Table of Contents

Our Approach Who we are:

Eril Berkok (Presidential Candidate) Peter Green (Vice President Operations Candidate) T.K. Pritchard (Vice President University Affairs Candidate) 3 4 5 6

Pillar #1 Health, Wellness and Safety

Expanding Blue Lights into the University District Revolutionizing The Health & Dental Plan through Student Feedback Creation of a Student Mental Health Advisory Board Facilitation of Professional Mental Health Support Groups on Campus Installation of a Crosswalk at Division and Union 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 32

Pillar #2 New and Improved AMS Services

Revitalizing the JDUC; a Million Dollar Decision made Directly by Students Creation of The Upper Crust - a Grilled Cheese and Soup Food Service Syllabi; Available Before Course Selection LGBTQ Thursdays at Alfies Re-evaluate and Upgrade the AMS Infrastructure Next Generation Web Presence

Pillar #3 Supporting Student Life

Expanding Queens Wi-Fi into University District Homes Virtual Labs Bringing Lab Software Off Campus Ensuring Homecoming is Here to Stay The Creation of The Arts Council Proactively Support the Needs of Student Societies Student Rental Property and Security Consulting for Housing

Pillar #4- Academics and Employment Skills

Campus Entrepreneurship Opportunities Student volunteerism, employment, and job skills Finding Scholarships Easier - the Scholarship Calculator Auditing and Reducing Peripheral Course Fees

Commission Reviews
Academic Affairs Commission Campus Activates Commission Commission of Environment and Sustainability Commission of Internal Affairs Municipal Affairs Commission Social Issues Commission 34 35 36 37 38 39

Service Reviews
TAPS Common Ground Walkhome Stucons P&CC Tricolour QTV Yearbook and Design Services Queens Journal CFRC 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 52 53 54 55 56

Office Reviews
Communications Office Marketing Office Human Resources Office IT Office Student Centre Office

Our Approach
Team BGP is Eril Berkok for President, Peter Green for Vice President of Operations and T.K. Pritchard for Vice President of University Affairs. Eril is a fifth year Computer Science student with a specialization in Software Design, Peter is a fourth year Biology and Art History second degree candidate, and T.K. is a fifth year Drama and English medial. BGP is a team where each candidates experience is rooted either within or externally to the AMS. This means that Team BGP understand the AMS, but is not content to simply maintain the status quo. The team thinks critically about student issues and the AMS itself and is committed to action. Decision making should not be carried out within the AMS offices, but in discussion with students throughout our campus. We dont believe this is just our AMS - its yours. Our job is to get our fingers on the pulse of the student body - to learn what you want done with your AMS. We are not satisfied with just leaving our doors open for students to drop in. Its time we came to you. We will be proactive in seeking out consultation within the student body and we will facilitate critical assessment of our actions. We will be proactive in seeking out the opinions of the student body in what we do, and we will facilitate critical assessment of our actions wherever possible. This attitude of outreach and consultation was the foundation in building our teams campaign platform. Its four pillars of Health, Wellness and Safety, New and Improved AMS Services, Academics and Employment, and Supporting Student Life offers a strong vision and carefully laid course for the AMS. Its time for the AMS to truly serve and represent the diversity of students at Queens University. Its time for Homecoming, for expanding the bluelight network north of campus, for free QueenU wifi accessibility in student homes. Its time for an AMS youre proud to call yours.

Eril Berkok (Presidential Candidate)

Eril is a 5th year student working on a Software Design degree in the School of Computing. Having lived in Kingston for 16 years, he came to Queens following in the footsteps of the rest of his immediate family. Beginning modestly as a leader in Computing Orientation Week, Eril eventually progressed to leading the Computing Students Association as President, where he got his first exposure to the AMS through AMS Assembly and several of its committees. Since he began working with the AMS, Eril has spent 16 months on a professional internship with IBM in Markham, Ontario, where he has learned many professional, technical, and leadership skills. Returning to Queens for his fifth year, he found it difficult to resist assisting in the betterment of the university and became involved again as both a student senator and Student Senate Caucus Chair. As a member of the University Senate and the Academic Planning Task Force, Eril pushes hard for the improvement of academic quality at the university. Beyond advocating for academic quality in university governance, Eril has been immersed in academia through both research and teaching opportunities. After spending a summer in research and development with the EQUIS lab and dedicating two years to being a tutorial instructor for MATH 111, he has accumulated substantial experience in these fields. In recognition of his success, Eril now has the unique honour of being a co-instructor of the course with Dr. Peter Taylor. Despite having diverse experience in all facets of academics, extensive professional skills and strong leadership abilities, Eril has never forgotten why he gets involved: To put himself in a situation, identify problems, solve those problems, and ultimately make life better for everyone around him. It is something he takes pride in doing and something that he promises to bring to the office of the AMS President.

Peter Green (Vice President Operations Candidate)

Peter Green is in his fourth year of achieving his Bachelors of Science in biology while concurrently completing his second bachelors degree in art history. His interests lie in the emerging scientific field of technical art history. Peter is twenty-one years of age and a Toronto native. Peter grew up in a family that highly valued an education, or more fondly, a Queens education. He is incredibly excited to finally welcome his grandfather (Eng47) to this years Homecoming and help him walk the track at Richardson Stadium. Peter came into his first year at Queens with a modest aptitude for management and budgeting. He had just run the most fiscally successful term of his high schools student council to date with the councils largest recorded profit. As President, he was proud to found a post secondary scholarship with his councils surplus. He was eager to pursue these ambitions at a higher level at Queens. In his second year, Peter began his relationship with Queens services at CFRC co-hosting a morning radio program. This public platform fostered an understanding of AMS policy and motivated his passion for the arts at Queens. One of Peters proudest accomplishments at Queens is his election to the Board of Directors at The Union Gallery. In his role as Communications Director, Peter oversees a committee that manages the gallerys marketing and branding, the production of its publications and the gallerys promotion within the Kingston community. His experience on the board has taught him the intricate operations of the non-profit entity, the challenges of making difficult budget cuts and has instilled a strong spirit of advocacy for the arts at Queens. Peter worked for two years as a Banking Officer at Scotiabank specializing in international personal banking policy. His experience in finance has polished his skills in project management, communication and relationship management. Peters experience on his bilateral exchange in the Netherlands was a genuinely transformational one. He sees the benefits of diverse perspectives, the value of empathy and the necessity of equitable representation. As a recipient of the Anne Kerr Social Justice Award, Peter fondly continues his relationship with Kingstons Sexual Health Resource Centre. He firmly believes in the indispensible nature of both social and health resources on campus.

