Fund Transfer

Introduction

The Alma Mater Society (AMS) is the student society representing more than 46,000 students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver campus.  The AMS is independent of UBC, collects its own fees, and provides student services, operates businesses and oversees over 300 student clubs and groups.

This is an update page on the story behind a fund-transfer request by the Social Justice Centre (SJC) to the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), a student club of the AMS.  The SJC is a Resource Group of the AMS, and is entitled to a portion of the $1.50 per student fee (approximate total: $57,000) that is collected as part of AMS General Fees to fund all the Resource Groups.

The $1.50 student fee was established by a referendum in 1996 to fund Resource Groups.  The referendum did not give Resource Groups autonomy, and hence the Board of Directors of the AMS is legally responsible for actions of its Resource Groups.

The voting members of the Board of Directors of the AMS (the AMS Council) is comprised of AMS Executives, elected representatives from the student associations in UBC’s faculties, colleges and schools, and student representatives from UBC’s Board of Governors and Senate.

The Student Administrative Commission of the AMS (SAC) is in charge of investigation complaints against the Resource Groups, and its recommendations have to be ratified by the AMS Council before they are effective.

Update as of December 9, 2010

On 17 November 2010, the Alma Mater Society (AMS) received a transfer request from the Social Justice Centre (an AMS Resource Group) to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), which is an AMS Club, to donate $700 for a flotilla to Gaza and/or sponsor a speech by George Galloway.  Due to complaints that the SJC had not followed its own constitution and since petitions were made to allow AMS Council to exercise its jurisdiction over Clubs and Resource groups, AMS Executives decided to leave the approval of the transfer request to AMS Council.

At its meeting on 1 December 2010, the AMS Council passed a resolution approving the transfer on the following conditions:

(1)     the transfer has been duly authorized by the Social Justice Centre at a duly constituted meeting of its Board as required by its Constitution;

(2)     the Council is satisfied, acting reasonably, following prudent due diligence by the Social Justice Centre, the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights club, the Council itself and/or any other body chosen by the Council as a reliable resource in this respect, that the transfer of funds will not constitute funding an organization linked to terrorism.

The Student Administrative Commission (SAC) reported on December 1^st at AMS Council that the first condition above was met.  In order to carry out the requirements of the second condition, the Executive Committee directed the VP Finance to do an independent investigation, and invite submissions by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, Israel Awareness Club and Social Justice Centre.

Additionally, SAC is currently investigating other procedural issues with respect to the fund transfer due to other complaints.  SAC is expected to present its recommendation on the resolution of these complaints at AMS Council meeting on January 12^th, 2011.

Once the AMS Council has received the investigation report above from VP Finance as well as SAC’s recommendation on the resolution of the complaints outstanding, the AMS Council may make a decision on the fund transfer at its meeting on 12 January 2011.