Here are notes from the regular AMS Council meeting of September 13, 2023:
Full House: All 32 voting Councillors and a roomful of guests showed up for another discussion of PC1 and PC2, the policies on respectful community and sexualized violence.
Compromise reached: After extensive discussion, Council approved a compromise resolution to establish a working group to produce new versions of PC1 and PC2 by January 2024.
Committee appointments: Council refilled its committees for the School Year, appointing the following chairs:
Advocacy Committee: Kamil Kanji
HR Committee: Erin Co
Finance Committee: Abhi Mishra
Operations Committee: Ian Caguiat
Student Life Committee: Karisma Jutla
Governance Committee: Ayesha Irfan
Running for election: Councillor Mathew Ho made a dramatic entrance to the Council chambers, running and out of breath, just in time to give his speech to ask to be appointed to the HR Committee, which he was.
Fraternities agreement: AMS President Esmé Decker announced an agreement with the Inter-Fraternity Council that will connect them with Safewalk and give them discounts on bookings in the Nest.
Mental Health Coverage Restored: VP Academic & University Affairs Kamil Kanji announced that the University has agreed to pay $500,000 to restore full coverage of mental health counselling sessions. Coverage was going to be dropped to 80% per visit, but will now go back to 100%.
Fee opt-outs: VP Finance Abhi Mishra announced that there have been 3,500 opt-outs from opt-outable AMS fees, returning $70,000 to students’ pockets.
Free barbecue: Managing Director Justin Lieu announced that this year’s Welcome Back Barbecue will be an actual barbecue and free.
Edibles, Coke, and Dave: The Archivist entertained Council with tales of Edibles (the old snack bar in the Education building), the Coke deal (the exclusivity agreement with Coca-Cola that lasted from 1995 to 2007), and Dave Tompkins, the Councillor who wore the same outfit every year for thirteen years for the annual Council photo-taking.
Next meeting:
The next regular Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27 in the Michael Kingsmill Forum in the Nest at 6 pm.
Sheldon Goldfarb
Archivist & Clerk of Council
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