T.K. Pritchard (Vice President University Affairs Candidate)

T.K. is a 5th year student working on a medial in Drama and English. He is from Barrie, Ontario and came to Queens after attending an enrichment program on campus when he was 12, where he fell in love with the school. T.K. began to get involved with the AMS as a general member of a Social Issues Commission committee (EQuIP the Education on Queer Issues Project), in his first year. In second year he was a Gael, chaired Queens Pride Project, was a member of Performance Outreach for Students Social Education (POSSE), and continued work with EQuIP. In third year he chaired EQuIP, continued with POSSE and was nominated for a Positive Space Award. In his 4th year T.K. was a member of AMS Council in the full-time position of Social Issues Commissioner, where he worked with the VPUA under their direct supervision. In this position he oversaw a variety of committees which do equity work, as well as the AMS Peer Support Centre and the Food Centre. He also sat on several committees, including the Student Affairs Mental Health Working Group, the Queens University International Centre Council, and the Council for Employment Equity, as well as two Council of Ontario University committees which worked on domestic violence and accessibility. Currently, he is employed full time by the AMS as the Administration Manager for the Student Life Centre, an AMS Service. In this role he manages 24 paid staff and oversees the operations of the Welcome and Information Office in the JDUC as well as the setups of all Student Life Centre buildings. He is also a volunteer for the Sexual Health Resource Centre. Outside of the AMS, T.K. has been employed in various service sector jobs, ranging from hospitality to sports and recreation. He has also worked as an intervenor for Deafblind Ontario Services for two years. The opportunities that T.K. has pursued over the past five years have helped him to learn how to effectively lead large groups of people with a variety of opinions and views, the importance of teamwork and support, and how to produce positive results under pressure and in adverse situations.

Pillar #1 Health, Wellness and Safety

1. Expanding Blue Lights into the University District 2. Revolutionizing The Health & Dental Plan through Student Feedback 3. Creation of a Student Mental Health Advisory Board 4. Facilitation of Professional Mental Health Support Groups on Campus 5. Installation of a Crosswalk at Division and Union

Installing Blue Lights in the University District

Team BGP is committed to taking tangible steps to improve safety on and off campus. We will install Blue Lights in the University District Student safety is extremely important to Team BGP, both on and off campus; this is why we will install Blue Lights in the University District. Blue Lights provide direct lines of communication to Campus Security by pressing a large red button. A student can either press the blue light button and speak to a campus security member, or they can press it while running by and alert security to their location. We feel that the installation of Blue Lights would be a tangible way to access security resources while serving as a deterrent to potential assailants. Team BGP is proposing a three step plan to installing Blue Lights in the University District. Step one would be to run a pilot project in Victoria Park and City Park. The lights would be under cojurisdiction of Campus Security and the City of Kingston Police, with Campus Security being first responders, who would then contact the police if necessary (as is common practice on campus as well). These lights would be installed in the summer of 2013. If we have success with the lights installed in Victoria Park and City Park, we will then examine more locations throughout the University District where Blue Lights could be installed (i.e., the second step of the project). The third step would be to lobby the city to install safety lights/panic buttons in vulnerable areas such as public underground parking garages, parking lots, and bus stops. These would be under city jurisdiction and would work to keep both students and Kingstonians safe. Team BGP met with Student Affairs to discuss the Blue Light Project. They were 100% behind the idea and committed to working with Team BGP as well as the city to see the project through. Student Affairs also felt that the project fell in line with the safety idea currently under development with the city. They further indicated that the funding could be split between the City, Student Affairs, and the AMS.

Revolutionizing your health and dental insurance

Team BGP is committed to providing the best health and dental care plan possible, and will renegotiate the plan based on student input to best meet current demands, while also making it easier to use. The AMS provides a health and dental plan that is accessible to any of its members. It plays a crucial role in facilitating the health of the student body, and maximizing its utility is something that we care very much about. Between the rapidly growing enrolment of AMS membership and the precedent set by previous AMS Executives for renegotiation, Team BGP is proposing to do the following: 1. Use a marketing survey to determine which parts of the plan are most demanded and which are least demanded, while also allowing students to propose their own ideas for what should be covered 2. In addition, we will use the Fall referendum to survey how receptive students would be to having expanded coverage for contraception, physiotherapy, and mental health counselling 3. Using all of this information, we will renegotiate for more coverage for areas of high demand and less coverage for the areas of low demand, in an effort to maintain the current premium that students pay In addition to the health & dental plan itself, Team BGP is committed to launching a two-part awareness initiative to ensure that as many people as possible know how to use it. To this particular end, with the Communications Officer we will do the following: 1. Undertake an awareness campaign to better inform the student body of when the plan can be used and how to use it 2. Communicate with local businesses relevant to the plan to ensure that they know when to ask whether a student would like to utilize their plan for purchases

Student Mental Health Advisory Board and Mental Health Support Groups
Team BGP has a strong commitment to student Mental Health. We will introduce tangible projects to help increase both mental health awareness as well as mental health resources on campus. There are two new mental health initiatives which Team BGP would like to introduce. First, we would like to create a Student Mental Health Advisory Board, which would have representatives from all faculties, the Peer Support Centre, the Mental Health Awareness Committee, and AMS Council. Team BGP believes in taking an all-faculty approach to lobbying and resource creation. We have been made aware of various issues which specific faculties may face in regards to mental health. For example, due to their hours, Nursing students are often unable to use HCDS resources when they are completing clinical placements. This is a time in which they face a variety of highly emotional challenges which should be supported by proper mental health services. An all-faculty Student Mental Health Advisory Board could help bring these types of issues to light, while allowing us to properly work with HCDS and the Peer Support Centre to better support all of our students.

Secondly, after consulting with multiple representatives from Health, Counseling and Disability Services, Team BGP would like to facilitate bringing professional support groups to campus. Through working with community groups, we will have trained community partners come to a centralized, private area on campus in order to provide support groups to cover areas such as alcohol/drug addiction, eating disorders and depression. These groups would be free for students to access. We also commit to doing outreach to determine what kinds of other groups students may be interested in having come to campus. Finally, Team BGP is committed to supporting the development of a Health and Wellness Centre on Campus. After speaking with Vice Provost and Dean of Student Affairs Anne Tierney, Principal Woolf, and head of counseling services at Health, Counseling and Disability Services, it is clear that a Health and Wellness Centre is a needed resource at Queens. Team BGP fully supports this initiative and will take an active role in the planning of this long term project.

Crosswalk at Union and Division

Team BGP recognizes a need for a safer way to cross Union street, near Division, and will work to ensure the installation of a Crosswalk. A safe campus environment is an issue of primary importance, and we strongly support the need to continually improve all aspects student safety. With that in mind, we have identified an area of concern where we feel that we can make an important adjustment. At the intersection of Division and Union, a significant number of students cross the street to get to and from ILC. Team BGP commits to working to have a courtesy crosswalk installed across Union at this location. This will provide a safer means to cross the street for students, and will also slow the traffic entering the university area from Barrie Street. We feel that this step is necessary to protect students and prevent vehicular accidents.

