Complete Platform

Table of Contents
About the Candidate Section I: Mental Health Principals Commission on Mental Health: Implementation Scheduling and Peak Times Health and Wellness Centre Mental Health Toolbox: Next Steps Faculty-Specific Counsellors Presence in Queens Talks The Rector as an Informal, Confidential Support Resource Section II: Equity Gender Neutral Washrooms Positive Space Training for Orientation Week Leaders Gender-Neutral Assemblies Combating Sexual Violence at Queens Gender Representation on Major Queens Senior Governing Bodies The Attraction and Retention of Aboriginal Students Section III: Student Autonomy Orientation Week Non-Academic Discipline Section IV: Long-Term Planning Homecoming The Future of Queens Campus: The Campus Master Plan Enrollment Town-Gown Relations Differentiated Framework Faculty-Specific Issues Section V: Accessibility of the Office Rector Blog Not Office Hours Approach to Faculty Society and High Table Engagement Rector Twitter Account 14 11 9 7 3 4

About the Candidate

My name is Mike Young and I am a third year Con-Ed student. I am in the Primary/Junior teaching division and the dream is to have my very own Grade 4 class with a rocking chair and my guitar behind my desk. I am a Gender Studies major and a Global Development minor. I started out in English, but over the past 3 years, I have found that my passion lies in issues of social justice. More specifically, I have found great satisfaction in learning about social justice issues as they pertain to those with a diverse range of sexual and/or gender identities, including specifically what can be done to combat these oppressions. My time at Queens has been the best years of my life so far. The people, the campus, and the city have made Kingston home for me. The student experience that Queens students are offered, in my opinion, is elite. Since coming to Queens, I have been very lucky to have had a number of different leadership positions. I have served as 1 st and 2nd year representative on CESA (Concurrent Education Students Association), I am Chairperson of the first ever Mental Health Awareness Board that was struck this year, and I am also a facilitator and steering committee member of the Positive Space Program. I have also been involved in Queens Oxfam, Womens Worth Week, and the Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award. This past year, I was Head Teach in Con-Ed`s Orientation Week after being involved as a Teach in my second year. Orientation Week has given me some of the most incredible experiences of my life that have shaped the person I have become. I see immeasurable value in the opportunities provided by the student programming for other students prevalent at Queen`s. Much of what I will do if elected in office is dedicated to giving Queens students this same experience moving forward. Though issues of student autonomy and long-term planning will be foregrounded for the next Rector and must be addressed properly and diligently, the ideas I have about mental health and equity at Queen`s are what set my platform apart. I have had an intimate relationship with and am very passionate about these issues. I have seen what depression, anxiety, and different manifestations of ill mental health can do to someone you love and to those around that person. Queens has to continue to be a leader and I will not stop advocating and working towards better service for our community. In addition, I have seen what it can be like for someone to face discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, and I have seen that result in suicide and tragedy. As someone who hopes to help shape the lives of my students in a positive way, one lost child is one too many. Working to combat this discrimination starts with our generation making the right strides. These experiences have shaped my platform and are why these two issues are so prominent in my platform. At my core, I love working with others and gaining experiences by meeting new people. I am passionate about helping and empowering people to make positive change, both in their own lives and in the lives of those around them. I love speaking to students and would love to hear from you. I look forward to meeting new faces throughout this campaigning period and I very much appreciate you taking the time to read my platform. As Rector, I will make my time your time. I cannot promise to be the best Rector Queens has ever seen, but I am promising to be the best possible Rector I can be.

