Transparency and Trust: Meet CBUSU Vice President of Finance & Operations, Tracy Dike

Trust and accountability are the cornerstones of Tracy Dike’s approach to leadership. Taking the reins as Vice President of Finance and Operations, the Bachelor of Business Administration student is determined to ensure that every dollar collected by the CBU Students’ Union is reinvested in the campus community clearly and effectively.​

Her path to managing those finances began thousands of miles away. Originally from the South-South region of Nigeria, Tracy completed her first year of university in her home country before deciding to study abroad. When weighing her options, a quick response from CBU ultimately brought Tracy to Canada.

Establishing Trust on Campus

Once on campus, she quickly got involved as a cashier at Caper Convenience, an on-campus business run by the CBUSU, where she experienced the impact the Students’ Union has on daily campus life firsthand. This inspired her to take on a larger role – overseeing the Union’s finances and operations. Setting a precedent of financial accountability is at the top of Tracy’s agenda. She views her role as an opportunity to build a lasting foundation of reliability between the Union and the student body. ​

“The Students’ Union is a non-profit organization. We are collecting students’ money and I’m here to ensure that it’s being used properly,” Tracy says. “The financial part, for me, is all about transparency and trust. I want that standard to be there, that students can see how we’re using the funds.”

Operational Improvements

To better serve the student body, Tracy is actively seeking input to improve operations at the Caper Cafe and Caper Convenience. She believes direct communication with the student body is the best way to understand campus needs.

“We have our feedback boxes on campus,” Tracy says. “There’s one at our CBUSU front desk and there’s another at the Caper Convenience, two big areas for student foot-traffic. We hope to get as much input as possible on our operations that way, to help us learn how to best improve our services.”

​Tracy emphasizes that being an international student and navigating the university experience alongside her peers allows her to effectively advocate for practical solutions, such as pushing for winter bus stop infrastructure for the new campus bus stop​.

“It definitely helps that this is a student-led organization because sometimes we also experience the things that we’re trying to correct for students,” Tracy says. “I mean, if I’m experiencing something, it’s possible that there are 10, 100 or more other students that are experiencing the same thing.”

Chosen Family

Navigating the university experience so far from home also shapes her life outside of her Students’ Union office. With her father living in the United States and the rest of her family back home in Nigeria, maintaining strong relationships is a priority for Tracy, who considers herself a family-focused person. She says she has worked hard to build a diverse, chosen family here in Cape Breton.​

“Since I’m away from home, I love to spend time with my community here,” Tracy says. “I have a very big community from different regions. I have friends from India, from other parts of Africa and other regions. I count them all as my community here.”​

When she isn’t overseeing the Union’s finances and ancillary operations, attending meetings,  organizing feedback initiatives or catching up with family overseas, Tracy’s interests are decidedly simple.

“If I’m not spending time with my friends, I’m calling my family back home. I speak to my mother and sister almost every day,” Tracy says. “Other than that, I’m probably eating food somewhere, because I’m a really big foodie, or doing some kind of unplanned spontaneous activity, anything that sounds like a good time.”

That strong sense of community and support extends right into the CBUSU offices. Tracy credits the communicative environment fostered by the executive team for setting the stage for a successful year ahead.

“It comes from our leader; he has created a space where it’s easy to communicate,” Tracy says. “We can go to each other and express how we feel, or if we’re having a meeting, he encourages us all to give input. I think that kind of open leadership is very important.”