KUOL AKUECHBENY FOR AMS PRESIDENT
My campaign team and I acknowledge that our campaign activities are taking place on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam people
ABOUT ME
Voting Links: amsvoting.as.it.ubc.ca.
My name is Kuol Akuechbeny, and I am running to be your next AMS President on the platform of;
Strong advocacy for students wellbeing
Improve students engagement and affordability
More students’ voices in Governance
Principles of Sustainability and climate justice outreach.
Greater Transparency and Accountability
Collaborative effort to achieving Students’ priorities
I am honored to be serving currently as your AMS VP Finance. Brief information about me, I was born in South Sudan, completed my high school in Nairobi, Kenya and resettled in Canada through the WUSC (World University Service of Canada) student-funded refugee program.
As your next AMS President, I will use my four years experience working within UBC and the Alma Mater Society of UBC Vancouver as AMS VP Finance and former AMS Clubs & Constituencies Financial Administrator, University Affairs Commissioner, AMS Clubs & Constituencies Financial Administrator, Residence Advisor, WUSC-UBC President, and UBC Go Global Ambassadors in order to achieve my goals and provide better support to the four vice-presidents to also achieve their goals and together, build a more efficient, more transparent and more supportive Alma Mater Society of UBC Vancouver.
It has been a great privilege for me to have the opportunities at UBC to be highly involved in most activities within UBC community, which has allowed me to develop notable leadership skills and enhance personal competencies that I intend to continue using for the benefit of serving UBC students.
EXPERIENCE
AMS VP Finance
UBC Go Global Ambassador
As your AMS VP Finance, Chair of Finance Committee and Health & Dental Plan committees;
I worked with AMS members and student community to build new Investment Policy that was allows AMS $ 16 investments to be fully invested sustainably and in companies that follow ESG (Environment, social governance) – New AMS Divestment Policy reflects the more values of the society
I work with AMS/GSS Health & Dental Committee and expanded flue reimbursement from 70% to 100% with no current or future cost to students and encouragement more students to take advantage of the plan thus reducing risk of getting flue on campus
I work with my team to provide enough for clubs & constituencies as well individual students for about 25% more thus better utilizations of student’s money. I also triple the number of credit use by students and streamline orientations process for clubs& constituencies treasurers and VP Finance.
I worked with constituencies vice-presidents of Finance to set up VP Finance Caucus consisting of all vice-presidents of constituencies and meeting on quarterly basis to ensure that students engage on financial related matters and great of students consultation or the AMS Finance Office.
Currently, I am working to test the secure online money transfer system for the second time after failing the first testing due to security and compatibility issues and we are hopeful that will work well.
I am also working with my team on project that will build Independence AMS Ticketing Platform that will help reduce ticketing cost for students by about 10-20%
PREVIOUS ROLES AT AMS AND AT UBC
AMS University Affairs Commissioner
Residence Advisor
WUSC-UBC/SRP President
WUSC-UBC Coordinator & Treasurer
AMS Clubs & Constituencies Financial Administrator
Non-voting member of the AMS Finance Commission
Sauder Teaching Assistant
Go Global Summer Program Assistant
As Clubs & Constituencies Financial Administrators, I was managing over 400 financial operations of the AMS subsidiaries organization having direct interactions and supporting clubs & constituencies leaders. As AMS University Affairs Commissioner, I was involved in various policies writing and outreach of projects like Text Book Broke Campaign through AMS VP Academics & University Affairs office. My volunteering though WUSC-UBC helped me learn by running a successful referendum to increase the number refugee sponsored by UBC from 4 to 8 and advocating for better support by UBC for refugees which resulted to full financial and house supports for 1st and 2nd years WUSC students and subsidize housing for upper levels WUSC scholars.
EDUCATION
Year of Study: 4th year
Faculty: Commerce
Major: Operations & Logistics
Minor: Law & Society
AMS PRESIDENT PLATFORM
GOAL 1: STRONG ADVOCACY FOR STUDENTS WELLBEING
Expand the EmpowerMe program to include the 16,000 students currently not in the program by October 2019.
Increase psychology coverage by about 60% per student without a fee increase
Provide better support for SASC and build strong partnerships outside of UBC to provide victims of sexual assault with external options.
GOAL 2: IMPROVE STUDENT EXPERIENCE, ENGAGEMENT AND AFFORDABILITY
Support the development of the AMS Ticketing Platform and finalize the current Secure Online money transfer system for efficiency and to reduce events cost by 10-15%
Restructure the AMS Annual General Meeting(AGM) in order to achieve more than the quorum in attendance by centering the AGM on discussions about the society’s future, as well as discussions about fun and engaging activities necessary for the student campus experience.