Section I: Mental Health

Mission Statement Mental health needs to be at the foreground of conversations at the university and an underpinning of all decision-making. We need a strong group of mental health advocates in student leadership positions as Queens continues to establish itself as a leader across Canada in dealing with mental illness. We have many resources, but these resources will need to be expanded as our school continues to grow and the issues students face change over time. I personally subscribe to an approach to dealing with mental health that recognizes and addresses the diverse range of issues different students might be facing rather than taking a one size fits all approach. I have had the pleasure of being appointed as Chair of the first ever Mental Health Advisory Board and have met students from every faculty, learning about what mental health initiatives they are carrying out. The issues are diverse. Engineering students will be facing different issues and stressors than commerce students, just as an example. Further, within faculties, students have diverse needs and issues that must be recognized. As such, student and faculty groups should not be viewed as homogenous when assessing how mental health ought to be handled. Mental health is something incredibly important to me and has affected me personally. I hope to help pave the way with forward and collaborative thinking, and with an attitude that is non-judgmental and open-minded. It is time that the stigma attached to mental illness is debunked; that mental health be openly talked about; that we give mental health the attention it deserves at every level of the Queens experience. Some specific ideas I have about mental health at Queens, as found below: Principals Commission on Mental Health: Implementation Scheduling/Peak Times Health and Wellness Centre Mental Health Toolbox: Next Steps Faculty-Specific Counsellors Presence in Queens Talks The Rector as an Informal, Confidential Support Resource ______________________________________________________________________________ Principals Commission on Mental Health: Implementation Principal Woolf, in coalition with the Mental Health Working Group, assessed the status of mental health at Queens (the issues and our capacity to deal with them) and published a report called Student Mental Health and Wellness: Framework and Recommendations for a Comprehensive Strategy, complete with recommendations, in November of 2012. In this report are a number of good and important ideas that would greatly benefit students, including the need for a Health and Wellness Centre as will be explained below. To highlight a few other important recommendations, the report recommends that all operational and functional groups at Queens, such as the Board of Trustees, SGPS, AMS, etc., have the goal of a healthy community be expressed at the highest levels. Therefore, this focus should be reflected in the policy documents and mission statements of these groups. The report also expressed that training should be provided for

teaching assistants such that they will be better suited to deal with things like equity or mental health issues, something that TAs and TFs in graduate and professional programs should already be receiving. The report does an incredible job of outlining some well-conceptualized ideas, but the implementation is our greatest responsibility moving forward. I will bring this report to the Board of Trustees to remind members of the recommendations and to discuss how they will be implemented efficiently. I would make sure to keep this process as transparent as possible and to work cohesively with the administration and student body. Scheduling/Peak Times In talking with other students, it is clear that peak times of academic stress (mid-terms all being in the same week or several essays/assignments due at the same time in different classes) is one of the main contributors to student anxiety and ill mental health. I will start the conversation about having professors within faculties and departments working together when determining due dates and exam times such that it is spread out as much as possible. At the very least, it is time that policies are put in place so that students can receive support and accommodations during weeks with several academic requirements. While the establishment of a fall reading week has been bounced around and ultimately deemed highly unlikely/unfeasible due to the effect it would have on the start and end of term, and on Orientation Week, this is the type of adaptive thinking that I think is necessary moving forward. I would work towards the establishment of a long weekend around the middle of the semester (week 6 or 7) to give students an extra day or two to catch up on some work and feel more at ease with what they have to do. This will accomplish many of the same things that a fall reading week would without the same implications on the Universitys scheduling. Health and Wellness Centre I have spoken to members of the administration about the ability of the La Salle building (on Stuart St. which houses Health, Counselling, and Disability Services and serves as a clinic for sick students) to sufficiently serve students and meet demand. It is generally accepted and understood that HCDS is limited and unable help students as efficiently as we would like. Wait times are weeks long at times and some students I have spoken to are frustrated about the accessibility of mental health professionals. There are full-time staff members ready to start working at HCDS that cannot physically start working due to a lack of space. All of this, coupled with the space currently being wasted in the Physical Education Centre (PEC) next to the JDUC, leads me to conclude that the establishment of a Health and Wellness Centre in this space is the most practical next step. Administration members I have spoken with have indicated that they support this idea and that funding is available. As Rector, I will be a strong proponent of this project and will do everything in my power to see it through. I will do what I can to make sure it happens. Additionally, I have met with Dr. Condra (director of HCDS) and asked what they need to best serve students. I would look to continue working with Dr. Condra as the project develops. Mental Health Toolbox: Next Steps Nick Francis, the current Rector, has started to distribute mental health toolboxes for faculties to use. These toolboxes were created and develope d by students at Queens in tandem with Peer Support Centre interns. The toolboxes have been sent to faculty society presidents such that they can use resources and tools that they feel most pertain to their constituents. Essentially, this is a tailored approach to dealing with mental health issues, a philosophy that I share. However, as it presently exists, it is a collection of
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research from other institutions and is more philosophically based. In addition to using the research that has been done, I will compile a comprehensive list of concrete resources and strategies available to Queens students and tailor them into a unique toolbox for each faculty. This would be a collaborative effort with faculty leaders. I will take the onus off faculty leaders to develop their own approach and make the rector a more active proponent. I will to work closely with each faculty individually to actively shape and mould each facultys approach. I would also like to establish a system to review how the tools presented are working for students once each semester, and to make changes as necessary. I think this has the potential to help a large number of students who need it and to be a foundation to build on for generations of students to come. Faculty-Specific Counsellors In the faculties of Nursing and Education, faculty-specific mental health counsellors have been established. I will use the influence of the Rectors Office to get other faculties on board, ideally resulting in each faculty having one of more mental health counsellor dedicated to their students that can be accessed through their faculty office. I believe having faculty specific counseling resources will allow students to bring their academic/personal stresses to professionals who have a nuanced understanding of the faculty itself and familiarity with common issues. Furthermore, students can personally connect with their facultys counsellor more than is possible in an office with a higher volume of patients and counsellors, such as HCDS. This would also help reduce traffic in HCDS, which in turn would reduce wait times. Presence in Queens Talks Queens Talks is an initiative put on by the Peer Support Centre every year. It looks to bring students together to talk openly about mental health in an effort to educate and to break down the stigma. As Rector, I will look to be a leader within this weeklong event. Whether it be giving a workshop, being a speaker, or spending time at Queens Talks booths, I believe it is important that the Rector be visibly involved, especially given the positions responsibility as a mental health support system. The nature of my engagement will be determined in coalition with the weeks organizers at the Peer Support Centre. Advertise the Rector as a Confidential Support Resource As mentioned, one of the main job responsibilities of the Rector, though lesser known, is as a confidential support resource. Any student, at any time, can drop into the Rectors office, close the door, and get support for any personal issues they might be experiencing. This support also comes with the guarantee of complete confidentiality. I pride myself on being an extremely approachable person and being able to support my friends and peers, and to either talk through issues with others and/or make sure they get the professional support they need is very important to me. I will make sure more people know about this part of the job such that those students who need to talk to someone, but who maybe dont want to go to an official counselling office or to talk to a friend who they personally know, will have somewhere to go and someone to trust.

