Five times per year, the UBC Board of Governors (BoG) meets to discuss issues of money, property, policy and people. As your student representatives on the BoG, we're here to keep you in the loop with what is up at Board — but if you ever want to learn more, you can check out the BoG website for full dockets, agendas, and documents! Here’s the cliffnotes of the September meeting:
Strategic Plan
The university is in the process of developing a strategic plan - we received a brief update from President Ono on the progress so far. It looks like the real shape of the plan will start forming over the next few months - keep an eye out at the strat plan website for more opportunities on how to get involved!
The AMS
AMS President Alan Ehrenholz and Interim VP Academic and University Affairs Jakob Gattinger came to Board to present about the history of the AMS and key projects they will be working on in the upcoming year. According to Gattinger, they discussed university budget priorities and the strategic plan, but also where the interests of UBC and the AMS overlap in lobbying various levels of government. He said it was generally well-received with Board — they were very receptive and interested in how aligned the priorities of the AMS and the university appear to be at the moment.
Thunderbird neighbourhood
Are you interested in the latest campus neighbourhood? The Stadium Road neighbourhood design is underway and will be open for public consultation late this month. Open houses will be held by UBC Campus and Community Planning (CCP) on Sept 30, Oct 3 and Oct 5, or you can fill in their survey online after Sept 28.
Parkade
The McInnes Field parkade was granted Board 2 & 3 approval, which means that the design for the parkade can be completed and the undertake of construction can begin. The AMS is working with CCP to resolve issues relating to the traffic around the Nest.
Totem naming
The Musqueam Nation has gifted UBC with a name (cə̓ snaʔəm) for the newest Totem Park building. This name is significant as it was used for the largest Musqueam settlement and burial site on the Fraser River. The unveiling of the name will be held on Sept 27, along with various storyboards and signage explaining its historical significance.
Buildings
Check out the capital projects plan update to see what kinds of projects are in progress. UBC is also in the process of evaluating the hazards for many of the buildings on campus — you can read lots about what is getting assessed and why here.
Stay up to date
The next Board of Governors meetings will be November 28 (Committees) and December 5 (Board). Both Committees and Board primarily consist of open sessions that members of the UBC community are welcome to attend — you can view agendas here and attend if interested. Or, if you can’t attend, you can always follow @UbysseyNews for the play-by-play.
Jeanie Malone and Kevin Doering are the elected student members of the UBC Board of Governors.