Filling the void of Team JNN’s disbandment, two teams tossed their hats in the ring to be the next leaders of student government on campus.
At a special AMS assembly on Feb. 13, Assembly members will elect the incoming AMS executive.
AMS presidential candidate Owen Rocchi, Comp ’24, AMS vice-president (university affairs) candidate Leo Yang, ArtSci ’25, and AMS vice-president (operations) candidate Tyler Tam Tran, Comm ’25, known as team LOT, sat down with The Journal to discuss their platform.
Opponents, presidential candidate Jason Kim, Comm ’24, AMS vice-president (operations) candidate Tryphena Evborokhai, HealthSci ’25, and AMS vice-president (university affairs) candidate Dreyden George, ArtSci ’26, team JDT, declined an interview, claiming they didn’t have time before special assembly.
Team LOT’s three pillars focus on educating students on the functions of governance bodies, repairing declining engagement, and boosting transparency with the student body.
Education
If elected President of the AMS, Rocchi hopes to repurpose the marketing and communications office to ensure information provided to students is “accessible” and “digestible.”
He hopes attendance at AMS Assembly becomes more normalized for students to stay informed and up to date with what’s going on.
Echoing Rocchi’s sentiment, Tran wants to focus on translating “20 plus pages of financial jargon” into more accessible reports through infographics available on social media and distributed widely to students.
Under his portfolio as Vice-President (Operations), Tam Tran will be advocating for the publicization of the minutes from Board of Directors meetings to increase students’ education around student government.
“That is something that I would 100 per cent look into and advocate for, because I believe all minutes should be available to students regardless of whether it’s Board of Directors or Assembly,” Tam Tran said.
“This will be extremely important because if students feel like they understand the financial state of the Society, they will be able to better engage with other parts of the Society, feeling like they understand what’s going on,” Tran said.
Yang wants to target first-year students through the adaptation of a transition system for the summer, collaborating with other faculties to organize more events, and implementing a mentorship program.
Transparency
Rocchi promises students to not allow the demanding nature of his portfolio as president get in the way of serving the student body.
He sees value in “trading genuine connection” with faculty leaders and working to build trust and communication, as the representatives of faculties bridge the gap between students and student government.
In his portfolio, Tran intends on working to ensure head managers have the tools necessary to succeed.
In conversations with “almost all” head managers, a need for open communication and empathy was reiterated across the board, Tran added.
“These people are the heads of the services the AMS relies on, the student body relies on, so making sure they have the tools necessary to succeed is going to be my number one priority,” Tran said in an interview with The Journal.
Yang wants to involve more students in the decision-making process about university issues by providing weekly meetings and more digestible information about what each body of the student government does.
Engagement
Rocchi wants to shift the blame from students and take responsibility for why students aren’t more engaged with the University.
“It’s not a one-shoe-fits-all solution, there needs to be individual and unique solutions addressed for different groups of the student population,” Rocchi said.
Tran wants to re-establish the “lost brand identity” a lot of AMS services have experienced after COVID-19.
The focus of boosting engagement comes with “increasing initial trial and client acquisition,” which would allow students to try these services for the first time and know they exist and are there for them, according to Tam Tran.
READ MORE: SLC fee fails at referendum, voters approve all other fees
Tran sees the JDUC as a chance to provide a central space where Queen’s students can engage with these services.
“If each student has the opportunity to try each of these services at least once, they’ll know the service is there for them if they need it,” Tran said.
With the SLC fee not passing during winter referendum, Rocchi said there is an awareness and engagement issue, simply because most students don’t know what the fee stands for.
As the student body gets closer to moving into the JDUC, negotiations about rent costs between the AMS and the University have yet to be settled.
“The first step in understanding this problem is to focus on increasing our outreach and an increase of just getting opinions and external opinions to us. I think that’s so valuable,” Rocchi said.
Team LOT promised to do their best to advocate on behalf of the services to ensure they are not moved to a virtual space.
Publicization of the necessity for the fee is crucial, not only from a standpoint of transparency, but also to ensure students understand its purpose in promoting the “general identity of Queen’s.”
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LOT said they’re aware of the intersectional perspectives regarding cultural issues that exist on campus, and their main goal is to empower the voices of students who have lived experiences and pre-existing education on these matters.
“It comes down to understanding, to speaking with students to understand the issues they face, and where we can offer support and education to help empower them,” Rocchi said.
Team LOT is welcoming Special AMS Assembly with nervousness and uncertainty. Assembly will take place on Feb. 13 at Grant Hall.
“I hope students are getting in touch with their faculty [and] society leaders to advocate for who they’d like to see in a role like this,” Rocchi said.
—With files from Asbah Ahmad
Tags
AMS, AMS executive, Elections, elections 2024
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