Section II: Equity

Mission Statement I am a firm believer that Queens ought to be a leader in creating a campus in which every student feels comfortable, safe, free, and like they matter just as much as their peers. I am a Gender Studies student and a facilitator with the Positive Space program (that works in cooperation with the Human Rights Office), so I have the passion and experience to be a strong advocate for equity and an ally to all. We cannot simply flick a switch or draft a policy to make Queens an equitable utopia. We can, however, make equity more prevalent in our discussions and have it influence the decisions that are made at places such as the Board of Trustees and University Senate. While the Queer community, racial minorities, Aboriginal community, and various other under-represented and/or oppressed groups are starting to be recognized in different university policies, we have a long way to go. I want to be a leader for all students, not just students who fit a specific mould. Some ideas I have about equity at Queens, as found below: Gender-Neutral Washrooms Positive Space Training for Orientation Week Leaders Gender-Neutral Assemblies Combating Sexual Violence at Queens Gender Representation on Major Queens Senior Governing Bodies ______________________________________________________________________________ Gender-Neutral Washrooms I firmly believe that students who might be transitioning, questioning, or are not fully situated within the gender of male or female, should not have to plan their days around which buildings they will be in on campus due to the limited number of gender-neutral washrooms. They should be readily available in as many buildings as is financially feasible. There is currently a policy at Queens that mandates every new building constructed on campus, or every building majorly renovated, must include the construction of a gender-neutral washroom. I will use the influence the Rector has to make sure this is followed. We were promised a gender-neutral washroom in Mac-Corry with construction starting in September of 2013. As of the end of first semester (December 2013), no such construction has begun even though funds have been secured for the project in advance of its planned construction. We need to hold the university accountable to these types of promises. Going to the washroom should not be a major emotional ordeal in anyones life. I will also actively seek new projects in existing buildings to establish gender-neutral washrooms and to repurpose existing single-service gendered washrooms as gender-neutral. Positive Space Training for Orientation Week Leaders I had the overwhelming pleasure of being the head of Con-Eds Orientation Week this past September. For the first time in Queens Orientation, all of our leaders participated in Positive Space training. We have had astoundingly positive feedback from our leaders and frosh alike about the training and what it provided. The Positive Space program is a 2 hour training session in which participants are educated about many of the different sexual orientations and gender identities that someone might claim, the