Pillar #2 New and Improved AMS Services

1. Revitalizing the JDUC: A Million Dollar Decision made directly by Students 2. Creation of The Upper Crust - a Grilled Cheese and Soup Food Service 3. Syllabus Bank to Aid in Course Selection 4. LGBTQ Thursdays at Alfies 5. Re-evaluate and Upgrade the AMS Infrastructure 6. Next Generation Web Presence

Revitalizing the JDUC

Team BGP will commit to facilitating a process whereby student focus groups will choose how they want the JDUC renovated and upgraded a million dollar decision made by students for students. The JDUC is currently undergoing a number of changes. The University administration is renovating the north end cafeteria and the tiles are currently being replaced throughout the building; however there is still room for further improvement. Team BGP believes in doing its due diligence and ensuring that the $1.2 million that the AMS was given to revitalize the JDUC is spent in consultation with the student body. As such, we promise the following: 1. We will work with the current AMS Executive to design a marketing survey that will go out to every student in September. This survey will ask questions to generally determine what students want out of the JDUC, allow them to propose their own ideas on how to spend the money, and will allow them to evaluate our proposals, including: a. Renovating the Performance Lounge at the north end of the JDUC, b. Building a walkway between the 2nd floor of the JDUC and Common Ground in the Queen's Centre, c. Renovating the offices found in the corridor near the P&CC (The Bombshelter), providing modern offices for AMS services and CESA, while also potentially opening up new spaces for use by student groups. d. Improving the lighting throughout the building 2. Additionally, this survey will allow students to opt-in to a random selection process, which will be used to form a focus group 3. This focus group will take the information gathered by the survey and, in conjunction with various experts (i.e. the AMS Retail Operations Officer, the AMS Board of Directors Chair, etc.), come to a decision on how the money will be spent before the end of the Fall semester 4. With a fully prepared set of recommendations, the AMS will proceed to implement the decisions of this focus group

The Upper Crust - a Grilled Cheese and Soup Food Service

Team BGP recognizes that in light of the increasing competition and overlap in the express coffee shop market that there is opportunity in changing Common Ground Express into something new - a grilled cheese and soup outlet. Common Ground Express has been a valuable part of the JDUC for the time that it has operated, providing premades and quick pickup products for passers-by. However, with the opening of the new Tim Hortons on the first floor of the JDUC (a more accessible area than where CoGro Express is) a significant threat exists to CoGro Express and saturation of this particular market. This being the case, we see an opportunity to rebrand CoGro Express as The Upper Crust to provide an alternative food service on campus. This plan would involve the following: 1. We will replace Common Ground Express with a new food service, tentatively named The Upper Crust, that exclusively offers grilled cheese and soup a. These sandwiches would employ a ready-to-go business model similar to that of Lil Ceasars b. Expansion of menu options would be explored following a years operation to more accurately forecast and cater to the student market. 2. We tentatively plan to use the existing infrastructure of CommonGround management, best practices, suppliers and employees a. Extensive consultation with CoGro will be made to explore the potential of hiring a new manager to oversee this growing satellite location b. A full rebranding of the satellite services uniforms and marketing 3. A revitalization of the CoGro Express / Tricolour hallway would be implemented to bring traffic back to the JDUC a. Tiling and additional seating are already underway, a major contingent to the success of the new satellite service b. Revitalization of the dead space between Tricolour and the existing CoGro Express

Course syllabi available anytime, anywhere

Team BGP strongly believes in empowering the student body to know the breakdown of any course before choosing to enrol in it. We will work with the University to develop a central database of course syllabi that will make this possible. Team BGP supports empowering students in shaping their learning experience based on their learning styles. If someone feels they work and learn better in project-based courses, then they should be able to know which courses devote more of their marking scheme to projects. If they prefer having courses with no exams, they should be able to know which courses follow that model. As such, we will work with faculty members to upload all of their course syllabi into one database that is accessible in much the same way as Exambank currently is (see here: http://library.queensu.ca/examsearch/). This has been an idea suggested several times in the past, but we want to make it an executive priority. Additionally, we will explore the possibility of adding more search metrics, such as whether or not a course has a final exam, whether or not there are weekly quizzes, and more.

LGBTQ Thursdays at Alfies

Team BGP will offer a LGBTQ night on a regular basis at Alfies Night Club. The AMS mission statement is to serve and represent the diversity of students at Queens University. We feel that in addition to the various educational initiatives which the AMS undertakes, in order to fulfill part of this mandate, it would be ideal to also introduce a new social event. Team BGP is proposing to implement an LGBTQ night at Alfies nightclub, at least once a month. We feel that this night would provide a safe space for all students, would be a chance for queer identified students to meet fellow queer identified students in a purely social setting. This would represent the first large scale LGBTQ event to be incorporated into the AMSs Hospitality Services, a massive shift in perspective and practice we believe essential to our student government. It is our hope that events such as this will continue to work to ensure that all students feel at home, safe and comfortable in the AMS.

Re-evaluate and upgrade the AMS infrastructure

Team BGP is not in the business of maintaining the status quo; we will re-evaluate many aspects of the AMS Government, including its external representation stances, its internal structure, its government budgetary practices, and its use of long-term planning. An organizational structure as vast as the AMS demands innovative leadership. It also demands the initiative to streamline when years of new ideas have run their course, or when other organizations are better equipped to do them. As such, Team BGP will do the following: 1. Fully re-evaluate the stances that the AMS takes with external organizations, such as the Ontario government, Queens administration, etc., to ensure that they are up-todate and wholly reflective of student opinion. We will use the Fall referendum to distribute a survey covering each of the issues that our external lobbying policy covers, and inform policy changes with the results of this survey 2. We will form a working group featuring the AMS Executive, the AMS Information Officer, and five other members of the society to undertake a full structural review of the AMS Government in order to streamline its structure and maximize its efficiency. This group will work throughout the year and produce recommendations for the second last Assembly of the year 3. We will begin shifting the AMS Government to a culture of long-term planning, complete with multi-year plans for commissions and the society as a whole, ratified by AMS Assembly 4. We will create a more detailed AMS Government budget and keep better track of our finances by breaking the budget down into smaller and more specific categories. This will be done to better ensure accountability and help in terms of cost-savings

Next Generation Web Presence

Team BGP will work to improve and expand the uses of AMS service websites, the Presidents newsletter, AMS blogs, online discussion boards, and the AMS website search utility, while also making all of this mobile-friendly and offering a web store. The AMSs web presence has improved enormously over the past few years with a full website redesign and new service websites; however, Team BGP believes there are still many opportunities for improvement. As such, we aim to do the following: 1. Implement an online web store, complete with electronic payment solutions, in order to improve access to services such as Tricolour Outlet and Yearbook & Design Services. We will explore expanding this infrastructure to clubs and other societies who wish to offer their wares in this manner 2. In conjunction with student trustees and senators, utilize the AMS blogs to introduce discussions with regards to University governance bodies (e.g., the Senate, Board of Trustees, and University Council) to students-at-large. They will also continue to be used for AMS-specific affairs 3. Give constituent societies access to our online discussion board infrastructure in order for them to be able to host their discussions online, if they so choose 4. Bring service websites closer to the forefront of the website to facilitate their usage. Additionally, we will unify the look and feel of all AMS-related websites to produce consistency in brand and to improve usability 5. Improve the search function to apply search queries across all affiliated AMS websites and constituent society websites (clubs, services, faculty & residence societies), so that the AMS website can better act as a portal to the Queens extracurricular experience 6. Use the Presidents monthly newsletter to ask a question of the month to the student body; this will facilitate feedback on major issues and AMS operations 7. Develop a mobile version of the website, making it easily viewable through mobile browsers 8. Commit to exploring new opportunities to augment our offerings with online components

Pillar #3 Supporting Student Life

1. Expanding Queens Wi-Fi into University District Homes 2. Virtual Labs Bringing Lab Software Off Campus 3. Ensuring Homecoming is Here to Stay 4. The Creation of The Arts Council 5. Proactively Support the Needs of Student Societies 6. Student Property Rental and Security Consulting for Housing

