AMS MidYear Review

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AMS Mid-Year Review

• Commissions Offices

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Mid Year Reviews Purpose

• To update everyone on the financial and
  operational goings-on of the AMS, and to ensure
  that the society is remaining accountable to the
  Strategic Plans outlined in the summer months
• To serve as a marker for progress on goals and
  objectives
• To update on new initiatives and objectives that
  have arisen during the year

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Commission of Internal Affairs (CIA)

• Clubs
• The biggest change has been within the Student
  Centre Clubs (SCCC) Portfolio
• Due to the restructuring of JDUC management,
  Stephen has taken over the role of JDUC
  management
• A new clubs deputy was hired to provide
  additional support to clubs with the changes to
  the SCCC position
• There have been some technological issues with
  the AMS website and the Clubs online
  re-ratification form which have somewhat impeded
  communication with clubs
• We have been able to offer improved services to
  AMS ratified clubs, including workshops on risk
  management fundraising
• Improved coordination with Athletics on
  recreational sports fitness clubs

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• Assembly
• Increased member turnout has been positive
• May move away from shifting locations and
  advertise it the McLaughlin Room as its standard
  locale
• Elections
• Despite the lack of a transition manual, this
  years Fall Referendum went smoothly save for the
  unfortunate circumstance of ESS students on
  practicum not having the ability to vote
• The nomination packages for the January elections
  are being finalized, and rooms have been booked
  are ready to go
• Non-Academic Discipline
• Thus far, the NAD office is doing extremely well
  ? gearing up for a large case load in January
  with Homecoming cases starting to come in
• In-depth policy review improved information
  campaign

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Changes to OGSM

• SCC Role Shift
• Assembly
• Clubs Support
• Online Voting Though online voting began
  promisingly over the summer in that we found a
  template to work off of, this has been postponed
  likely until next year. This is due to a variety
  of reasons, most of which we unfortunately do not
  have control over. This year, the IT office has
  been particularly swamped, and as we have a
  working election system as it stands, this was
  not a priority. Online voting will also likely
  take a great deal of time to finish as the
  universitys IT office and registrar will need to
  approve the system.
• We will instead focus our efforts with
  elections into creating a good transition manual
  (of which none currently exists) and trying to
  ensure that castle students and those on exchange
  remain connected with the electoral process.

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Financial Analysis- Revenue
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Financial Analysis- Expenses
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Academic Affairs Commission (AAC)

• Our top goal this year was to increase student
  awareness of issues affecting their education.
  To that end, every possible effort and resource
  has been utilized to get students more engaged,
  and we have seen the results across the board.
  Weve broken attendance records at consecutive
  Last Lectures, set new precedents with a Teaching
  Issues open forum, engaged first-years directly
  through a financial aid video and better
  promotion of financial aid than ever before by
  the AMS, solicited student feedback on learning
  spaces through an online survey, plebiscite
  question, and much more
• In terms of new issues, a federal election
  awareness campaign went off smoothly, with a high
  degree of student engagement through 2 debates
  hosted by the AAC, and an election night event
  with Global TV.
• Top projects for internal advocacy are all coming
  along well, with Syllabus Bank, the crown jewel,
  chugging through the bureaucracy as efficiently
  as can be expected.
• Externally, OUSA is in tough due to the economic
  situation, but weve chosen a tactful approach
  that will hopefully garner some hard fought
  results

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OGSM Update

• No major changes. Small adjustments, such as
  taking into account the TA union drive, and
  federal election awareness, have been noted.
• The TA union drive has thrown off ambitions of
  getting TA training enforcement to the top of the
  Universitys priority list, but new
  opportunities, such as better promotion with the
  CTL, have presented themselves in the interim
• COMMITTEES
• Functioning extremely well, high levels of
  deputy, intern volunteer contributions
• PARTNERSHIPS
• Improved communication with the SGPS, Rector
  Undergrad. Trustee
• Improved planning with Student Senate Caucus
  Academic Caucus
• OUSA
• OUSA campus coordinators brought to AGM, are more
  involved with organization
• Improved marketing strategy for Blue Chair
  Campaign
• Need to encourage further participation from OUSA
  Committee of Assembly
• New Projects
• Syllabus Bank approved
• Cross-Disciplinary Credit Database First-Year
  half credits under VPUA/Exec portfolio
• Financial Aid Awareness Video created

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Marketing Analysis

• New advertising initiatives such as date-specific
  reminders in the guide to Queens agenda,
  marketing partnerships with all 3 bookstores on
  campus and Queens TV, TV ads around campus, and
  frosh week promotions such as the financial aid
  video guide and frosh kit magnets, have all
  contributed to an overall boost in AAC visibility
  on campus. Weve marketed our services heavily,
  and the return has been the largest usage of the
  AGC in history, as well as the first noticeable
  utilization of the Academic Hub.