issues that the Queer community often face, and how to handle these situations sensitively. I believe there is an expectation that an Orientation Leader handle an issue of sexual and/or gender diversity sensitively; that if an incoming student approaches their leader to notify them that they identify as gay but have never told anyone that this will be handled with empathy and sensitivity, just as one example. Thus, I will use my influence to try and get next years Orientation Week Heads on board with getting their own leaders trained. My hope is that Positive Space training for Orientation Week leaders becomes commonplace. I believe this would be a step in the right direction that would affect decades of first year students to come in a very beneficial way. Gender-Neutral Assemblies Earlier this year at AMS Assembly, I passed a motion that sees members address each other by position and surname rather than using gendered pronouns. For example, instead of being referred to as Mr. Young or Mr. Representative, I would now be referred to as Representative Young. Currently, ASUS and AMS assemblies are both gender neutral in their proceedings and I would like to see this spread across every faculty. I will speak with each faculty society at the beginning of my term about putting a motion together. Though the vast majority of students who sit on faculty societies may not mind if they referred to by a gender pronoun, it is not worth ever making someone feel uncomfortable and potentially unsafe by misrepresenting how they choose to identify. This is forward thinking and is a small change worth making. Combating Sexual Violence at Queens Sexual violence is a pervasive issue at Queens that must not be taken lightly. The core of student leaders ought to take a stance to combat sexual violence at Queens and to lead by example. I have been involved as a panelist during Womens Worth Week on campus and spend much of my time in the classroom engaging in discussions about sexual violence and what can be done. I will, as Rector, continue to be involved in initiatives such as Womens Worth Week, and to do my part to help break down the stigma attached to being sexually assaulted. I will engage in open discussions that are positive, nonjudgmental, are critical of shaming, and that are sex-positive. I will be a strong voice and a positive influence, doing everything I can to help create a safer school both socially and physically. Gender Representation on Major Queens Senior Governing Bodies The Board of Trustees is the body that oversees the operations of the university and makes all decisions regarding university finances, enrollment, campus development, and other major issues. The Rector represents both graduate and undergraduate students on the Board. As it stands now, according to the Queens website, only 5 of 24 members of the Board of Trustees are openlyidentified females. I will look critically at how board members are nominated and elected to see if there are any systematic inequalities leading to the underrepresentation of women in major decision making at our school. This can also be extended to look at our senior administration and other major bodies at the University.

Section III: Student Autonomy

Mission Statement The next few years are of vital importance for the future of our school and the student experience. Years ago, the mission of student leaders was to raise the experience of students inside of the classroom to match the level of our experience outside of the classroom, which has always been second-to-none. At the present time, our first priority must be to protect the unique opportunities students have to run core programming for other students. The elite student experience in extracurricular involvement is at risk. Student-run Orientation Week and peer-to-peer non-academic discipline are both being threatened. If we do not have the right people in place to stand firm for what makes our school so special, we will lose what makes Queens what it is. Though mental health and equity are personally very close to my heart, student autonomy is arguably the thing that students ought to be most concerned about in the next few years. There are more opportunities at Queens for students to not only participate in, but to be involved in and run core programming for their fellow students and the Kingston community. This is the culture of Queens that I have come to love. We are a great academic institution - do not get me wrong. But at the end of the day, we are an elite student experiencebased institution, and this is what makes Queens such a magical place to go to school. This is what attracts the incredibly high quality students who go here and that is why students come back for their 10th, 20th, etc. Homecoming celebrations. Student autonomy is at the core of everything we have access to as students. The Rector, if they deem it important, spend the time, and work with other students, can be a major preserving force of this Queens experience. Thus, the Rector must play a vital role in sustaining the Queens experience. I am confident that I can do that for students. Some ideas I have about student autonomy, as found below: Orientation Week Non-Academic Discipline (NAD) ______________________________________________________________________________ Orientation Week Orientation Week has provided me with three of the most impactful experiences of my life. At Queens, not only are students generally very excited about entering Orientation Week in their first year at Queens, but there are many opportunities in upper y ears to plan and execute the core programming that welcomes incoming classes. Personally, I believe the experience of incoming students greatly benefits from our Orientation Week being carried out by upper-year students. At this point, there is more hesitancy about student-run Orientation Week than ever before from university staff members. They are looking for any opportunity to seize control of something that we all hold so dear. This would mean no more grease pole. This would mean no more pelvic thrusting. This would mean the end of Orientation Week as we have come to adore it at Queens. The Rector can be an influential voice for students at the university level about this issue, but this will only be successful if the Rector truly knows what they are talking about. Through my experience as the Chair of Con-Eds

