Every few weeks, your elected student government meets on a Wednesday night to talk about issues concerning the AMS. Agenda items can seem long, mysterious and confusing without the proper background, making it difficult to see how these issues affect students. Here’s what to watch out for in the upcoming AMS Council meeting on January 10:
Media policy
Council will be hearing a proposal for a new internal policy on communications, which will formally route all communication through the president of the society. The proposed policy seeks to provide the university community and students in particular with communication “in a manner that is consistent, accurate, fair, and timely.”
Online referendum petitions
For the second year in a row, the AMS will be making referendum petitions available online for the use of its membership. Council will be considering the possibility of approving Formstack as its service provider to make available this opportunity.
Athletics and recreation
Council will be hearing a presentation from Kavie Toor of UBC’s Facilities, Recreation and Sport Partnerships unit to discuss the allocation of a $21-per-student fee remitted annually by the AMS to the university for recreation and athletics initiatives.
In preparation for the presentation, Council has received a memo stating that currently 83 per cent of the fee is allocated to recreational activities while 17 per cent supports varsity sports.
Jakob Gattinger, a fourth-year applied science student, is the former VP Academic and University Affairs pro tem for the AMS and a current member of Council for engineering, as well as a student senator.