President Jennifer Li and Vice-President (University Affairs) Palmer Lockridge didn’t have to go far down the alphabet, or the hallway, to find a new member of their executive.
Effective immediately, Director of Media Services Chelsea Hollidge will be leaving her directorship to replace Brian McKay, who resigned August 18, as AMS vice-president (operations).
With the change, Team JBP has now become Team J.
“I’m very excited,” Hollidge told The Journal. “It’s been a wild ride but I’m very excited to Jenn and Palmer and the rest of the team.”
Li shared in the excitement with Hollidge.
“Palmer and I are really excited… to have Chelsea on the team and for her to be able to step into the role. We’re very grateful that she is willing to step up,” she said.
In accordance with the AMS Constitution, Li and Lockridge maintained the authority to appoint a member of the society to fill the vacant office, pending the approval of assembly.
“Based on conversations with our staff and with certain s, we recognized that there was a need to fill the office before the start of the school year,” Li said.
“For Palmer and I, it wasn’t just about filling the role based on our needs and our desires, but that the staff and the team that would work under the Vice-President (Operations) felt like they could work with that candidate.”
Li told The Journal in their consultations with various head managers, directors and of AMS Assembly, Hollidge’s appointment received widespread .
During her time at Queen’s, Hollidge has also been an assistant manager for used books and school supplies at Tricolour Outlet, SMART head manager, WalkHome service staff and a volunteer with Studio Q.
According to Hollidge, her transition will start right away so she can be prepared for the start of the school year.
“I’ve had some experience integrating into a role like this before,” Hollidge said, referencing her previous transition from SMART staff to head manager.
In of her new appointment, Hollidge said she already has some goals in place.
“In our goal plans we did have specific outlined goals for sustainability, [we’ll be] looking over those, seeing where we’re at and how we can actually contribute to sustainability for the rest of the year,” Hollidge said.
“In media services, I definitely had goals for those services that I would still love to see through. [But] moving forward I do have to switch gears and focus on the whole student body, which I’m very excited about.”
Now as the Vice President (Operations), Hollidge wants to each individual service in the AMS reach their goals.
“I really respect the ion that head managers have for their services and I think that’s how I relate to them and can be the best to them,” Hollidge said. “When it comes to making tough decisions and being an advocate for them at higher levels, I really do respect that ion and want to be an advocate for them.”
According to Hollidge, her replacement for Director of Media Services remains uncertain, but the media services head managers — Walkhome, Studio Q and The Journal — are “very capable and prepared to be a little more autonomous” in the interim.
“We don’t have a concrete answer as to when or how we’ll be replacing that role, but in the past there have been directorships that have remained unfilled and I know that the head managers are comfortable with that as well, should that be our decision.”
This isn’t the first time that a directorship has been left empty due to internal shuffling of roles in the AMS. Last year, Brandon Kim, ArtSci ’16, Retail Services Director to become the Academic Affairs Commissioner.
“Every year there’s been a different circumstance and that’s the toughest part,” Li said about the vacant director positions. “We’ll have conversations with the Board and figure out what works on that side of the AMS, but I don’t think we’ve really come to a decision yet.”
Hollidge will be officially ratified at Assembly on September 21st, but will be assuming her new responsibilities effective immediately.
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