Turnover: It was the first Council meeting for the new Executive and for many Councillors. Also the first time using new agenda software. And the fourth meeting held virtually.
Sustainability Action Plan: Council approved a new AMS Sustainability Action Plan (to be known as ASAP) to replace older policies and strategies on sustainability. The new plan covers the Nest, AMS businesses and services, advocacy, and collaboration with other campus groups. An Indigenous section will be added later.
New Resource Group: Council approved a new AMS Student Resource Group: the Neurodiverse and Disabled Alliance.
Nest Reopening: AMS President Cole Evans announced that the Nest will be reopening on May 19 in a limited way. Blue Chip Cafe will be open, to be followed the next week by a reopening of the Gallery and the Honour Roll, all for take-out service only. There will be no table seating, no reusable mugs and containers, and no large gatherings. Club offices will remain closed.
The idea is to follow provincial guidelines, maintain social distancing, and do more cleaning. There will be signage. Use of elevators will be restricted. Virtual meetings are still encouraged, and office staff may still work from home. Masks will be available for staff who do come in.
SASC Office Expansion: The Sexual Assault Support Centre will be moving to larger quarters down the hall in a more private space. Work will be done to improve soundproofing. The Health and Dental Office will take over the current SASC space.
Red Chairs: Council agreed to postpone the replacement of the Nest’s red chairs on the grounds that the matter is not urgent at this moment.
New Senators: Council asked the UBC Senate to appoint new student senators for Arts (Justin Zheng) and Dentistry (Diane Nguyen).
Nursing Fee: Council voted to notify the UBC Board of Governors of an increase in the student fee for Nursing students (the fee was approved by a referendum of the Nursing students earlier in the year).
Discipline Guidelines: Council directed the Governance Committee to look into guidelines and procedures for Council disciplinary action.
Fall Reading Break: Student BoG rep and senator Max Holmes told Council that the long-debated Fall Reading Break proposal is going to the University Senate for approval on May 27.
Appointments: The bulk of the meeting was taken up with filling committees, including the appointment of the following committee chairs:
Advocacy Committee – Joshua Kim
Governance Committee – Sebastian Cooper
Student Life Committee – Chrissa Rassias
HR Committee – Lawrence Liu
Fermentation Lab Committee – Lawrence Liu
The Operations Committee is automatically chaired by the VP Administration (Sylvester Mensah Jr.) and the Finance Committee is automatically chaired by the VP Finance (Lucia Liang), but Council directed the Governance Committee to look into whether that system of automatic appointment should continue.
Next meeting: The next regular Council meeting will be held on June 3, 2020.
Sheldon Goldfarb
Archivist & Clerk of Council
