3:14, February 11 2014
AUS Office
Dear Fellow Arts Students,
Yesterday there was an information session for potential candidates for AUS positions. Thank you to all who showed up–it is great to see that there is so much interest in these positions! A few people approached me with questions about being AUS VP Finance–I hope that you are reading this, and I hope that any other interested candidates are reading this. If you are considering running, please get in touch with me by email or by Facebook.
I was very inviting to those who asked me questions at the information session, because I do what to drum up interest in the position. However, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the more serious aspects of being an AUS executive, and especially of being VP Finance.
Your core responsibilities revolve around financial record-keeping. Every transaction must be properly accounted for, and our books must balance (so to speak). If not, our auditors will not be able to sign off on our file, and McGill administration may withhold our funding (as per our Memorandum of Agreement). This does not require any prior technical experience in accounting, but familiarity with the principles of accounting is encouraged. Attention to detail, good organization skills, and meticulousness are required.
On top of that, you have a collection of daily (or else regularly recurring) responsibilities. These include preparing floats (cash box and change for sales) for departments, making bank deposits, keeping tabs on the record keeping, and dealing with Revenu Quebec documents. Definitely expect to commit twenty hours per week to this–office time plus related commitments such as AUS Council. There may be times when you spend around forty hours doing AUS things in one week.
Being an AUS executive is in part an act of self sacrifice.
If you are willing to make this type of commitment, and are genuinely interested in the AUS and the type of work that a VP Finance does, then I ask you again to speak to me. And read my blog posts–they generally focus on the more fun and lighthearted aspects of the job. Despite all of the hard work and long hours, being an AUS executive can be a very fun and rewarding experience.
-Sam.