Queens Free Secure Wi-Fi into the University District

Team BGP will partner with Queens Information Technology Services to expand the Queens free secure wi-fi networks coverage into the University District. The free Queens wi-fi networks have provided tremendous benefits to Queens students for years, but only within the confines of the campus buildings. Given the increasingly mobile nature of students and the increasing reliance on Internet for daily activities, Team BGP believes that it is time to expand this service farther into the University District. As such, we will do the following: 1. We will partner with Queens Information Technology Services to procure new infrastructure that initially expands coverage several blocks outward from campus and into the University District (the areas that have the densest student population), with long-term plans to go far beyond those borders and cover as many students as possible 2. The AMS will take the lead on marketing this project to the students and will survey the surrounding areas to determine where expansion will cover the most students 3. Given its magnitude, this will be a multi-year project, but Team BGP is committed to making this a priority project for the university so that students can have internet coverage wherever they are within the University District 4. We will seek out future potential partners, such as the SGPS

Virtual Labs Bringing Lab Software Off-Campus

Team BGP will work with Information Technology Services to allow students to use their lab software from anywhere - including the comfort of their own home - free of charge. There are many courses on campus that make use of subject-related software that is available for free on on-campus labs, but costs money for one to purchase for their own personal computer and take off-campus. For example, scientific computing makes use of MATLAB, many engineering courses use AutoCAD, and many economics courses use Stata. Recognizing the difficult situation this can place many students in, Team BGP has been in talks with Queens Information Technology Services. They are interested in making this software available in the cloud, which will allow students to access it with their personal computers wherever, whenever, through the Internet. That means no more need to be on campus in labs late at night just because thats the only place the software is available just boot up your computer from home, login, and work away.

Ensuring Homecoming is Here to stay Team BGP will work to ensure that Homecoming is once again a tradition that continues for years to come.
Team BGP is extremely excited that Homecoming is returning this fall. Homecoming is an important Queens tradition, and Team BGP is committed to working to ensure that it is here to stay. The university, the AMS, Queens Student Alumni Association, and the Queens University Alumni Association, alongside other campus groups, will be working together to make the weekends a success. Connecting students and alumni via a paint fun run, a clubs fair to showcase student groups, and crest painting are all ideas that have been put forth by various groups so far. Team BGP feels that is important to stress that Homecoming weekend is all about alumni coming home. For students, we have to keep in mind that one day we too will be alumni, and to guarantee that we will be able to come home we need to work now to preserve this tradition. Ensuring that the weekend focuses on alumni is important: The AMS needs to take an active role in providing programming, interacting with alumni, and working to have successful Homecoming weekends. We will work with our own services so that they have sufficient staff and will look at offering programming in order to support the influx of alumni. Furthermore, we will work with local business downtown to provide Homecoming events for various groups. We also believe strongly that Homecoming is a great opportunity for students to network with alumni and learn about different job opportunities and career paths after graduating from their programs. To this end, we will organize opportunities for student-alumni interaction. Finally, Team BGP will have the Student Maintenance and Resource Team (SMART) out and working in the University District consistently throughout the two weekends. SMART will ensure that the University District is as tidy and as well cared for as possible. Having the University District in a clean state will promote a positive image of the event for both the Alumni and the City. We further hope that our effort in keeping it clean will promote conscientiousness among other students as well.

Founding of The Arts Council

Team BGP will support the arts community at Queens by facilitating the interaction, mutual support and lobbying platform of arts-based groups. Team BGP will develop an Arts Council for the variety of fine art, drama, dance, fashion, written and music groups on campus. This would be a good opportunity for arts groups to develop strategies to cross-promote, share resources, address concerns, and collaborate on projects. This would also facilitate the hiring processes and increase applicant pools for arts groups on campus. This council would be facilitated through the Campus Activities Commission. This would also be an excellent way for the AMS to become more aware of issues faced by the arts community at Queens and will allow us to advocate and support in an informed manner. We would also ensure that the group would liaise with (and ideally have a representative from) the Kingston Arts Council. The establishment of an arts council would be an essential first step in giving the arts on campus a more powerful platform for advocacy and lobbying within the AMS and Queens as a whole.

Proactively support the needs of student societies

Team BGP is not only committed to supporting all of its constituent organizations, but to engaging in a series of procedures that will allow us all to share best practices and to take advantage of the AMS' resources as much as possible. The AMS and the student societies on campus faculty societies, residence societies, and clubs - are crucial drivers of student activity on campus. From being a don to running an orientation week to lobbying the Queen's administration to participating in Model Parliament there are countless ways to get involved in the Queens community. Not only do all of these societies act to make campus life better, but they also offer opportunities for students to engage with their student community and learn skills not attainable in the classroom. Recognizing the crucial importance of these organizations, it is our belief that the AMS is at its best when it acts as an umbrella organization a facilitator of other societies' initiatives. Therefore, it needs to take a proactive stance in helping student organizations serve their members as best they can and as efficiently as possible. As such, Team BGP will undertake the following initiatives: 1. We will develop an FAQ that explicitly outlines to all student executives how to make use of AMS resources. For example, those seeking guidance on how to lobby their respective faculty's administration would be directed to the AMS Executive; those seeking information on how to better finance their own initiatives would be directed to our funds; those seeking how to formulate policy on a specific subject would be directed to our Commissioner of Internal Affairs; etc. 2. We will facilitate the sharing of best practices and resources by hosting more roundtables between clubs that aim towards similar goals and by housing online discussion forums for student leaders to do so outside of the meeting environment. This will enable different societies on campus, including the AMS itself, to see how other organizations fulfill their mandate and will allow them to learn how to do common activities better, driving efficiency upwards across the board 3. We will facilitate campus wide professional development by not only continuing to invite society leaders to our training sessions, but by also holding new professional development sessions for them in the Fall term 4. We will work with the University to shorten the time it takes for student societies to receive their student fee money 5. Further to that point, we will change all grants so that they are accessible to all faculty societies and clubs, regardless of when their fiscal year begins and ends. This will enable societies like the Aesculapian and MBA Societies to have access to any AMS grant for their events regardless of when they hold them

Student Property Rental and Security Consulting for Housing

Team BGP recognizes the importance of students finding proper, secure housing and will expand the current mandate of a MAC committee to assist students in finding these areas. Team BGP would like to expand the mandate of the Student Property Assessment and Dwelling Education (SPADE) committee, to include property rental consulting and house security checks. Selecting housing is a tricky job and can be very overwhelming when trying to factor in so many issues such as how far away you want to live, how much rent you want to pay, what kinds of appliances you want included etc. With all of these factors to consider, it is easy to overlook issues around property standards. For this reason, we will have volunteers available to accompany students while they go for their appointments to look at properties. The volunteer will be able to point out initial issues with the homes which they students can discuss with the landlord to find out the timeline for repairs (or if there is one), and then make an informed decision about renting the property. Secondly, we will have volunteers work with the Kingston Police Department and Campus Security to understand different risks that make a house more susceptible to break ins. For example the volunteers would look for windows with broken locks, burnt out porch lights, garbage cans under windows which make them easier to climb into and other such security concerns. The team would then make recommendations to the tenants which could help to protect their homes and possessions. Further, during the holiday season and reading week, we will work with Campus Security to increase the frequency of patrols in the University District.

