Jayden Pun
Hi everyone,
My name is Jayden, and I would love the opportunity to be your VP Academic next year!
As VP Academic, I hope to continue advocating for student concerns and well-being while maintaining our important relationships with faculty. With your support, I want to continue fostering a positive learning environment and community for us as future professional pharmacists. Through my previous experience as AVP Academic in helping facilitate pipeline meetings and attending accreditation meetings with faculty, I have developed a deeper understanding of how to effectively represent the student body and advocate for meaningful change from the faculty.
Another goal of mine is to raise awareness for the mental health resources provided by the faculty and to make them more accessible to students who need them. I hope to expand the number of resources currently available on the Canvas E2P PharmD Hub, as well as integrate weekly reminders of self care and mental health resources into both the PhUS weekly announcements and Facebook Hub. With the unrelenting demands of this program, I recognize how important it is that the proper supports are in place and truly impactful to students – not only for academic success, but also for supporting the mental health of all students!
With your support, I hope to utilize my previous experiences to better support your academic journey and mental health as we all strive for excellence in this program and in becoming successful future pharmacists!
Pasley Merrit
I am thrilled to run for the role of PhUS VP Academic! Student advocacy has been a formative part of my education both during PharmD and my undergrad. I have lent my voice to Student Pipeline, advocating for spacious IA classrooms, equitable exam reviews for accessibility students, improved MAP team empathy, and spacing PEADS/IPE away from EOBs.
Areas I am keen to focus on as VP Academic:
- Advocate for computer-based system to book Pharmsci rooms after hours for studying
- 5 day/week support from the pharmacy embedded counsellor to timely meet pharmacy student needs
- Shifting funding and utilizing collective bargaining to increase access to academic resources (ex. UpToDate)
- ALL PPL station answer keys and resources posted to Canvas to aid ICE preparation
- Improved housing services for practicums
- Decrease MAPing (not attending CFA examination reviews & on practicum)
- Reasonable protections for students on practicum, including opportunities held in reserve for students who experience complex situations on practicum for same-year remediation
- Accessible systems for maintenance issue reporting (ex. automatic doors not working)
Currently, I work with the PEADs committee to review student course reviews and strongly advocate for course changes to benefit students. Having served on the Associate Dean Academic Hiring Committee, I am well equipped to communicate with faculty members directly. I look forward to following up on issues and seeking resolutions that inspire Pharmacy students to speak up about how our program can serve students best.
Stay caffeinated and prescribe Pasley for VP Academic!