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Financial Analysis-Expenses
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Campus Activities Commission (CAC)

• Orientation Week
• The Orientation Roundtable Coordinator was
  extremely efficient this year, reducing overall
  ORT costs and coordinating the faculty societys
  orientation weeks in an effective manner. It
  was a priority to make sure that communication
  was consistent between the commissioner, the
  coordinator, the VPUA and the faculty societies
  and that the actions of the ORT coordinator were
  transparent in function.
• One of the biggest issues this year with
  Orientation Week itself was the upper year
  involvement across many of the faculties. The
  involvement generally had a negative outcome and
  in turn, the ORT coordinator did receive some
  complaints from community members.

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Committee Update

• Capture the Faculty was a great success with
  updated rules and boundary lines. This year the
  stucons were made aware of all the rules prior to
  game day and we had a record turnout from the
  PHE/KIN students
• Queens Model United Nations had a record number
  of external delegates so many that we had to
  actually limit the number of internal delegates.
  This is indication of increasing the size of the
  conference for next year. Additionally, the
  night activities were well attended which, in the
  past, was not a common occurrence.
• Charity Ball also set records by increasing
  attendance from 300 people in 2007 to 400 people
  in 2008. The event had no logistical
  complications and there was a heavier focus on
  the charity, Almost Home
• Gael Force continues to progress forward with
  various spirit events at various games, however,
  we are working to make their events bigger and
  better in the new year and to get the committee
  to utilize their allocation.
• Two of the main goals that have been met are the
  creation of a CAC bursary and the creation of an
  Event Planning Guide.

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OGSM Updates

• revamp the leader hiring and training process in
  regards to Orientation Week. Working in
  conjunction with the ORT coordinator, Social
  Issues Commissioner and the Human Rights Office,
  the Anti-Oppression training will have both a new
  format and new content
• create a database of all CAC props, decorations
  and supplies for future chairs, deputies and
  commissioners to use as a resource.

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Financial Analysis - Revenue
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Financial Analysis- Expenses
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Orientation Week
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Municipal Affairs Commission (MAC)

• Homecoming Weekend
• Again this year the AMS and the Municipal Affairs
  Commission took a leadership position in dealing
  with the riotous party that occurs every year on
  Aberdeen Street on the Saturday night of the
  reunion weekend. Our position signaled some
  important changes in the way the AMS responded to
  pressure from the University and Kingston
  Community to act.
• No formal messaging campaign. The event is
  clearly beyond the scope and influence of the AMS
  and any campaign would have only advertised the
  evitable event that occurred.
• Another important theme the AMS implemented this
  year was that making it clear that we were doing
  the best we possibly could do to address our
  constituents and these issues but ultimately it
  was not our problem and we are entirely incapable
  or responsible for ending it. I learned in my
  transition period and in the early days of being
  commissioner that the responsibility and
  ownership the AMS was taking was both too risky
  and too much.

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• Promote Students
• This continues to be a challenge for the AMS and
  University as a whole and is something I continue
  to focus on in the MAC. Unfortunately negative
  news sells papers and reversing the negative
  image of Queens students requires attention of
  the greater phenomenon of an aging population and
  their opinions of young people. Through direct
  volunteerism, event planning, press releases and
  lobbying we continue to work for a positive image
  of students.
• Lobbying
• The student voice is being heard more this year
  than in years past. We owe this in large part to
  the formulation of formal city-student working
  groups focused on Town Gown issues. These include
  a Steering Committee, Planning Committee,
  Aberdeen Working Group, City-Student Relations
  Committee and Housing Working Group.
• Committee Engagement
• The MAC has 8 terrific committees with renewed
  focus this year. We reduced this from a previous
  12 committees and this has worked very well

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Financial Analysis- Expenses
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Social Issues Commission (SIC)