Orientation Week this past September, I have the experience of talking about Orientation Week to Queens staff and I know how to explain why it must stay as it is. As the coming 2 -3 years pose a significant risk to student-run Orientation Week, I would like to lobby for Orientation Week in a position of authority. Non-Academic Discipline (NAD) The non-academic system was designated to the AMS by the University Senate. Our restorative, student-led and run justice system is unique to Queens and I believe it to be a huge asset. There is a certain level of respect and understanding that fellow students can demonstrate where older university staff cannot. Additionally, a peer-run judicial system provides a unique educational opportunity for students to learn different skills and processes. As is the case with Orientation Week, the university is very uneasy with students being in control of non-academic discipline. Consequently, the control of our system by the AMS is at stake. Often citing hazing as a major concern that students are not fit to handle, there has been friction between student and university leaders about NAD. I am prepared to be the advocate students need and deserve at the Board of Trustees and through whichever other avenues are necessary to ensure this does not happen. Our system is fair, restorative rather than punitive, and runs on a peer-to-peer level. These are things we must not lose.

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Section IV: Long-Term Planning

Mission Statement Queens is going through a plethora of major changes that will continue over the Rector elects term. I have done extensive research over the past couple of months, talked to those involved in these changes, and isolated ways in which I feel the Rector can effectively represent the needs of students during this process. There are also some holes in some existing initiatives at Queens that can be filled with beneficial programming. I believe in establishing a framework at Queens that is sustainable for generations of students to come. We have to be vocal at the Board of Trustees about how students view different issues (such as enrollment growth and the subsequent concerns that will arise in regards to the accessibility of sufficient, serviceable student housing). I am always looking to learn about what is going on by talking to those involved and will continue with this philosophy as Rector. Change is necessary at some junctures, but we have the responsibility of making sure that changes made benefit both the student population and the University as a whole. Some ideas I have about long-term planning, as found below: Homecoming The Future of Queens Campus: The Campus Master Plan Enrollment Town-Gown Relations Differentiated Framework Faculty Specific Issues ______________________________________________________________________________ Homecoming I firmly believe that there should be core programming offered for students on the Saturday night of Homecoming weekend. All programming offered by the University to engage students and alumni occurs either in the morning or the early afternoon. The City of Kingston and Queens alike have expressed concerns about the unsanctioned street parties that take place; the most notable being on Aberdeen Street. I have spoken to members of the administration about the possibility of having a university-sanctioned event to fill this void and they were open to this idea. Therefore, as Rector, I will look to further these conversations and will work with the AMS and SGPS to accomplish something students can look forward to and enjoy. Yes, Homecoming is for alumni, but we cannot ignore the thousands of students who want to be involved in the festivities. A block-party type event took place in the 80s. I have spoken to alumni who were at those events who had extremely positive things to say, so this is a potential solution. Regardless of what form it takes, students deserve some core university programming during Homecoming. I believe the City of Kingston would benefit from this as well. Enrollment Based on the new Enrollment Plan, we will see the addition of 2,000 students that will gradually make their way to Queens over the next 4 years. Therefore, the campus itself will have more students on it, which can present a number of different issues for students such as: class sizes, program offerings, the ability to find sufficient student housing for fair prices, the

