Here are notes from the regular AMS Council meeting of September 15, 2021 (held in person in the Nest):
Back in Person: Council met fully in person for the first time since March 2020, and several Councillors commented on the “magic” of attending and how it improved discussions.
Strategic Plan: Council discussed the possibility of doing a strategic plan and met Nicolas Romualdi, a former GSS Executive, who might facilitate the process. Councillors asked about the failure of past plans and discussed what a strategic plan should do.
AGM: Council set the date of the Annual General Meeting as Thursday, October 28 at 6 pm. Councillors discussed what sort of motions might be brought to the meeting, and AMS President Cole Evans said it would be a virtual meeting like last year, adding that he would recommend the meeting be online even after the pandemic.
Budget revision: Council approved a budget amendment to increase spending on the Textbook Broke campaign (on the high cost of textbooks).
Election spending: Council approved a motion to allocate additional funding to the Get Out the Vote campaign for the federal election. VP External Saad Shoaib said more money was needed to provide additional materials to the increased number of students on campus.
The old microbrewery project: Council debated whether to stop pursuing the microbrewery project approved by referendum in 2014. AMS President Cole Evans said the project was no longer in the interests of the Society, but other Councillors argued that another referendum should be held before stopping. In the end the motion was referred back to the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee.
Vaccination: Council discussed how vaccination mandates will apply in the Nest, whether AMS staff will have to be vaccinated, how what the AMS is doing compares to what we’re asking the University to do, how the rules will apply to clubs, and whether there should be a point person to answer vaccination questions.
Fraternities: AMS President Cole Evans said the AMS will not be accepting a booking from the fraternities for their annual recruitment meeting (“bids day”) because of issues the fraternities have had recently with large gatherings and complying with COVID safety measures.
Next meeting:
The next regular Council meeting will be held in person in the AMS Nest (4th floor) on September 29, 2021 at 6 pm.
Sheldon Goldfarb
Archivist & Clerk of Council
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