After an extended election season, Team OAR is ready to assume their roles as the new AMS executive team.
The Journal sat down with incoming AMS President Owen Rocchi, Comp ’24, Vice-President (Operations) (VPO) Ayan Chowdhury, ArtSci ’24, and Vice-President (University Affairs) (VPUA) Ruth Osunde, ArtSci ’25, known as Team OAR, to discuss their vision for the AMS next year. Team OAR was appointed at a Special AMS Assembly on Feb. 29.
Despite running de-slated, President-elect Rocchi is eager to collaborate with his fellow executives, knowing their diverse experiences will add value to the team. The team reported their group chat is already active.
AMS’s supposed move to the JDUC
Under OAR, the AMS will return to its home in the new JDUC in September. The Student Life Centre (SLC) fee, necessary to operate AMS-run spaces for students in the new JDUC, failed at winter referendum.
The incoming executive didn’t offer a plan B if the AMS can’t afford the move. While it remains to be seen how the return to the JDUC will unfold, Rocchi plans to sit down with current executives to understand the situation.
With the new JDUC comes the re-opening of the Queen’s Pub (QP) which has been closed since 2020. Students can expect an expanded menu catering to students’ dietary restrictions, Chowdhury said.
The Vision for Services
Chowdhury wants students to feel safe at events, ensuring all StuCons have proper Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism and Accessibility (EDIAA) training. Team OAR wants all students to feel safe on campus and to keep the AMS apolitical.
The AMS StuCon service underwent a re-brand last year, a change Chowdhury wants to bring home to applicants. He wants to offer additional incentives to become a StuCon, including discounts to services across campus for StuCons.
“[The re-brand] just takes away the image of policing. [StuCons] are a peer support service that’s there to support students,” Chowdhury said.
Next year the contract between the City of Kingston and AMS for students’ Bus-It Pass is up for negotiation. Chowdhury hopes to keep bussing accessible, especially for students on West Campus.
At AMS Special Assembly on Feb. 29, Chowdhury said he will continue the work of the current VPO Michelle Hudson to split the role into two: one position for financial planning and another for supporting head managers. When The Journal asked Chowdhury about the change, Osunde jumped in to clarify Team OAR hasn’t been privy to those discussions—yet.
“Until that conversation does happen and when they do happen, we’d be more than happy to sit down with The Journal. For now, we’re not privy to that information for the team to be talking about it,” Osunde said.
Even though the role split was discussed by Chowdhury at the debate, AMS Communication Director Mikayla Crawford maintained the change doesn’t fall under Chowdhury’s portfolio.
Investing in relationships
VPUA-elect Osunde wants to be involved in discussing town and gown relationships, or Queen’s connection with the Kingston community.
“We’re excited to be having important conversations with important people and increasing AMS awareness, working on new contracts, and just pushing for that advocacy in each commissioner portfolio,” Osunde said.
Osunde will maintain a positive relationship between the AMS and the City of Kingston, building on the work of the current AMS executives and senior management team. When having conversations with the City around Homecoming and St. Patrick’s Day, Osunde knows she must represent students’ needs.
As the current AMS Social Issues Commissioner (Internal), Osunde spearheaded the “Know Your Rights” campaign and will continue to push for harm reduction initiatives.
Rocchi is committed to having hard dialogue; sharing his understanding of what students are experiencing on campus with the University administration. Whether it’s budget transparency or the JDUC rent, building trust with the University administration is at the top of Rocchi’s agenda.
“I really want to go to the table and work with the University. This will be a difficult process, but I’m looking forward to it,” Rocchi said.
Rocchi wants to support faculty society leaders. As the Vice-President (Student Affairs) for the Computer Science Student Association (COMPSA), improving communication between AMS and faculty society leaders is something Rocchi cares a lot about. He plans to host weekly or bi-weekly Presidential Caucus meetings, providing constant touch points with faculty society leaders.
Team OAR is counting down the days until May 1 when they assume their roles.
Tags
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.