Introduction: 

Hey everyone! 

My name is Michael Chang, and I am a 6th year Chemical Engineering Co-op student! This past year, I’ve had the pleasure of serving as your ESS President! (And previously served as your VP Social Events for the two years prior). I’m seeking re-election to be your ESS president once again for the upcoming year! 

I’ve really enjoyed working alongside the various discipline clubs, project groups, faculty, Students Union and students to make changes both internal and external of the ESS to make your student life at the University of Alberta enjoyable and fruitful! 

I’ve had a lot of experience in Governance both as a Students Union Engineering Councillor and General Faculties Undergraduate Engineering Councillor, and have advocated for change for Engineering students including the Undergraduate Program Renewals, Transparency within governance, Additional ONEcard access, and increased funding opportunities. 

You can find more information below regarding my platform! Additionally, feel free to reach out to me with any questions, concerns that you might have at mchang@ualberta.ca! 

Be sure to vote on March 4 & 5th, 2026 at uasu.ca/vote! 

Platform Theme: Continuing to re-build Student Life & create more involvement opportunities on Campus 

● Advocacy: 

○ Advocating to the Faculty and University with Student Group and Student Needs:

■ Being accessible to take in concerns that students and clubs might have

■ Ensuring that the Undergraduate Program Renewal has sufficient consultation from students of all years in each discipline! 

■ Advocating and creating awareness around Opt-Out fees (such as the Course Materials Access Program - Costs $259 per student per semester) 

● Advocating for more Professors to look into options such as Open Education Resources listing their courses on the Zero Textbook Cost Program. 

■ Advocating for more Faculty presence at your big events! 

○ Hosting Townhalls to get student feedback!

● Support for Discipline Clubs & Project Groups: 

○ Over the last couple of years, more and more student groups are looking for assistance. 

■ Providing groups with a list of contacts both within the Faculty and University for support! 

■ Creating more collaborative events with the ESS and other Faculty Associations for clubs to join! 

■ Having templates for various documents (such as sponsorship packages, transition documents, etc) 

■ Providing a list of scholarships and funding opportunities for clubs to be able to utilize 

● Sponsorships & Funding: 

○ Working with both the current and incoming ESS Executives to build the Sponsorship package early! 

■ ESS has been lacking in sponsorships over the last couple of years. Part of this issue is due to the late release of the sponsorship packages. 

○ Working to finalize the previous year’s audit as soon as possible, so clubs are able to get access to their FAMFs as soon as possible to help with their operations! 

○ Bring back the ESS Scholarships (pending funding) for students to apply to! ○ Financial Transparency: 

■ Working to ensure that the budget is easy to read, and is descriptive as possible 

■ Working to release previous budgets for students to be able to look into! ● Partnerships: 

○ Looking and creating new partnerships with various professional organizations and to provide various workshops and events for students to build professional relationships and to understand more about the future industries students can enter. 

● ESS Projects: 

○ Creating a physical Timeline Poster & posting a monthly calendar of events ○ Hosting more collaborative events with the Faculty, and Faculty Associations to build a tight knit community 

○ Bring back the GROG Stuffies & look into investing into a Mascot 

○ Looking into refurnishing the GEER Lounge & investing into additional games / activities 

○ Merch Collaborations with Clubs / Project Groups