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perceived value of a Queens degree, and the clogging of student services, just to name a few. I will take the concerns of students and use every resource available to the Rectors office to make sure the concerns are heard and that changes are made if necessary. At the end of the day, the University has a responsibility to its students to provide an exceptional experience. An increase in student enrollment cannot be accompanied by a decline in the quality of the student experience. The Future of the Queens Campus: The Campus Master Plan The Campus Master Plan has been presented at the Board of Trustees and, if approved, we will notice some changes in the physical makeup of our campus. Based on the proposed plan, our campus will see the establishment of two new residences built to accommodate the 2,000 additional students we will almost certainly see over the next four years as per the Enrollment Plan. This will involve the removal of a parking lot and some housing on Stuart Street as well. Some changes within the Campus Master Plan look to establish West Campus as more of a destination for students rather than West being seen as a chore for students to live or have classes on. The alterations look to accomplish this by expanding West Campus with new buildings and services. Ultimately, we have to make sure that the Rector is constantly engaging students to get their feedback about the future of our physical campus. As Rector, I will actively seek out student opinion on these issues and look to engage different student leadership groups to levy change and accomplish common goals. I will expand on how I plan to engage students in the final section of this platform. Town-Gown Relations Typically, the Rector will speak at faculty society assemblies and at High Table dinners for residence floors. Given the rocky relationship between the City of Kingston and Queens students, as exemplified by some interactions on social media between city officials and students, I think the Rector has a unique opportunity to work with the Municipal Affairs Commission within the AMS and the SGPS to make positive strides. As Rector, I will take full advantage of this opportunity and will support my fellow student leaders in discussing different strategies, developing stances on issues, and physically supporting them at City Council Meetings, vocalizing my support when appropriate. It is time that the City of Kingston hears about the positive things Queens students are doing within the city itself with more regularity. I think this would be a good way to help change how we are perceived within our hometown, even if only residents for 8 months of the year for many of us. Differentiated Framework Every university in Ontario is being shaped by a Differentiated Framework that looks to have each university offer unique academic programs. For example, there have been some faculties of education in the province who have stopped offering English and History as teachable subjects, while the Queens Faculty of Education has stopped offering Physical Education as a certifiable teachable subject. This differentiation could potentially seriously affect members of the SGPS if the University decides to alter program offerings. The time to complete dilemma, in this case, could be magnified for students who happen to be in a program that the University decides it needs to close. I will stay on top of these issues in tandem with the SGPS. Because we are being asked to differentiate ourselves as an academic institution and demonstrate how we are doing so, we must once again make sure that the

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student voice is present in these discussions. Whether recommendations are program closures or major program changes, students must be the priority. Faculty Specific Issues I have spoken to student leaders from every faculty at Queens to hear their specific issues that they would like to see the Rector work to change, and here is a list that are currently on my radar. While I would constantly be working to engage students and hear new concerns, I have a solid foundation to get started right away: Arts & Science: It is difficult for Arts & Science students to get an appointment with an Academic Advisor in Mac-Corry (F200) when they are most needed. As Rector, I will look for solutions that will make advisors more accessible to more students. Commerce: I will work hard to preserve Commerces Orientation Week, which has been specifically targeted by the university and threatened recently. I will also work to increase job recruiting efforts and to get to the bottom of the unprecedented tuition increases the program has seen over the past decade. Additionally, first year commerce students do not have any elective courses outside of commerce. I will gain student feedback on this and take necessary advocacy action. Computing: Incoming class sizes have greatly increased over the last few years. We must make sure that the academic experience within computing is being maintained with acceptable class sizes and resources. As Rector, I will be a support system for COMPSA as the program grows and gains momentum on campus. Con-Ed: Con-Ed students have their PROF classes online on D2L rather than having everything centralized on Moodle. I will begin the discussion to bringing it back to one place. I will also work on the GPA discrepancy issue through regular meetings with the Associate Dean. Engineering: The grease pole is a major concern from the senior governing bodies of Queens. As Rector, I will protect this sublime, long-standing tradition. Nursing: It is very difficult for nursing students to get into elective courses before they fill up, so I will work to make this easier. There are also some serious mental health issues that can arise within various situations a student might find themselves in during their practical (ex: caring for children with life-threatening illness in hospitals), so mental health initiatives need to be a focus. I will work with the NSS on this and be a resource. PHE/KIN: Enrolment changes have affected each program at Queens, but the impact of enrolment growth has been of particular significance within Phe/Kin. The traditional camping trip offered has struggled to accommodate the increased demand, and similar strains are being seen in Frosh Week. The program is also going through some academic restructuring. I will ensure that the growth within the faculty is accompanied by additional funding and programming where necessary, and that students are consulted at each juncture. Graduate and Professional Students: There is a lack of training and support for TAs and TFs that would be beneficial, especially when dealing with difficult students or unique situations. Additionally, the time-to-complete issue demands constant attention. As Rector, I will keep in consistent contact with the SGPS executive to work on these issues, and will work to bridge the gap between the AMS and SGPS.