• One of the main focuses of creating concrete and
  lasting change outlined in the plan has been
  developed in the execution of Anti-Oppression
  workshops rather than sensitivity or equity
  trainings which have been used in the past. This
  method took much of the summer to develop and has
  received fantastic feedback. It has resulted in
  more students questioning ideas of positionality
  in reference to privilege and oppression and many
  people coming into the commission asking where
  do I go from here?
• Working closely with chairs and deputies has
  brought a more comprehensive understanding of a
  variety of issues, specifically the elusive and
  complex nature of oppression, to the commission.
  Chairs are well equipped to discuss these issues
  with their committees and move into an
  educational dialogue regarding marginalization
  and how we address these problems.
• The twelve committees which lie in the SIC are
  all hard at work on campaigns, events, forums,
  fundraising and planning for next semester. The
  range of projects they have managed to put forth
  this fall semester has been strong, however we
  want to have a much larger presence on campus
  during the winter semester.

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Peer Support Centre

• The Peer Support Centre (PSC) is already up and
  running and has been since the beginning of
  November. So far we have already seen a few
  students visiting the centre which is fantastic
  and a large improvement from last year. The PSC
  volunteers have been advertising largely through
  class talks to first year students which has
  brought some degree of success and was not a
  strategy originally outline in my Strategic Plan.
  We are planning to have an advertising blitz in
  January to get word about the centre out and work
  more closely with Health Counselling and
  Disability Services so that we can get more
  traffic in the centre.

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The Food Centre

• The Food Centre, formerly Food Bank, has
  undergone an image makeover and has been
  successful in the rebranding of the centre as a
  more welcoming and open environment for our
  users. We have begun plans to switch to an online
  user system to make the Centre even more
  user-friendly. This should be up and running in
  January. This has and will continue to be a
  concrete measure of combating poverty in the
  community as outlined in my Strategic Plan

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Special Projects

• The Report Card project outlined in my Strategic
  Plan has been postponed until next semester when
  my committee and deputies will have more time to
  dedicate to the project. It will be a top
  priority for completion in the winter semester.
  This semester has been more brainstorming and
  researching for that project alongside speaking
  with various University officials about its
  implementation.

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OGSM Update

• Much of this semester spent in crisis management
  mode and in reactively dealing with situations
  which occurred in relation to issues of
  oppression.
• organization and execution of a How to be an
  Ally session in regards to anti-racism on
  campus. This session was well received and will
  be a continued project next semester in the form
  of more in depth workshops.
• Being a resource for interns in their research
  project into Queens historical figures who have
  contributed to the school but are not largely
  recognized for their contributions as a result of
  a marginalized identity which they occupy
• Continue work on the Senate Educational Equity
  Committee (SEEC) in regards to a sub-committee on
  which I sit which examines the camps climate in
  regards to equity. Use the information gathered
  here to make policy changes in regards to
  Orientation Week through the Senate Orientation
  Activities Review Board.
• Ensure SIC involvement with Black History Month,
  Pride Week and Aboriginal Awareness Week.
• Organize a student oriented activity for the
  Robert Sutherland Visitorship speaker.

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Financial Analysis- Expenses
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Sustainability Office

• Successfully able to provide each incoming
  student with a USB key. The aim of this project
  was to reduce paper waste during orientation week
  while also sending a message to first year
  students that Queens is committed to
  environmental sustainability. Significant
  progress within the AMS as our composter project
  is proceeding and AMS services have made more
  sustainable choices this year (e.g. Walkhome now
  using reusable cups, Common Grounds
  biodegradable cups).
• The Sustainability Offices presence on campus
  has also increased. Guest lectures have been
  offered through the School of Environmental
  Science to speak about involvement in our office.
  In addition, we have had a larger turnout at the
  cross campus environmental forum
• Because Physical Plant Services Sustainability
  manager has been hired and relocated twice, our
  office has not been able to develop any projects
  in terms of Queens infrastructure. As the
  Sustainability Manager will finally be appointed
  in January, we are hoping to build a strong
  relationship between the AMS and this
  Sustainability Office. Additionally, it has been
  difficult that Queens will not sign the
  University Presidents Climate Commitment.

