The AMS has experienced a series of staff vacancies throughout the year, with five senior level employees stepping down from their roles.
Stephanie Sahadeo, ArtSci ’25, resigned as clubs commissioner in February. Renee Balila, ArtSci ’25, stepped down as the chief electoral officer (CEO) this November, while Jason Kim, Comm ’25, left his position as chair of the AMS Board of Directors in January. Samantha Barton, ConEd ’26, resigned from her role as Queen’s Pub (QP) head manager in November, and Kaan Sumer, CompSci ’25, left the commissioner of social issues (external) role in October.
When asked to confirm the employment statuses of the individuals who left their roles, AMS President Owen Rocchi declined to comment, citing privacy reasons.
In response to the resignations, several appointments were made. Ali Al-Safadi, ArtSci ’26, assumed the role of commissioner of social issues (external), and Rebekah Feldman, ArtSci ’25, took over as CEO. Gurisha Sahni, ArtSci ’26, the former vice-chair, took over as the chair of the AMS Board of Directors.
However, some vacancies remained unfilled. Following Sahadeo’s resignation, the Clubs Commissioner role remained vacant for the rest of the term, with Vice-President (University Affairs) Ruth Osunde taking on the portfolio’s responsibilities.
After Barton’s departure from QP, her duties were assumed by Vice-President (Operations) Ayan Chowdhury and the new restaurant Manager Jordan East.
The Journal reached out to all five former employees, asking for comment on their experiences with the AMS and their roles, but only received one response from Sahadeo, who stepped down from her role on Feb. 10.
As the sole Clubs Commissioner, Sahadeo saw an average of 30 to 90 club cases in a single week while managing over 300 AMS-ratified clubs. Cases included policy compliance concerns, club conflicts, grant applications, and other logistical operations.
“It [managing requests] did take quite a toll sometimes, I’ll say. But this is only because I cared so much and I was so personally ionate about everything that I was doing,” she said.
Despite the turnover, the AMS is confident the workplace culture is strong. In an interview with The Journal, Rocchi spoke about the importance of communication for a healthy working environment and staff .
“I’m really proud of the culture we’ve managed to build as an executive and through our senior manager team, which traverses to all aspects of the AMS,” Rocchi said. He explained within the Society, burnout is addressed through from other student leaders, permanent staffers, and Human Resources (HR).
He also noted that leadership turnover is not uncommon in student government, and the AMS has contingency plans—including HR training, and additional planning among executives to redistribute roles—to ensure a smooth transition.
Hiring for the 2025-26 school years senior management team is underway with the new team set to take their roles on May 1.
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