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International Students: It is difficult with the timing of exchanges and different language and/or cultural barriers for some international students to have their voices heard on bodies such as the AMS. I will work with the Queens University International Centre (QUIC) to make student leadership positions more accessible to international students.

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Section V: Accessibility of the Office

Mission Statement I see it as the job of the Rector to not only provide support when approached by students, but to actively seek out the students that you serve. As Rector, I will come to you. This is a theme seen in the new initiatives I will launch as Rector. People should know who the Rector is, what the Rector does, and how the Rector can help make their Queens experience more positive. Graduate students should also be aware that the Rector is not merely a representative of undergraduate students the Rectors Office serves you as well, and Id like to work with the SGPS to make the office more available to graduate and professional students. The profile of the Rectors Office has been raised significantly during Rector Franciss term. I would like to see this trend continue, and I have some simple and effective ways of accomplishing this. Some ideas I have about the accessibility of the Rectors office, as found below: Rector Blog Not Office Hours Approach to Faculty Society and High Table Engagement Rector Twitter Account ______________________________________________________________________________ Rector Blog Hypothetically, any student can attend an AMS Assembly to hear the Rectors report, or they can go online to access the written report. However, this is not entirely accessible and the vast majority of students, for a number of different reasons, will not ever get any of the information about what the Rector has been up to. I want to create a bi-weekly Rector Blog that will be linked through the Rectors Facebook page. The bi-weekly post will be an opportunity for me to engage students on social media in a way that I feel is more accessible. I would talk about what I have been up to, what is happening at the school, exciting things going on in the world, etc. It will be a more accessible option for students and will also get them onto the Rectors website with just one click, which will raise the profile of the site itself. The Rector Blog will also allow more people to understand what the Rector does.

Not Office Hours As Rector, I will set up a table in the lower ceilidh of the JDUC once a week where I will meet and talk to students who are passing by. This would be an opportunity for students to share their ideas, meet their Rector, and for me to point out where the office is located and what services they have access to within the office. These hour-long not office hours would be at different days and times each week so that it can accommodate students with different schedules. Though the office is located at the top of the stairs in front of the AMS offices in the JDUC, many students pass by it daily without knowing what it is. I would use this as an opportunity to show students where they can find me. Approach to Faculty Society and High Table Engagement Historically, the Rector has attended some faculty society meetings and has spoken at high table residence dinners. As Rector, I will get in contact with every student society (ASUS, EngSoc, ESS, etc.) and request attendance at one of their first meetings to speak to students, introduce myself, and explain
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what I do and how I can help them. I vow to attend at least one faculty society meeting of each student society at Queens per semester. It is vitally important that the rector keeps a pulse on the students that they serve. I would attend the meetings to learn, to engage, and to discover new ways to better student life. I will also get in contact with the Residence Society to let them know that I would be interested in attending as many high table dinners as they would like, whether it be as a speaker or just to visit and meet students. Again, it is about actively seeking student engagement rather than waiting for invitations to come to me. Rector Twitter Account - I will create a Twitter account specifically for the position. This Twitter account will be dedicated to updating and engaging students from the capacity of my position and will be a way of separating my personal tweets from my work in the Rectors office.

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