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Committees

• STRIVE
•  
• Strive is busy working on the anti-water bottle
  campaign. They applied and received Student
  Affairs sponsorship and were able to bring in
  Jeanne Steffe to speak. They are having weekly
  meetings and have a large volunteer base.
•  
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• Greenovations
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• Greenovations has chosen the first of the 5
  houses they will greenovate. Renovations will be
  commencing this week and will continue into
  second term. We are continuing to work with Live
  Energy Lab on this project.
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• Residence Energy Challenge
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• Residence Energy Challenges first challenge has
  concluded. We are still waiting for results to
  see which residence won the challenge. We have
  had difficulty working with Physical Plant
  Services as they have not provided us with the
  energy consumption numbers we require. While the
  Residence Energy Challenge lobbied Queens
  administration to sign the Universitys President
  Climate Commitment this year, no action has yet
  been taken.

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Financial Analysis- Revenues
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Financial Analysis- Expenses
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Communications Office

• To date, the Communications Office has been
  largely successful in implementing the strategies
  laid out in the OGSM of the Strategic Plan, to
  generally positive reviews. Notable initiatives
  that have proven effective including the
  Testimonial Campaign, the overhaul of the AMS
  website (although the recent server crash has
  been a serious setback), and the recruitment
  campaign (as done in cooperation with the Human
  Resources office).
• Furthermore, the Offices relationship with
  Queens Marketing and Communications have been
  maintained and improved upon. As a result, the
  Office has worked closely with the Communications
  Coordinator at Queens on media relations and now
  has full access to the Digital Information
  Network (i.e. the screens across campus) and the
  Queens Events Calendar
• However, the day-to-day duties of the Office
  (i.e. administering the editorial content of the
  website, updating the DIN and events calendars,
  and postering) have made it difficult for the
  Office to balance these duties with the
  larger-scale, long-term projects set out in the
  OGSM.

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Communications Office (contd)

• To address this issue, much of the coming winter
  semester will be focused on compiling a
  comprehensive Communications Office policy to
  clearly define its responsibilities and duties.
  Furthermore, the idea of two new paid positions
  under the Office, solely dedicated to website
  content and campus research, will be discussed
  and proposed.
• There are no major changes to the OGSM. The
  status of most of the strategies outlined in the
  OGSM is on-track, although certain projects,
  including the Recruitment Magazine and Awareness
  Campaigns, have been pushed back the former has
  been met with delays in the initial editorial
  process while the latter has been reevaluated and
  re-envisioned from 4 smaller campaigns to 2
  larger ones for the winter semester.

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Human Resources Office

• Fall Hiring was a big success we received a
  large amount of applications for both Government
  and Corporate positions.
• The posting of all interview lists at the same
  time went fairly well. We expect it to improve
  more and more as managers and chairs become more
  accustomed to the new template and timeline
• Training this year was a success. We went with
  the once-a-week training for May and June which
  went over fairly well. Suggestion for future
  years would be to change the day from Friday to
  Wednesday to avoid staff checking out at the end
  of the week
• The updating of the AMS website has improved the
  Get Involved section by making it clearer and
  easier to access
• Intern Council has been going amazingly thus far.
  We have created an online Wiki to keep all
  Interns updated on our meetings and progress on
  this years project

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OGSM Update

• Created a guide for all HR managers which was
  given to them at the end of the Summer. The
  guide was a good starting point in giving HR
  Managers a better understanding of AMS policies
  and procedures with regards to hiring and
  employment.
• A training night for all Deputies and Chairs was
  run in September. All Commissioners attended and
  the night was well-received.
• Very successful fall recruitment session
• Ran a Hiring Information Session. This went over
  well for the first one of its kind. With better
  advertising and preparation this could
  potentially be a strong tool in helping all
  students feel like they have an equal chance at
  positions.
• The Get Involved page was drastically
  changed-everything is much more organized and
  understandable.
• HR Caucus discussion has been limited to hiring
  issues, but good discussion has been created so
  far.

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Financial Analysis- Expenses
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Information Technology Office

• Website development
• Extensive work done in the summer for the
  development of new AMS website
• Feedback has been excellent both from information
  and design perspective
• Three weeks ago, suffered severe error when
  patching
• Development of Convocation software
• Both convocations ran without any technical
  difficulty
• Developed basic framework for future convocations
• Server Migration
• Server migration for Journal and AMS complete
• Consolidation of software certificates

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Financial Analysis
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Looking ahead

• Streamlining Opt out process
• Begin process to to search for firm to write
  opt-out program
• Migrating servers behind firewall
• Begin transition manual to ensure all problems
  encountered this year will not be repeated.
• Continue to manage crises, one at a time.