Pillar #4 Academics and Employment Skills

1. Campus Entrepreneurship Opportunities 2. Student volunteerism, employment, and job skills 3. Finding Scholarships Easier - the Scholarship Calculator 4. Auditing and Reducing Peripheral Course Fees

Growing Campus Entrepreneurship Opportunities

Team BGP is committed to bolstering campus entrepreneurship by advocating a cultural shift at Queens, establishing a network of entrepreneurial community members, and lobbying to bring more faculties into the Queen's Summer Innovation Institute. Given the increasing economic demand for high-skilled work and industries, the Kingston Community and Queens University can capitalize through the development of an entrepreneurial culture on campus. We have tens of thousands of people with countless good ideas at this university; we seek to spark the cultural flame that gets people taking their ideas to fruition. Noting the potential benefits for students of Queens, Team BGP is committed to doing the following: 1. The AMS is at the table with an informal group of community individuals who have run very successful businesses. We will work to expand on these connections and develop a network of community individuals for students at large to connect with for resources and mentorship. We will summarize these resources in a guide, to be prominently publicized on the AMS website 2. We will work with the Aesculapian Society and the Computing Students Association to lobby the School of Medicine and School of Computing (respectively) to become new partners in the Queens Summer Innovation Institute, a summer program devoted to cultivating start-up companies that is jointly run by the School of Business and Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering 3. We will explore ways to make entrepreneurship an embedded part of the Queens experience, much as it is at universities such as Stanford in the United States and Waterloo in Ontario. Though a difficult and nebulous task, one starting point will be to have it included as a subject within the Queens Academic Plan 4. We will maintain communication with the Queens Innovation Connector - a leading developer of entrepreneurial activity on campus - to help them as much as possible in their goals, including maintaining positive relations with Queens Innovation Park

Student Volunteerism, Employment, and Job Skills

Team BGP will work to facilitate student employment and professional development. Team BGP recognizes the importance of facilitating student employment in the middle of a weak global economic situation. Whether its job-related skills building, mentoring, or networking, the classroom experience leaves something to be desired in these times. With the commoditization of the undergraduate degree, there is more need now than ever for a diversity of experiences to set one apart in the job market. As such, we will do the following: 1. We will work with Career Services to organize more job fairs that cover a variety of disciplines 2. In tandem with the Office of Advancement, we will develop and publicize a tool that allows students to connect with alumni who have identified themselves as being interested in sharing with current students their experiences, knowledge, and tips for the job market 3. We will work with the Queens Student Alumni Association to connect students with alumni while on exchange 4. We will work with the Office of Student Affairs to publicize their co-curricular database, which lists all volunteer opportunities throughout the university 5. We will work to host personal finance workshops with local firms and interested MBA students 6. We will actively publicize Queens Student Alumni Association workshops which cover subjects such as resume writing, interview skills, and managing social media presence

Making Scholarships Easier - the Scholarship Calculator

Team BGP recognizes that the bureaucracy surrounding student financial assistance makes it difficult to know which scholarships a student is eligible to apply for. We will work with the Registrar to develop a software utility that dramatically simplifies this process. Given the increasing cost of education, it is becoming more and more difficult for a student to fund their undergraduate degree. Scholarships are a good way of helping out, but the way that they are set up at Queens makes it very difficult and time consuming to determine which ones you are eligible to apply for. As a result much scholarship money is left unallocated from year to year and many students arent getting the full range of financial assistance available to them. As such, Team BGP will work with Student Awards to implement a web utility that simplifies this process - a scholarship calculator of sorts. We envision that the calculator will ask you for a set of information and combine it with your SOLUS records to search this database and produce the names of all scholarships that you can apply for. Applying would then be a simple matter of saying yes! By doing this, students will have a far easier time acquiring financial assistance that will make the growing costs of education more manageable.

Auditing and Reducing Peripheral Course Fees

Team BGP believes that ancillary fees are an unjust circumvention of Ontario Government policy, and will undertake a full audit of Queen's course offerings to find these fees and have as many removed as possible. Ancillary Fees are any fees, aside from the initial tuition payment, which are assessed to a student in order to participate in or complete a course (ex., lab fees or mandatory field trip fees). Although they violate provincial policy, ancillary fees are still consistently administered in many programs. Currently, the AMS Academic Affairs Commissioner is working with the administration on the ancillary fees assessed to Education students. Team BGP will complete a full review to find all programs that are currently assessing these fees. Once this is complete we will strongly lobby for these fees to be removed not only are they not allowed, they are a disadvantage to students.

Commission Reviews

Academic Affairs Commission

The Academic Affairs Commission works to ensure that the AMS keeps academic issues at the forefront of our advocacy work. The commissioner sits on various senate academic committees and well as a number of general university academic committees. Further the commission oversees several academic-related committees. First, Team BGP understands that this year will be the assembly vote to confirm or reject our external alignment with the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. Therefore, it is extremely important the Special Committee on External Alignment produces a comprehensive report to present to assembly members so that they may make an informed decision We will ensure that this takes place. Team BGP recognizes that there will be a provincial election in the upcoming year. It is important to ensure that students are informed of the issues and that the voting process is easily understood. We are committed to organizing an on-campus debate for students to attend and hear firsthand about the issues and party platforms. We will have a comprehensive advertising campaign so that students know how and when they can vote as well as how to access information about the various campaigns. We will also run a comprehensive campaign regarding the Academic Grievance Centre. This centre, despite being a good resource for students, is still widely unknown. We hope that through an increased push in advertising, the AGC will be able to help more students deal with various academic grievance issues.

Campus Activities Commission

The Campus Activities Commission provides students with extracurricular activities and events revolving around politics, arts, sports and other interests. The commission also oversees NEWTS (New, Exchange, Woohoo Transfer Students) Week, FYNIRS (First Years Not in Residence) and the Orientation Round Table, which in turn oversees the various other Orientation weeks. The commissioner also sits on various committees such as the Senate Orientation Activities Review Board, the Alcohol Working group, and the new Homecoming Planning Committee. Orientation Week and the traditions that come along with it are extremely important to Team BGP. We will make certain that the Orientation Round Table (and through that avenue, the various orientation weeks) are fully supported and know that they have an executive standing behind them who are extremely passionate about Orientation Week. We will ensure that the representatives on the Senate Orientation Activities Review Board are fully prepared prior to each senate meeting and are comfortable engaging with administration. In this way we will work to protect student traditions and keep Orientation Week student-run. Furthermore, we will make applying for the noise exemption permit for the Frosh Concert on campus a priority in order to have time to deal with any issues that may arise and to engage with the city if needed. Finally, we will work with the ORT in order to accommodate and plan accordingly for Rosh Hashanah. Team BGP is also committed to the creation of an Event Planning Resource Officer within the CAC. This person would be there as a resource to groups such as clubs, faculty society committees, and individuals who are interested in running events on campus and in the community. They will be well-versed in available funding such as grants, advertising avenues and their associated costs, spaces in which events can be held and how to book them, how to access catering, and a variety of other resources. They would also be able to advise groups of any additional resources within the AMS which may be of use to said group or individual. This is a role which the Commissioner often fills at this point, however the creation of a position would allow more availability for event consultations, as well as allow the Commissioner to focus on other projects, while still having a centralized resource person. Furthermore, this officer would work proactively to reach out to student groups and offer assistance, work closely with the Clubs Manager, and work to update the Event Planning Guide.

