UBC ams

Council Summary – April 12, 2023

Here are notes from the AMS Council meeting of April 12, 2023:

Strategic Plan at last! Council approved a five-year (“quinquennial”) strategic plan for the AMS that has been two years in the works.  It includes an updated Mission Statement and set of Values (now called Guiding Principles and Values) and also a Vision.  AMS President Eshana Bhangu said the plan is broad but not vague: it should easily lead to action items and will be used in evaluating performance.  She added that it is hard to imagine future Executives disagreeing with the plan’s strategic priorities:

  1. Exceptional Programming
  2. Delivering Results
  3. Cultivating a Sense of Belonging
  4. Operational Excellence
  5. Collaborative Leadership

Governance Changes: Council approved several Code amendments to do the following:

  1. Replacing the old Student Services Manager position with the Senior Manager of Student Services
  2. Transferring the duty of handling referendum petitions from the VP Academic & University Affairs to the President or their designate
  3. Adding new grounds for removing an Executive
  4. Allowing the positions of Elections Administrator and Speaker of Council to be held by the same person
  5. Specifying time limits for items at Council meetings
  6. Making the Steering Committee the Agenda Committee
  7. Giving approval powers for Events and Services to the Student Life Committee
  8. Transferring responsibility for the grad class gift to the VP Administration
  9. Requiring that all Code changes go through the Governance Committee
  10.  Requiring more frequent meetings of the Presidents Council

Committee chairs: One proposed change that Council did not accept would have allowed non-voting Councillors to chair Council meetings.

Food Bank funding: President Bhangu said she is using her last few weeks in office to seek additional funding for Food Bank from the University and also from alternative sources.

Academic Experience Survey: Anisha Sandhu, the VP Academic & University Affairs, said over 3,000 responses have been received, which she thinks is the highest ever.

The Businesses: In response to a question from Councillor Katherine Feng, Acting Managing Director Celia Chung said the businesses are doing well and will be amending their budgets to account for the upcoming minimum wage increases.

HDMI: VP Admin Ben Du announced that every bookable room in the Nest now has an HDMI cable to increase convenience for students.

Next meeting:

The next regular Council meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 17 in the Michael Kingsmill Forum in the Nest at 6 pm. 

Sheldon Goldfarb

Sheldon Goldfarb

Archivist & Clerk of Council

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