EngSoc, Humour

The One and Only VP Operations and Finance A Reflection On My Time in the Role

Sixteen months is a long time to dedicate yourself to something. I’ve never signed a rental agreement for longer than four months. #JustWaterlooThings. You learn a lot about people you spend that much time with. While I have not had the opportunity to share a roof with my executive team, I learned a lot about them, and myself.

I’m fairly proud of my time as B-Soc’s first and last Vice President, Operations and Finance. I had the opportunity to work with many amazing directors. We saw the rise of the Blue Rectangle, and the return of 19+ licensing in POETS.

I will look back at the growth POETS has seen, and am excited to see where it will go. We now have in place a two-year POETS furniture funding and purchasing plan, a strengthening of the trust between us, the Dean’s Office, and Bar Services, and new photos and memories on the walls.

Sponsorship, both the giving and the receiving, is a key part of the VPOF portfolio. I am excited by the interest I was able to raise in our sponsorship committee, receiving a total of $68,000 in requests from our student teams, and I’m even more excited by the money I was able to raise for both the E7 C&D and POETS, (at the time of writing the total is unconfirmed, but exceeds $10,000).

My NovelTEAM and Ridgidware Directors continue to impress me daily, with key shoutouts to Henry Bullingham and Kris Sousa who continually impress me with their dedication, ideas, and reliability. My goals for the Novelties and Ridgidware were all met; including reliable hours, (within reason for students, we all have interviews and exams) and an improvement in stock quality and quantity. Neither of those things would have been achieved if it was just me, and I owe the success in these areas to my teams.

I admit that I was not entirely successful. Our EngSoc EOT at Bomber was scrapped when I realized how expensive renting Bomber is. Additionally, I have almost entirely neglected the Student Deals program. I also have yet to fully complete the Novelties display case, despite securing the funding, the location, drawing up the design plans and moving all the trophies to their new home in POETS.

As my term draws to a close, I entrust these duties to my successors, Liam Yeates and Michael Beauchemin, who are both capable and reliable people. While previously I have voiced my concerns of a pair team in the role of VP Finance in it’s complexity and responsibilities, there are no two whom I feel are more capable and reliable. I look forwards to working with them and their creativity and drive.

Sixteen months is a long time to dedicate yourself to something, so I might as well make it 32.  I’ll see you all next time as President.

In the words of current VP Academic Andrew and incoming VP Academic Ben; “Booooi!”

Leave a Reply