Commission of Environment and Sustainability

The newest of the six Commissions, the CES, has been taking steps to solidify themselves in many ways after having evolved from the Sustainability Office. Team BGP is committed to the continued growth of the Commission in the coming year. Furthermore, we will continue to work with the entire AMS as well as the University to ensure that we are all functioning in as sustainable a manner as possible, with particular focus on working with the Queens Climate Action Plan. We are also interested in the pursuit of the installation of the bike share program on campus and in the Kingston community and will pick up this project and negotiations where Team JDL leaves it off this coming May. There are two new aspects which Team BGP would like to introduce to the CES. The first is revolving around the Bike Shop. We will commit to adding longboard and skateboard repairs to the purview of the shop. Such repairs would include cleaning and/or replace the bearings and wheel rotations. Further we will set up mobile repair sites throughout the first half of spring semester and second half of winter semester at University and Union on a regular basis. Secondly, we will have the Commissioner work alongside the Student Centre Officer and Physical Plant Services to ensure that the Student Life Centre Buildings are as sustainable as possible. This review will look at the areas in which we can make repairs and/or introduce new ideas to the buildings. For example, we currently lose a large amount of heating through the windows in JDUC and a worthwhile initiative would be window replacements, both to improve sustainability and cut operational costs. Further, as a 24/7 building, the JDUC lights are consistently on. We would like to investigate the installation of sensor lights throughout our buildings.

Commission of Internal Affairs

The CIA oversees 4 main internal components: Elections, Assembly, Clubs, and the NonAcademic Discipline system (NAD). Clubs and NAD are overseen by the Clubs Manager and the Judicial Affairs Director, respectively. In the past couple of years, there has been a lot of heavy debate regarding the NAD system between the AMS and the university. Now that an agreement has once again been reached with the university, there are still two issues unresolved which Team BGP is committed to helping with. The first is creating a framework for group discipline, and the second is the release of results from going through the NAD system to grad student applications. Team BGP will work with the team currently in place, as well as consult with the various other non-academic discipline systems on campus to ensure that a solution is reached by September 2013 at the latest. Team BGP would like to commend the work of the clubs manager in beginning to create an internal database of the clubs which has information on things such as various grants received over the years, the club mandate, and the past executives. We feel strongly about continuing this process so that we have a documented history of our clubs as well as their funding. Furthermore, this process allows the clubs manager to confirm for job or school application purposes if someone has been a chair of a club and in what year. We will also work to help clubs plan events and reach resources through the Event Planning Resource Officer in the Campus Activities Commission, who will proactively reach out to clubs and update the Events planning guide. As well, Team BGP is committed to consistent and effective communication with our clubs. Finally we will endeavour to have the Commissioner of Internal Affairs work more closely with faculty societies and clubs who wish to develop policy and constitutions. The commissioner will be able to advise various groups on policy-writing strategies and creation.

Municipal Affairs Commission

The MAC provides the essential link between Queens and the greater Kingston community. The commission works on various municipal issues affecting students, as well as oversees a number of opportunities for students to go out into the community and make a difference. As a team with a Kingstonian member, it is extremely important to Team BGP that we have strong Town-Gown relations in which both parties are working together towards a common good. However, with that in mind, we will fight for the rights of students and take a firm stand against policies which clearly disadvantage our constituents. First, Team BGP has recognized that the citys one bag garbage bag policy has not only disadvantaged students, but it has also been ineffective in reducing waste. Residents are simply either buying garbage bag tags that enable them to throw out additional bags of garbage, or else are disposing of garbage in other ways, such as piling it around public trash cans in areas such as Victoria Park. The first of solution is simply costing students more money, and the second is both creating a mess in our public parks, as well as creating more work for city employees who need to pick up all the waste. Team BGP is proposing a two part solution. We will work to lobby the city to repeal the policy and look at additional waste diversion programs and incentives. Secondly, until such time as this policy is lifted, we will rent large waste bins and place them in areas accessible to students at key times during the year, such as move-in, moveout, before the holiday break and before reading week, giving students a place to dispose of garbage in a manner which will neither place additional cost on individual houses, nor serve to fill the parks and public areas with garbage. Team BGP recognizes concerns with housing standards in the University District. In particular, many students raise concerns with Queens Community Housing. There are issues with property standards, relations with the tenants, and with having repairs finished. Team BGP intends to lobby Queens Community Housing and work with them to be excellent examples for other landlords. Further, we will work to encourage Community Housing to have at least one accessible house for students to move in to.

Social Issues Commission

Established in 1996, the Social Issues Commission works to engage with equity issues and provide anti-oppression education and opportunities at Queens and in the community. The commission runs and operates 13 committees and 2 services (i.e., the Food Centre and the AMS Peer Support Centre). The commissioner sits on various equity committees through the University and the AMS in order to engage on a higher level with equity concerns and policy and to advocate to ensure that both the University and the AMS are truly meeting the needs of our diverse population of students. Team BGP will continue to support the work of the committees and ensure that the committees can access all necessary resources. Team BGP will continue to support the Food Centres efforts to be sustainable through buying local products and gardening initiatives. Further, we will re-negotiate the financial contributions of the AMS and the SGPS to the Food Centre in order to ensure that we are fairly covering all expenses in a representative manner. Finally, with growing volunteer interest, we will investigate the possibility of additional hours, as well as a volunteer prep shift before the opening of the centre in order for the food to be sorted, separated, and put away as soon as the centre opens each shift. For the Peer Support Centre, Team BGP would like to commend the re-structuring and efforts to change policy which have greatly improved the effectiveness and safety of the centre itself. We will continue along the route currently being embarked upon and strive to improve the centre and to serve students in the best way possible. Further, we would like to provide the Director, as well as possibly the management team with more training, on top of what they receive. We will expand upon the regular training and Mental Health First Aid to include training specifically around Crises Intervention and Stress Management, which is available through the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Service Reviews

Hospitality and Safety Services

The AMS Pub Services (TAPS)
The Queens Pub and Alfies are often considered some of the central social locations on the Queens campus. These spaces offer a casual, safe, and fun atmosphere that focuses solely on how to best serve our student customers. The Queens Pub has been a very consistent performer, financially speaking, and is always a popular place to be during lunch, dinner, and the evening. Formerly known as The Quiet Pub up until 1997, the Queens Pub has been a solid enterprise that hasnt required any large tweaks to its normal operations. In 2010-2011 when a pool table was removed in order to accommodate a larger number of students, a decision that has led to increased sales. One area of needed growth that, in consultation with the Hospitality and Safety Services Director, our team has identified is the necessity to increase attendance of Alfies on certain nights. The popularity of Alfies often fluctuates from year to year and can be extremely difficult to predict. This year, Alfies has featured one of three specific themes on its Friday nights. The regularization of these themes within monthly parameters has been successful in increasing attendance and the fiscal success of these nights. Further examination of best practices for Monday and Wednesday nights is needed. TAPS management can focus on additional and direct marketing to have a high impact impression on potential consumers. See page 18 for LGBTQ Thursdays at Alfies.