Review AMS elected executives’ budget compensation and reduce executive compensation by about 10-15%, to truly reflect student affordability as well as creating more opportunities for the students.
GOAL 3: MORE STUDENTS’ VOICES INCLUDED IN SOCIETY GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP.
Develop a written consultation guide by the end of August 2019 to ensure wider consultation with student groups, and that groups affected by the society decisions are fully informed and fully engage in the consultation processes
Increase the council attendance by 10 – 20 % by ensuring that the council meetings end at the allocated time, thereby creating consistency for council meeting duration whilst simultaneously encouraging friendly productive debate
GOAL 4: PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE OUTREACH.
Working with student groups to ensure that the AMS continues to lead by example in the field of sustainability by engaging with other student unions within the city of Vancouver, the Province and in the country. Not only to would we inspire other organizations to take climate actions and divest, we would also to promote fair practices and hold companies that invest in fossil fuels and don't follow ESG (Environment, social governance) to account.
Strategically plan to utilize students’ sustainability funding to better support society and university groups that set great examples in engaging the campus community in sustainability, and that also promote strong advocacy for divestment within UBC and outside UBC.
GOAL 5: GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Include a policy in the AMS Code of procedures that requires both society and university groups(current and future) that receive dedicated student fees to prepare either bi-annual or annual financial reports for the public. This would be readily available on the AMS website for the society membership to review for the purposes of accountability and transparency
AMS shall prepare separate Fiscal Year budgets and financial reports specific to businesses expenditures, revenues as well as investments returns to be submitted to council and available to membership, following the AMS Code of Procedures
Strengthening the recently re-established Advisory Board to the Society (ABS) and ensure that the board becomes operational, strategic and effective in the summer of 2019.
GOAL 6: COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO ACHIEVE STUDENTS’ PRIORITIES
Strengthen relations between the AMS and GSS and work together as a team on matters related to advocacy aimed at the University and/or Municipal, Provincial and Federal governments.
Engage councilors by involving Committees and by establishing regular monthly sessions/meetings with Students, Board of Governors, Senators and AMS Councilors. (For efficiency’s sake, the President would meet with counsellors from each constituency as a group. For example, the President would have monthly meetings with five Art Undergraduate Society Councilors and so on).
Based on the Consultation Guide in Goal 3, I will create consistent time frames where individual representatives from various student groups such as Residence Associations, Indigenous Students, Greek Life, Resource Groups and International Students Association, constituencies & clubs amongst others can reach out to the AMS president and share concerns and/or priorities, and together, we can figure out how the AMS can provide better support to various groups.
MY MOTIVATION
Voting Links: amsvoting.as.it.ubc.ca.
Through the Student Refugee Program (WUSC) I was resettled into Canada through the generosity of the UBC students like you that supported and funded WUSC-UBC/SRP program scholarship. I do my very best each day to learn as much as I can in order to obtain valuable experiences and skills that I can use to improve WUSC program, UBC and hopefully Canada in the near future.
If you are a past or current UBC Vancouver student, and you are not sure whether you have impacted someone else, well you did, and you better believe that you actually change other people lives through education …. I am proud citizen of Canada today because of your $0.50 contributions in 1980’s to about $5.00 currently. Many thanks for your support and now it’s my time to inspire and support other students, and advocate for the best values of our student society as your next AMS President. I chose to contribute to AMS and UBC community through the past of student leadership which is why I work for AMS for about three years now, and would really appreciate your support to continue for at least one more year.
I have demonstrated this commitment by helping initiate and organize the 2016 WUSC referendum that doubled the UBC Student Refugee Program from four to eight students a year, as well as advocated and was successful in increasing the support for refugee students at UBC. Because of the great support from the members of the AMS like yourselves and UBC staff, faculty and administrator, UBC currently has the best student refugee program in Canada. As a result of my contribution to WUSC-UBC I was one of the five Canada Volunteer Award 2017 recipients (read more: link). I successfully impacted WUSC in a very positive way and I will continue positively impact your Alma Mater Society as your next VP President.
Alma Mater Society of UBC Vancouver is a great and unique student society yet complex in a very special way. I can confirm that, I have earned a huge experience and explore interesting opportunities in my current roles as AMS VP Finance.
And yes I will definitely use the experience and commitment as your 110th AMS President to make sure that AMS members shouldn’t form groups to advocate for opportunities (either trying to find space in the nest or retain finding that facilitates good causes etc.) but work with their students’ society AMS under my leadership and advocate to the university as one team serving the same vision and mission –
Support me through your vote and I will be serving the students.
Vote on March 11th – March 15th www.ams.ubc.ca/elections
Vote for Collaborative Steps
Vote for Experience
Vote to Inspire
Vote for
Kuol
LET’S CONNECT
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