Voting Links: amsvoting.as.it.ubc.ca.
My Platform Quick Summary:
A) Student professional development and engagement
- Provide mentorship, increase awareness and promote usage of AMS services such as ehub, EmpowerMe, Dental Care among others
- Increasing the AMS club benefit funding for eligible AMS organizations’ events expenses from the current rate of 50% to 75% or more to maximize high social benefit
- Increasing the AMS Student Initiative Funding limit per student’s project by more than 50% in order to incentivize more innovation and independent research for both graduate and undergraduate students
B) Make the Clubs and Constituencies financial easy and sustainable
- Getting rid of the old paper-check reimbursement system at AMS within three months and adopting a sustainable and secure online financial system.
- Increase the number of clubs and constituencies using the credit card services by lowering the current limits so most clubs and constituencies can fully adopt credit cards services thus eliminating the current paper-based reimbursement processes.
- Prepare the AMS Finance Department and Commission team members to better train the over 400 Cubs and Constituencies treasurers to help them efficiently and easily run their finances.
C) Support Affordability, making sure businesses serve students first
- Support AMS staff to raise revenues whilst protecting student interests by making their products affordable to the students
- Work closely with AMS president, managing director, and Finance Commission to ensure that the implementation of the new fee restructuring proposal (if the referendum to implement this proposal passes) achieves its goals
- Work with president and exec team to re-estabish the Advisory Board to the Society (ABS) to helps provide expert advise to the AMS council
D) As your next Student Senator, I will
- Engage and contribute to the Senate 2020 plan in order to serve the students’ best interests
- Work in various Senate committees such as Academic Policy and library committees to attain more accommodating academic policies for students with mental health problems, better support for students on coop programs and adoption of the open education resource (OER) that will reduce the cost of books, and promote more inclusivity and diversity in the university programs through the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.
My Platform in More Detail:
I will maximize student professional development and engagement in the following ways. I will increase awareness and encourage students to take advantage of various AMS services such as ehub, Empower Me, Dental and Eye care plans, as well as “opt-in-opt-out” through clubs and constituencies meetings, residence associations and advisors to maximize students’ usage of the services. I will identify weekly and/or monthly meetings for all the clubs and constituencies whilst having a member of my team or myself attend these meetings to share the services we spend students’ money on, and how they can use and benefit from the services.
I will also increase the AMS club benefits funding for eligible AMS organizations’ events expenses from the current 50% to 75% in order to incentivize creativity and the organization of events with improved social benefits to student members. Currently, clubs and constituencies qualify to apply for funding that covers up to 50% for one of their events’ expenses a year. However, in my previous positions as AMS clubs and constituencies financial administrator and WUSC-UBC Coordinator & Treasurer, I discovered that most clubs and constituencies members with high quality event ideas were unable to raise the other 50% of the cost, leading to them not applying for funding. This resulted in unused money in the Clubs Benefit Fund and no one taking advantage of the good events.
I will also increase the AMS Student Initiative Funding limit per student’s project by more than 50%, in order to incentivize innovation and support both graduate and undergraduate students. This would give them the opportunity to conduct independent research that contributes to their individual professional careers. I am currently a mentor to WUSC students at UBC. I was also mentored in the same program by students who came before me. I believe that any student can be a mentor and help another student grow their professional career. I will prepare my AMS VP Finance team members to be mentors to other students through clubs and constituencies and help them become efficient in managing their organization.
I will make the clubs and Constituencies Financial operations easy and sustainable. I will get rid of the old paper-check reimbursement system at AMS within three months. I will adopt the usage of sustainable and secure online financial transactions.
I will increase the number of clubs and constituencies using the credit card services by lowering the current limits so most clubs and constituencies can fully adapt credit cards services thus eliminating the current reimbursement paper-based processes. I will make the credit card services more efficient, and encourage the clubs and constituencies to use them. I will prepare my team members to better train the over 400 clubs and constituencies treasurers to help them efficiently and easily run their finances. I will strengthen the AMS Finance Commission team through trainings and developing goals together, and mentor them in order to effectively support over 400 AMS organizations.
I will support AMS permanent staff to streamline AMS businesses to raise revenues while protecting student interest by making their products affordable to the students. I will also work closely with the AMS president, managing director, and other members to ensure that the implementation of the new fee restructuring proposal (if the referendum to implement the fee re-structuring proposal passes) achieves its goals. These goals include properly re-allocating funding in a way that minimizes negative unintended consequences. I will re-establish and re-strengthen the AMS Advisory Board (ABBA) to increase collaboration between the AMS VP Finance, president and managing director and other members to better support the entire team running AMS businesses in order to achieve efficiency in the AMS operations.
As your next Student Senator, I will fully engage and contribute to the Senate 2020 plan in order to serve the students’ best interests. I will also work with various Senate committees such as Academic Policy and library committees to attain more accommodating academic policies to students with mental health problems, supporting students on coop programs and adoption of the open education resource (OER) that will reduce the cost of books students. I will also promote more inclusivity and diversity in the university programs through the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.
Vote on March 5th – March 9th amsvoting.as.it.ubc.ca.