events, outlined five goals that largely reflect his role’s portfolio.
His five goals are to double free hot lunches, “keep the recurring stuff running smoothly,” “get the big events right,” continue to build with student groups, and “try a few new things.”
His section states that free hot lunches have been increased from monthly to biweekly in both the fall and the winter — “the biggest change in the portfolio this year [which] directly supports food security on campus.”
To “keep recurring events reliable” and “get the big events right,” Selvarajan plans to budget for recurring events first each semester, and “start planning early instead of scrambling closer to the date.”
To continue building with other student groups, he intends to provide support for other groups’ events without taking them over. Finally, he would like to “test a small batch of cheap, easy-to-explain ideas and see what sticks.”
Selvarajan did not respond to the Martlet’s request for comment.
Tam Aljundi, director of campaigns and community relations, has three goals that broadly reflect the responsibilities of his role, including increasing student engagement with UVSS campaigns, advancing student priorities through advocacy and community relations, and strengthening student connection to community, supports, and resources.
He plans to accomplish these goals by delivering “focused campaigns with clear objectives,” creating opportunities for students to participate, “clearly” representing student concerns, and creating a welcoming environment.
Aljundi also did not respond to the Martlet’s request for a comment.
