Vice-President (Operations) candidate Elena Nurzynski has a “hands-on” vision for the AMS’s 11 services.
Running on a platform centred on strengthening ties between undergraduate students and the AMS, Elena Nurzynski, ArtSci ’25, is the sole candidate for the vice-president (operations) position. Currently pursuing a degree in health studies, Nurzynski aims to leverage the vice-presidential position to on the knowledge and skills she’s gained through working at the AMS to future generations of students.
Nurzynski felt it was the “natural” step for her to run for vice-president (operations), citing her experience working for multiple AMS services which include being a service staff for the Tricolour Outlet and Common Ground Coffeehouse’s (CoGro) current head manager following her time as staff & relations assistant manager in 2023-24.
The Vice-President (Operations) overlooks the daily operations and financials of the AMS, which includes the istration of the AMS’s 11 services in addition to overseeing all service head managers.
The services within the positions purview include the Tricolour Outlet, CoGro, Peer Centre, Walkhome, Foodbank, Student Life Centre, AMS Media Centre, Queen’s StuCons, The Queen’s Journal, Housing Resource Centre, and the Academic Grievance Centre. The Vice-President is also responsible for the Bus-it program, a contract between the AMS and City of Kingston that allows AMS students to ride for free.
“I feel like I’ve grown so much as a student leader, and I really want to be able to this on to our future service head managers and provide them with those same learning opportunities,” Nurzynski said in an interview with The Journal.
Nurzynski’s platform stands on four main pillars: branding and engagement, community and relationships, ability and operational efficiency, and transparency.
Branding and engagement
“One thing I’ve experienced while working in the AMS is that students don’t know what the AMS is, and they don’t know the opportunities that are there for them,” Nurzynski explained.
If elected, Nurzynski hopes to increase student engagement with the AMS, a relationship she feels to be lacking. She wants to ensure branding and marketing are representative of the entire student body, explaining “students love to see students.”
In leading this initiative, Nurzynski aims to establish monthly meetings with the incoming AMS President and the Marketing and Communications Office, which falls under the AMS President’s portfolio, to coordinate and advance this effort.
“I really want to get to the point where we can walk down University Ave. and students know what the AMS is and how it benefits them,” Nurzynski said in an interview with The Journal.
Community and relationships
Within her second pillar, community and relationships, Nurzynski emphasizes the value of mutual collaboration between the AMS and faculty societies, with a plan to hold meetings every two weeks beginning at the start of her term. She specified communication with EngSoc to ensure collaboration and minimize competition between the Queen’s Pub, a returning AMS service, and EngSoc’s Clark Hall Pub.
“At the end of the day, we [the faculty societies and myself] both want success for our services, and I think that’s super attainable just as long as you have that communication piece,” she stressed.
ability and operational efficiency
To improve efficiency and ability in services, Nurzynski aims to “streamline assistant manager portfolios” to reduce overlap in responsibilities and the division of roles. Assistant Managers operate within AMS offices, including marketing and human resources, in addition to under the service head managers of the society’s various student run services.
Nurzynski plans on taking a “hands-on approach” in the position by participating in mock shifts at different services if elected—a practice she learned from current Vice-President (Operations) Ayan Chowdhury, who participated in a hands-on training session to understand the operations of CoGro.
With a to-be-determined move-in date to the JDUC, Nurzynski plans to provide comprehensive through various strategies. These include offering hands-on assistance, facilitating staff training, developing contingency plans to ensure uninterrupted service during the move, and allocating sufficient time to ensure a smooth transition.
Transparency
Nurzynski stresses the importance of transparency and ability to students, aiming to make the AMS’ consolidated budget accessible to everyone, especially if they don’t have a business background.
To clarify the budget, she plans on breaking down the figures and simplifying the terminology, ensuring all students can easily understand it.
When asked how she plans to tackle the over $96,000 deficit from AMS services, Nurzynski emphasizes avoiding a “one-size-fits all” approach.
READ MORE: AMS consolidated budget for 2024-25 academic year presented at Corporate General Meeting
“One solution will not solve the current deficit we’re facing, and it’s important to approach the issue from different angles to be successful in mitigating our operating deficit,” Nurzynski explained. She highlighted ideas including increasing student fees while maintaining transparency with students, grants and bursaries, and echoed her emphasis on engagement with services.
With executive elections looming ahead, Nurzynski is looking forward to seeing what changes are made for the student body by incoming student leaders.
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