Race: VP Finance

The VP Finance has the most thankless job of the executive, noticed only when problems arise. Tasked with crafting a budget to spend millions of dollars in three months, there’s little the VP Finance can do to shake up the status-quo in their most important task. Other parts in the job are the SUB businesses, sustainability, the AMS/GSS health and dental plan, and financial administration.

Last year, the big concern in the VP Finance portfolio was eliminating the structural deficit in the budget. That was done and a balanced budget was created. However, this managed to be fully eclipsed by the realization that the AMS was still facing an actual deficit of over $100,000 for this year. It appears that little can be done about that at this point, except to try and pass a fee referendum to make ends meet in future years. Successfully raising fees will make the budgeting process a lot easier. But if it doesn’t pass life will continue to be miserable in the VPF. We asked the candidates how they might deal with that misery.

What will make things much more difficult regardless of the referendum is the departure of Henry Chen, the AMS’s Treasurer and Controller, off to greener pastures as CFO of TRIUMF. Henry was recently described as the 2nd most important person in the AMS, served as a mentor to the VP Finance and provided continuity and a great deal of business expertise. Holding down the fort while searching for a new treasurer will be tough, even if the VP Finance already has a year of experience under his belt; moreso if he doesn’t.

The AMS businesses continue to be a puzzle. The name of the game isn’t necessarily maximizing the revenue from these outlets. A sustained, predictable contribution would be preferable from a budgeting perspective. But how to bring that about? We all wish we knew.

One area the AMS just hit a home run with is the health and dental plan, finding a new provider who will provide the same coverage with a significant savings to students. It’s been hinted that students could even see a decrease in the Health and Dental plan fee next year as a result. That’s an awfully good carrot to be dangling about during the referendum and it should be used strategically.

Candidate Profiles

Name: Elin Tayyar
Age: 22
Year: 5
Faculty and program: Arts: Economics & International Relations
Years on campus: 5
Past campus involvement: Member of a multitude of clubs (including Help Hear Haiti, Sailing Club, Photosoc); Beta Theta Pi; Rec Leagues; CiTR

1) The AMS is planning a referendum to raise fees to deal with a sizable budget deficit. What’s your plan if the referendum fails?

I think the referendum will be a question to students on what role the AMS wants to play in the future. If the referendum fails, spending will have to match out revenues. This will likely mean that we’ll need to tighten our belts even more, and look at other ways of raising revenues.

I have looked at one interesting way of increasing revenues through investment income. Our interest rates average to about 4%-4.5% from our total investments. We are charged 5.75% for the new SUB. I have discussed the following option with UBC, and it seems likely that we will move forward on it (unless there are legal impediments): looking at ways to pay down our SUB loan, effectively giving our investments a 5.75% return. This will make us about $90,000 a year in extra revenues. I have been working on it, and will be looking to move forward on it in the coming months.

We need to make sure all of our operations are cost effective (Whistler Lodge being the main concern — although it is discussed below). We need to review many different parts of the organization, from the lodge to Copyrights, to IT. We may find cost savings.

We need to take advantage of our situation and our position to increase sponsorship revenue.

While there are several ways we intend to increase revenues, there is no guarantee that they will materialize, which makes this referendum necessary. It will be impossible to bring forth a balanced budget without more cuts, if the referendum does not pass. Cost cutting will be another tool used to put us in a better financial position.

2) The Whistler Lodge loses money and because of its age, is in almost-perpetual need of repairs. As well, there is new competition from a newly opened Hostelling International Hostel in Whistler. How can we rejuvenate the Lodge?

I initiated a review of the Whistler Lodge this year, after requests to withdraw money from our Capital Projects Fund (CPAC). Since then, we have realized problems with the budgeting and financial reporting of the lodge. We have spent over $500,000 in the past 5 years, with another $180,000 request pending. Although this comes from CPAC, it is still student money that is being spent. Furthermore, the Council’s decision not to accept a $250,000 offer to lease the lodge for a month further supported the view that the AMS council has been very short-sighted with respect to Whistler Lodge spending.

We have looked at costs of building a new facility, and we find that a brand new Lodge, with triple the number of beds and a conference centre, would cost the AMS less than the current lodge. In fact, there is a good chance future revenues would make us a sizeable profit every year.

Outside of that, we are looking at other options as well, such as leasing out the lodge. This option seems attractive, as the building of a new Lodge, however financially feasible, would require strong leadership. Our senior management are currently very busy working with the new SUB.

We are not looking at the sale of the Lodge.

The major point to understand is that the current lodge is not sustainable for our organization. We need to do something. The problem is the lack of energy within the organization to push for such massive projects. This is why I am running for re-election. We did an overhaul of our Health & Dental plan this year, something that required a lot of energy, leadership, and drive. I plan to bring the same energy and drive to the Whistler Lodge, our next biggest problem.

Name: Arash Ehteshami
Age: 21
Year: 4th Year
Faculty and program: Faculty of Arts, with a Major in International Relations and a minor in German
Years on campus: 4
Past campus involvement: Current AUS VP Internal; Member-at-large in the Business and Facilities Committee of the AMS; Communications Assistant for the Faculty of Arts (Co-op); Arts Co-op Student; Arts FrAUSh Leader; Imagine UBC Orientations Squad Leader and Squad Manager; Assistant Coordinator for the GALA International Orientations; Director of Volunteer Coordination for the 2009 UBC Model United Nations; Peer and POD Leader for the Vice President Students Emerging Leaders Program
Past non-campus involvement: Retail Manager for a chain of Tea Stores

1) The AMS is planning a referendum to raise fees to deal with a sizable budget deficit. What’s your plan if the referendum fails?

Before I go on to discuss my back-up plan in case the referendum fails, I want to reiterate the importance of communicating and engaging students with their student fees. I strongly believe that the referendum needs to first go through appropriate student consultations to ensure that all students’ concerns have been addressed well before the referendum is presented to students.
That being said, if the referendum really does fail, our entire budget will need to be revised to absorb the deficit. If more cutting has to take place, it is only fair that I would start cutting from the executive’s benefits such as the wellness benefits. I will ensure that budget will go through a more rigorous consultation and critical analysis, and that our businesses will provide better customer service until our transition to the new sub.

2) The Whistler Lodge loses money and because of its age, is in almost-perpetual need of repairs. As well, there is new competition from a newly opened Hostelling International Hostel in Whistler. How can we rejuvenate the Lodge?

I think the AMS is blessed to possess such valuable property outside of campus, especially with the large number of active skiers and snowboarders at UBC. Although students should get priority when going to the lodge, I believe that we, too, should make ourselves stronger competitors in appealing to the general population as a hostel in one of the world’s best mountain resorts.
How can we appeal to more people? I believe we need to upgrade the lodge to hold an edge over our competitors. This can come in the form of more beds, better amenities, a major renovation or in the form of a whole new lodge. Prior consultation and cost-benefit analyses would be necessary to see which is the more feasible option. Furthermore, once we have that edge, we need to advertise the lodge effectively more on and off campus.