Elif Kayali

The first in-person AMS Council meeting in more than a year and a half ran for more than four hours last night as councillors adjusted to the new hybrid format.

The final report includes six different categories of recommendations for the Committee on Appeals on Academic Standing, the Committee on Student Appeals on Academic Discipline, and the Admissions Committee.

The travel restrictions first came into effect on April 22 and were set to expire a month later, but the Canadian government recently extended the restrictions until June 21.

The new meetings, held every other Monday between 7:00pm and 8:00pm over Zoom, are inclusive of all recovery pathways and allow women and gender diverse students to express themselves more freely while sharing their recovery journeys.

AMS Council met last night to approve the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities (UCRU) bylaws in principle and discuss election engagement.

Following an assessment, UBC will create an action plan and submit an application to three federal research councils to be recognized as a Dimensions institution.

Following the decision, concerns remain that such a statement might alienate Chinese students, following similar reactions at other Canadian universities.

One major goal of the process is to make admissions fair for everyone, but how can existing societal biases be acknowledged and mitigated in decision-making?

The intersection of academic freedom and freedom of expression is hard to articulate but their divergence is critical in the context of UBC.

Bhangu was in a two-way race with the current Associate VP Academic Shivani Mehta. The VPAUA race was the only contested AMS executive race this year.

Bhangu is planning on using her experience as vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee in advocating for affordability.

With experience working as the associate VP academic affairs this past year, Mehta wants to focus on developing “attainable, realistic and long-term goals.”

As the only contested AMS executive race in this year’s elections, Shivani Mehta and Eshana Bhangu went back and forth, questioning each other’s track records and plans if elected.

At 5:01 p.m. on Saturday, AMS Elections officials posted on its Facebook page that Bhangu’s right to campaign had been suspended for the next 24 hours — but the team has since downgraded the penalty to 12 hours.

AMS Elections announced Thursday afternoon that officials have issued an official warning to Mehta for using her official AMS email address “in the course of campaign activities.”