Hospitality and Safety Services

Common Ground (CoGro)
Common Ground is another preeminent exam of students serving students. With a comparatively wide selection of cafe items, ample seating, event nights and places to study, Common Ground is more than a corporate service, it is an institutionalized experience. With a location change from the JDUC to the Queens Centre at the beginning of 2010, CoGro has been steadily reducing its financial deficit to the point where it is now projected to make a surplus in the current financial year. With a strong set of assistant managers and a fiscallysound head manager, Team BGP would like to acknowledge the many successes weve seen at CoGro this year. With the time it has taken to make the incremental improvements necessary to make this service project a surplus, its important to continue emphasizing this services dedication to consistency and quality when delivering our food products. Do to CoGros increasing financial stability, we think it is essential to leave decisions regarding issues like menu items and marketing with CoGro management. Should management deem it time for front of house composting, Team BGP would strongly support this decision and work with management to ensure its long term success. Common Ground Express has been a valuable part of the JDUC for the time that it has operated, providing pre-made sandwiches and quick pickup products for passers-by. However, with the opening of the new Tim Hortons on the first floor of the JDUC (a more accessible area than where CoGro Express is) a significant threat exists to CoGro Express and saturation of this particular market. As outlined on page 16, Team BGP plans to take an assertive and encompassing approach to fully differentiate CoGro Express from its competitors and seek out an untapped market on campus.

Hospitality and Safety Services

Walkhome
Walkhome provides students with the public good of safe on-foot transportation to, from, and around campus and the surrounding community. It has become an essential pillar of student safety, having the most usage of any similar university service in Canada. We are strong supporters of the service and its mandate to be anonymous, non-judgemental, and discrete. Additionally, it has become home to a strong community of walkers who facilitate a campus atmosphere of safety and friendliness. Due to the fact that this service is primarily funded by student fees and grants, it has always been extremely important to budget this service as close to zero as possible. Students have entrusted the AMS in managing this mandatory student fee, so it is incredibly important to fully and responsibly utilize this fee. Walkhome recently invested in fifteen new digital walkie-talkies that will allow this service to effectively communicate with walk teams and ensure their safety. Walkhome has been continuously emphasizing its dedication to improving its client focus at the Walkhome Desk in the Lower Ceilidh area. We believe these efforts are well founded, and support the management team in their continued effort in this area of potential growth. We want to assure that Walkhome continues to follow and expand on the implementation of its three core principles to be anonymous, non-judgemental, and discrete. We want to focus marketing on aspects of the service such as the supportive, non-assumptive, non-judgemental nature of its staff and emphasize it as a safety (rather than social) service to decrease wait times in peak hours.

Hospitality and Safety Services

Queens Student Constables
The Queens Student Constables, or StuCons, are an essential service on campus that embodies the novel idea of students keeping students safe. This peer to peer model rightfully is a source of pride for our school. StuCons work to ensure our students and community are safe by upholding AMS, University and government policy at sanctioned events on campus. Our StuCons ensure a balance of interests in their understanding that everyone wants to have a good time, but need to do so in a safe environment. With a recent mandatory student fee increase from $8.34 to $10.17 at the AMS Annual General Meeting in 2012, this service has become noticeably more sustainable with regards to financial security. That said, recent legislation has posed increased constraints on the service that threaten the services long term sustainability. In the 2009-2010 year, the province of Ontario passed legislation that drastically altered the way that security guards are licensed. The effect of these changes was that every Student Constable that was hired must complete an even larger number of paid training hours. Furthermore, the service must then pay a flat fee in order to become a licensed security guard. Unfortunately, over the past decade a degrading culture of respect towards our StuCons has been observed. Faced with a daily lack of respect for their authority (and even more concerning, a trend of sexual harassment towards our student security service), Queens Student Constables is struggling with the retention of their employees. Understandably, fewer of our students are choosing to apply for this service, and fewer are deciding to stay with the service. The culture of disrespect for these student employees must be changed in order to provide a more enjoyable and secure working environment for StuCons. No easy answer exists on how to change this too-common perception of the fun police. Team BGP supports an extensive review of the service so that the AMS can better understand what measures need to be in place to rectify the issue. The AMS can specifically work on a rebranding of StuCons appropriately afterwards. There also exists a large opportunity to compensate StuCons much more competitively to encourage both greater recruitment, as well as greater retainment. We suggest raising wages not only of new students, but also significantly raising the compensation of returning StuCons. These costs would be largely offset by both the (existing) increased StuCon mandatory student fee, as well as no longer having to pay the massive training costs of a largely new pool of employees every year. With so many events on the line with this strained service, Team BGP plans to make Queens Student Constables a priority.

Retail Services
The Publishing & Copy Centre (P&CC)
The P&CC is an entirely student-run service that responds to the universitys photocopying, printing and design needs. The P&CC publishes material efficiently, effectively and at competitive pricing. The P&CC is often one of the largest surplus generating services that the AMS has. This is largely due to the high number of coursepacks that are ordered by professors at Queens. Queens has recently updated its copyright policy to be in line with changes to the Copyright Act. Professors are now able to share ten percent of a piece of copy-written material with their class. These coursepacks have long represented roughly 50% of the services profit. As we have seen with the current year, even more reductions in orders for coursepacks could be anticipated for the next year. Additional steps must be taken to ensure that professors continue to use our services and to effectively market the other backroom services that are offered to students. It is important that we recognise that as materials move from print to digital formats (as well as the shift towards reduced paper consumption), the market of print materials is shrinking. Team BGP feels that a long term plan must be made in order to account for this decline in the market and other options must be explored in order for the service to be fiscally secure and viable in the future. One aspect which can be marketed more extensively is the wide format printing. Team BGP is confident that a marketing campaign around idea that students can design their own house posters would be a successful endeavour. Furthermore, students flock to poster sales in order to decorate their homes, and P&CC could capture this market. Many students do not find the posters that they are looking for at sales, and they would be able to design anything they would like and print it off for a competitively low price. This idea of marketing custom posters could help to bolster the sales of P&CC.

Retail Services
Tricolour Outlet
Tricolour Outlet has been a strong retail service that offers a breadth of commercial pursuits for students. Whether it be intercity transportation, clothing merchandise, textbook consignment or school supplies, Tricolour Outlet offers an encompassing set of options that cater to student life. As one of the newest AMS services (which was amalgamated from Destinations, the Used Bookstore, and Tricolour Outfitters), Tricolour Outlet is still making adjustments to its operations and products to effectively serve the needs of its customers. This year Tricolour is projected to nearly break even, a major accomplishment considering the service has only been in existence since 2010. The current management has successfully remodeled nearly every aspect of operations, a feat that has not gone unnoticed to our team. Of particular note is the Tricolours phenomenal rebranding with the teams focus on the introduction of retro designs (all made in house by the purchasing manager), windows advertisements and marketing to first years. This year has been a major success in the popularity of clothing sales, and the team is very much to be commended for their efforts. Team BGP very much supports the plans in motion to document Tricolour procedure for the effective transition of the outlets newly established procedures to next years staff. Team BGP specifically plans to examine custom clothing orders, an area of much potential growth. While re-examining Tricolours relationship with its supplier may pose potential benefits to the service, Team BGP acknowledges that a greater level of support and collaboration with Clubs Manager would be incredibly beneficial. Outreach for greater custom clothing orders within ratified AMS clubs could be largely effective in promoting the value and ease of this service. With plans in place to rejuvenate the Upper Ceilidh and specifically the hallway outside Tricolour, Team BGP is confident that its plans for the JDUC (including the establishment of The Upper Crust next door to Tricolour) would be hugely beneficial by increasing foot traffic for this service.

