KPU student calls for pre-registration syllabi
Vikram Saggu, a Kwantlen Polytechnic University political science student, started a petition two months ago with the intent of getting course syllabi released before class registration.
When speaking to a friend, he discovered that advanced syllabi were available at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, and Langara, as well as other institutions.
At KPU however, students might sign up for a course, pay for it, and attend the first lecture, possibly to discover that the course wasn’t what they wanted, expected, or needed. By this point, students can only get a 70 per cent refund, which could still mean several hundreds of dollars wasted.
“I started the petition around December, before I even thought I would be running for senate, but I think it would be really beneficial—financially—for students,” he says.
“I don’t think the idea has been pushed enough. I’ve spoken to past senators about it, they told me that it has been brought up, but like I said, everyone’s taken a top-down approach.”
Saggu says that the incoming senators can use the petition to prove that there’s a substantial number of students who want to see the practice implemented. There were 109 signatures as of press time.
