Asad Ali is a fourth-year Sauder student. For the past two years, he has worked for AMS events and is now its student head, managing a team of 40 people. He is passionate about team-building and, if elected, would like to focus on unity within the student caucus and decreasing the impact of the frequent turnover of elected representatives. Ali would also place emphasis on the completion of current initiatives, such as fall reading break, before the end of the triennium.
Describe your platform and what sets it apart from your opposition in a few sentences.
It’s very difficult to come up with something new. It seems more beneficial to actually achieve those goals that senate decided on three years ago. My platform, again, is working with what the Senate has done three years before — this includes a lot of things actually. The first one is mental health and well-being, which is very big on campus. Everyone is dying for the fall-reading break and I think it’s a great opportunity that senators should approach. Students really need that break. Senate is already pushing towards it, they just need more process and more time. Lastly, I think we need more unity in the student caucus. A new student comes into Senate every year and it’s very bad because some people don’t understand what Senate actually does. Having a team beforehand helping them out, having workshops, having a group dynamic, being a productive team — that’s one of the main things I would focus on.
How have you been involved with the AMS before, and how will this help you?
I work with AMS events. I’m their events coordinator so I practically see the trends going around students and I manage a team of 40 people. What I want to do is prepare the student caucus to be more engaged, more prepared, more energetic, more involved in campus itself — turn it into a dynamic, united team that's more united than it is now. It is all about team building skills, maybe having a workshop when they come into position [as well as] getting and drawing from the experiences of past senators.
What are the challenges facing this position in the upcoming year?
This is the last year for the triennium and people will want to get stuff done. It’s going to be very stressful. I think that would be the main problem. Again, the two new senators that are re-running and a whole new group of senators. I know that there is experience, but it always takes time. That one year really limits you and just getting the stuff done would be very key.
Who is the most important body or person you need to collaborate with in this position, and how will you foster a relationship with them?
I plan to sit on the committee for flexible learning, the ad hoc committee on mental health, and curriculum ... because managing stress, fall reading break [is] important for students. I think that I want to be there to help complete the work before the term is crossed. I think co-curricular transcripts [learning enhancement records] are very important and I want to push it. Curriculum is just very interesting to me — going through what is going to be approved and what won’t be.
What three committees would you like to sit on as a senator, and why?
I think building key relationships with other senators is very important. Deans, faculty members [and] standing professors are very important. PR is very important. One thing I’d like to do is talk. For me, I’ll get to know someone first and then we will talk about work. Eventually it comes in, that’s how I would foster a relationship. Meet with the key influential people and give them my views, give them the student caucus’s views. Build a friendship. It’s very important because we need their vote — they need to know how important the student body is.
Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.