Welcome to The Griff’s coverage of the 2026 SAMU executive committee elections. These profiles aim to present balanced views based on candidate responses, all to help you make an informed decision when casting your vote. And if you’re not currently a MacEwan student, we hope this coverage offers you a window into what’s happening in student politics at the heart of our downtown Edmonton campus.

Jomin Johnson

Jomin Johnson is running for vice president academic, campaigning to improve academic support and strengthen connections among MacEwan students. 

Johnson, with a background as a teaching assistant, said his goal is to ensure students feel supported both academically and socially as they navigate life at university.

“What I want to do is structuralize a peer academic study group that is implemented into the students’ course outline,” says Johnson. “These will allow students to find the right connections, find the right support, and be able to ask questions without feeling intimidated”. 

Johnson believes that university should be a place where students feel connected to one another.

“The people that sit left and right from you shouldn’t be just strangers; they should be your support system, your connection, your friends,” says Johnson. “Every single person that is in your class should have a name to a face.” 

Another focus of Johnson’s platform is addressing financial barriers that can affect students’ academic success. He hopes to tackle rising tuition costs and the high price of textbooks if elected. 

“Another thing that I also understand is that finances can take a toll on a student’s growth, especially with the two percent increase in tuition for domestic students and a ten percent increase for international students,” says Johnson, adding that he wants to work with university departments and faculty to promote open, free education resources. 

Johnson says he also hopes to encourage students to get involved and speak up about issues affecting them on campus. 

“I saw that there was an issue with our school and I wanted to fix it,” says Johnson. “That’s the only thing that’s driving me to keep running this campaign.

Chioma Uzor

With a year under her belt, Chioma Uzor plans to continue advocating for affordability in education, resolving issues with enrollment software and student rights. 

She listed several wins during her term, and one of the biggest is the no-cost textbook filter. 

“That was something that has been in deliberation for several years amongst all my predecessors,” Uzor says. She credits her predecessors for taking “these small portions of advocacy,” along with her role in advocating with the library and MacEwan administration to get the initiative through. 

“And this is a huge win for affordability for students, because now students don’t have to guess whether or not they’re going to have to pay $1,000 for textbooks every year,” Uzor added. 

Uzor says that when she first took office, she immediately started working with the library to help increase awareness of the textbook affordability program and the Don’t Go Textbook Broke campaign, both of which are facilitated by the library. 

Yet, Uzor says her work advocating for affordable education is ongoing, with the hope of continuing it in a second term. 

Her campaign consists of further promoting textbook affordability initiatives and advocating for more student bursaries. 

“And this is a huge win for affordability for students, because now students don’t have to guess whether or not they’re going to have to pay $1,000 for textbooks every year.” 

– Chioma Uzor, vice-president (academic) 

Course enrollment 

Uzor says she wants to hold MacEwan accountable to ensure course enrollment goes smoothly as the student population continues to grow, especially given the enrollment crashes in PeopleSoft, MacEwan’s enrollment software. 

“It really bumps out students, especially students and 300-level and 400-level courses that are trying to collect classes to graduate, she says. “I imagine you’re trying to get into that one class that will complete your entire degree, and PeopleSoft just stops working.” 

“That is unacceptable.” 

Some options to mitigate crash issues, according to Uzor, include advocating for software updates, sustainable alternatives to PeopleSoft, or ensuring that the current software can handle the growing student population. 

“MacEwan’s policies are there, but they’re scattered all over the website. You don’t know where to find them. Students don’t know where to find them. And some students I’ve talked to actually don’t even know that we have a student code of conduct, which is crazy, because every single university has a  student code of conduct, but that’s how inaccessible it is.”

—Chioma Uzor 

Student rights 

With student rights currently on her work plan, Uzor says she wants to ensure there is a single document that students can easily find and access, including the student code of conduct policy. 

“MacEwan’s policies are there, but they’re scattered all over the website,” Uzor says. “You don’t know where to find them. Students don’t know where to find them. And some students I’ve talked to actually don’t even know that we have a student code of conduct, which is crazy, because every single university has a student code of conduct, but that’s how inaccessible it is.” 

Uzor’s campaign also touches upon: 

• An increase in courses and class sizes. Another repeat from her campaign last year, Uzor says she wants to advocate for more courses, especially at the 300- and 400-level, and more professors at MacEwan.