Green New Deal: Student at large Maayan Kreitzman invited Councillors to attend UBC’s Green New Deal Town Hall on June 10 in the Nest.
Zero Waste: Will Crolla, a coordinator with UBC Campus & Community Planning, called on Council to put pressure on UBC to go beyond words and take action against throwaway containers and other single-use items.
Transit: VP External Cristina Ilnitchi and her former Transit Commissioner Kevin Wong told Council about plans for transit advocacy focusing on affordability and accessibility, with the top priority continuing to be an extension of the SkyTrain to UBC.
Bodies on Campus: Governing Bodies, that is, meaning the Board of Governors and the Senate. Councillors Jeanie Malone, Max Holmes, Matthias Leuprecht, and Alex Gonzalez gave Council a primer on UBC’s top bodies, mentioning such new developments as the creation of an Indigenous Engagement Committee and the introduction of an Integrated Renewal Program (a software system to handle everything from HR and Finance to student admissions).
Budget Postponement: Council agreed to postpone the preliminary budget presentation. The plan now is to present at the next meeting and go straight to the final budget. AMS President Chris Hakim said there are plans to revise the budget process.
Clubs Resource Centre: VP Administration Cole Evans and Simran Sidhu, the Clubs Resource Centre Manager, consulted Council on plans to renovate the centre in the hopes of drawing in more people to use it. Cost of the renovation would be just under $65,000.
Appointments: Council filled the previously unfilled positions on its committees and subcommittees.
Goddess of Democracy: Council was told that after a low-power wash the Goddess of Democracy looks better than ever and is ready for the ceremonies on June 2 to mark the 30th anniversary of Tiananmen Square.
Safewalk: Student Services Manager Ian Stone said UBC will again provide $25,000 to support the Safewalk program.
WeChat: Managing Director Keith Hester said the AMS has launched a channel on the WeChat app and social media platform to reach its Chinese-speaking members.
Grad Class gifts: Student Life Committee Chair Kevin Zhang said that in addition to gifts for Food Bank, the Indigenous Committee, and the Goddess of Democracy, $1,000 will be given to the AMS Archives to support a project to digitize old student handbooks.
Something Brewing: The new chair of the Brewery Committee, Matthias Leuprecht, announced big news: the committee actually met. He’s hoping for a Memorandum of Understanding with the Faculty of Land & Food to move things forward.
More Big News: Matthias Leuprecht, wearing his Student Senator hat, announced that largely thanks to the efforts of Max Holmes, Senate has passed the new Academic Concession Policy.
New Leases: Council approved leases for businesses to replace Liquid Nutrition and the hair salon On the Fringe in the Nest.
Advisory Board: Council heard that attempts are still underway to fill the last remaining position on the Advisory Board. Until that happens, the board will not meet and hence it has been unable to produce reports for Council.
More on Zero Waste: After much debate on timing, Council directed the Sustainability Subcommittee to report back in September with plans for implementing UBC’s Zero Waste Foodware Strategy.
Next meeting: The next regular Council meeting will be at 6 pm on June 19, 2019 in the Michael Kingsmill Forum on the fourth floor of the Nest.
Back to news