Media Services
Queens TV (QTV)
QTV is a student run television service for Queens University and the greater Kingston community. With an increasing shift towards online content and The Video Factory (an inhouse production and profitable enterprise), QTV has been steadily growing. Last years establishment of QTVs Business Manager as a full-time position was a proactive decision that very much increased QTVs potential profitability. QTV has been a long under-appreciated asset to the culture of Queens campus. With the services growing volunteer base, profitability and increase in quality of content, the services growth poses a number of new needs to the current management and its resources. QTV very much needs new online platforms to distribute its content. New marketing and branding, much of which Team BGP believes could be successful with a closer collaboration with Media Services Director and the positions newly proposed reduced portfolio, is critical to meet QTVs growing needs. A greater respect for the services editorial autonomy and the service its employees and volunteers provide is a priority for Team BGP. Our team strongly encourages and supports the establishment of a QTV Editorial Board as a first step to acknowledging the successes this service has earned. In a move to encourage a lesser financial dependence on Opt-Outable student fees, Team BGP advocates for a greater allocation of the services resources to The Video Factory. With the depreciation of equipment foreshadowing future capital expenditures, we believe the potential earning power of The Video Factory can be more thoroughly exploited with greater support from the AMS council. This again will be much more feasible for the coming year with the shifting portfolio of the Media Services Director.

Media Services
Yearbook and Design Services
YDS has for several years been providing the student body with a variety of media, including the Tricolour Agenda, the yearbook, and a variety of event photos posted to their social media outlets. They have been seeing significant success in providing professional photography and graphic design for campus events of all varieties, and we would like to continue to expand and improve on this service. Additionally, we want to continue to drive synergy between yearbook sales and convocation, as this presents a solid opportunity for a Queen's student to capture their experience at the school one last time before graduation.

Media Services
Queens Journal
The Queen's Journal, one of the oldest campus newspapers in Canada, has a storied tradition of producing high quality student journalism and journalism experience to students that cannot be found in the classroom. Team BGP believes that The Journal is an imperative media service and integral institution with that framework of campus life and Queens identity. The Journal is essential not only for the opportunities it affords students, but also for editorial autonomy and its subsequent place as a core pillar of democracy. Print media at large has been going through a transformation as of late with a shift towards digital content. Print advertisement however, one of the largest sources of the Journals revenue, is also a diminishing market. Team BGP acknowledges the recent financial pressures directly posed by the AMS on the Journal in its recent withdrawal of its much print advertisement space purchased in the Journals pages. We understand this decision was necessary due to cuts made to the corporate services advertisement budgets. As such, a reevaluation of the corporate services respective budgets will be critical in exploring if a portion of this budget can be restored. Team BGP would also like to commend the Journal on its moves in becoming more financially independent. We recognize these efforts are symptomatic of the longstanding strength of JBoard and its business acumen. What that in mind, BGP believes in the strength of The Journals management and pending the support of JBoard, would push towards a greater independence for the service.

Media Services
CFRC
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by CFRC management and the AMS Executive of 2011-2012, the CFRC radio station will be separating from the AMS financially as of May 1, 2013. With this separation, the AMS must ensure that this transitional year goes smoothly. Next years Media Services Director (or the equivalent 2013/2014 position title) can serve as an asset in offering council to next years management. Furthermore, extensive aid in transitioning Radio Queens Universitys representatives into the positions within CFRCs management infrastructure currently held by AMS representatives will be necessary.

Office Reviews

Communications Office
The Communications Office has seen significant growth for the past several years, evolving into a cornerstone of the AMS branding and public relations efforts (along with the Marketing Office). One masterstroke of an idea implemented by this office this year was the AMS Blogs, which will have enormous potential in terms of soliciting student feedback on major issues. To continue to maximize the potential of this office, Team BGP will do the following:

We will use the AMS Blogs to engage the student body in major relevant AMS and University issues. Together with the Marketing Office, administer the variety of market research surveys that many of our initiatives will require (Health & Dental revision, JDUC revitalization, etc.) Expand efforts to communicate to the students the diverse array of services, resources, and opportunities that the AMS can offer to students. Given that they are so complementary in terms of day to day work, we will hire this position together with the Marketing Officer to ensure they work well together as a team. Continue to publish the AMS Annual Report

Marketing Office
The Marketing Office is another relatively new office, but has proved to be of incredible use to produce a consistent AMS brand. Additionally, it has provided the AMS with the ability to do market research for a broad array of issues and services, and spearheads many recruitment and advertising initiatives closely with the Communications Office. To move this office forward, Team BGP will: 1. Augment Marketing Caucus with more workshops that help service marketing managers to do their jobs. 2. Together with the Communications Office, administer the variety of market research surveys that many of our initiatives will require (Health & Dental revision, JDUC revitalization, etc.) 3. Continue working with the services to establish a professional series of brands that are instantly recognizable and retained. 4. Continue and expand upon work done in the past few years on an AMS orientation week strategy as early as possible in order to reach a larger audience

Human Resources Office

The Human Resources Office is truly ubiquitous in the number of different organizations it works with in the AMS. Whether it's recruitment and hiring, discipline, training, and other professional development, this office forms the foundation of the workforce within the AMS. The recent implementation of the online application system was a major step forward for efficiency, but Team BGP intends to take it a step further by doing the following: 1. In conjunction with the Communications and Marketing Offices, expand recruitment of the IT Manager position to more faculties and departments. 2. Make available new Fall term professional development sessions for all incoming clubs chairs, faculty & residence society executives to attend.

Information Technology Office

The Information Technology Office has been integral to the operations of the AMS, providing all of the tools we use daily in order to communicate and thus, do our jobs. There are still some improvements to be made in order to ensure long-term sustainability of the office and of AMS information technology infrastructure, and as such, Team BGP will do the following: 1. Outsource operations of the IT office that are difficult to handle in a yearly turnover environment. 2. Perform a security audit of the AMS systems. 3. Work to develop the main AMS website as outlined in the rest of the platform, and help ensure that there is consistency in usability between the main AMS website and the rest of the AMS service websites. 4. Re-evaluate IT Rental services to determine its strengths and focus primarily on those.

Student Centre Office

The Student Centre Office has been instrumental in ensuring the continued, smooth operation of the student life buildings on campus: the JDUC, the Queen's Centre, the Grey House, and Mac-Brown Hall. Given that the AMS gained administrative control of these buildings two years ago, there has been tremendous growth in this office, and we intend to see it continue to play an instrumental role in providing the quality space necessary for so much of student life. Additionally, Team BGP will: 1. Work with the Student Centre Officer to ensure that allocation of designated space within the JDUC is done efficiently and maximized. We will explore opportunities to procure additional spaces from the other two stakeholders in the JDUC (SGPS, Student Affairs). 2. In conjunction with the IT Office, unify the Student Life Centre website (including online booking system) with the AMS website, so that online room bookings are extremely easy to find and use. 3. Work with the other stakeholder groups in the Student Life Centre (Student Affairs, SGPS) to contribute to a renovation of the performance lounge space at the north end of the JDUC. 4. Building off of the flooring project undertaken this year in the JDUC, continue to work with the various stakeholders in the buildings via SLC Council and through outreach to various building users, to identify more projects which can serve to improve the SLC buildings, aesthetically as well as functionally and which promote the connection of our buildings and SLC brand. 5. Plan for the move of the Performing Arts Office to the Isabelle Bader Performing Arts Centre