Uncontested VP Administration candidate Ben (Han Qiao) Du showed his experience with the portfolio in the Great Debate on Thursday night while promising better communication with clubs during his term.
Du spoke on his plans for clubs post-COVID-19, carbon offsetting, the AMS auditorium project and affiliate schools.
“This next year is about so much more than the next 12 months. It's about setting the tone for how the AMS will grow beyond the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Du in his opening statement.
When asked what the Clubs Recovery Benefits (CRB) — a series of financial programs to help clubs recover from the pandemic — are missing, Du said in his term, he would look to ensure clubs grow, not just return to where they were before the pandemic.
“What [the CRB] doesn't focus on is expanding clubs beyond their pre-pandemic membership levels …. It also means that we look beyond the boundaries of the Nest walls towards external venues to host bigger events,” said Du.
Du added that he would work to improve communication with clubs by live streaming AMS Council meetings starting September, having faster email response times and personally holding virtual office hours twice a week. Council meetings are open to all students and normally have a Zoom access option as well.
“Direct access to the VP admin, especially for clubs and our constituencies, is key to forming personal connections with our constituencies,” said Du.
On supporting resource groups to access their reserve funds, Du said it was up to the VP finance to assess the groups’ annual spending and how fast the reserve funds were accumulating. He said the VP administration’s responsibility was to ensure there were no operational barriers for groups to access their funds.
“It starts with meetings over the summer to discuss what their plans are for the academic year and to conduct them in terms of how we can financially support these resource groups so that they can achieve their advocacy efforts,” he added.
An audience member asked Du to name the UBC’s affiliate schools and how he would support their students in addition to the UBC community. Du admitted that he hadn’t worked with affiliate schools during his time as associate VP admin and failed to name the schools. He said he would work to make sure the schools are “satisfied with the executive goals at the AMS.”
“I look forward to working with these schools and I'm more than happy to look at the executive goals of the VP admin portfolio and the other executives and find a way to achieve a holistic approach in terms of ensuring that our goals align with these schools’,” said Du.
When asked about criticisms around the AMS using carbon offsetting, Du said offsetting doesn’t mean they stop working toward reducing emissions.
“Purchasing carbon offsets are only a good thing if we are also working towards decreasing our emissions,” said Du.
Du said he would follow the AMS’s conflict of interest policies on a question about how he would remain objective in the potential review of UBC Sororities, given his past involvement in Greek life on campus.
The Operations Committee is set to review UBC Sororities’ status as an AMS club based on gender exclusivity rules which violate the society’s bylaws.
“My role and the role of any VP admin is to ensure that clubs continue to promote the AMS mission statement to cultivate unity and goodwill, but also encourage free and open discussion and debate,” said Du.
“Quite frankly, it would be irresponsible and inappropriate for me to impose my personal beliefs on a decision that should be driven by policy and the Operations Committee.”
Follow us at @UbysseyNews on Twitter and follow our election coverage starting February 28. This article is part of our 2022 AMS elections coverage.
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