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 are 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 are the cliff notes for the upcoming September meeting (committees are September 13 and full Board is at UBC Okanagan September 27):
Committee Updates
All committees will be considering updated terms of reference at this round of meetings; the changes will align the committee mandates with the recently approved strategic plan and updated minuting procedures. Additionally, the Audit and Employee Relations Committees will be meeting in open session for the first time in recent memory in order to consider policy reviews. Committee membership was tweaked in August, with Vancouver faculty member Nassif Ghoussoub appointed chair of the Learning and Research Committee, a student – Jakob Gattinger – added for the first time to the Audit Committee, and new provincial appointees given various assignments.
Policy 93
Following a long period of work involving governance consultant Watson, the Board will be considering for adoption meeting rules that will govern its operations, as well as a separate set of rules for Board committee meetings. These include provisions for members to challenge the designation of matters as open, closed or in camera.
Policy 131 update
The Board is receiving an update on the ongoing implementation of Policy 131 (sexual assault and other sexual misconduct).
Policy 15
The Board will be reviewing Policy 15 (smoking and smoking product promotion on campus) before it is opened for public consultation. The intention is to align the policy to include cannabis, with the upcoming legalization this fall.
Green building action plan
UBC is establishing a new set of priorities and actions to steer it toward "net positive contributions to human and natural systems" by 2035. It includes separate designations for both academic and non-academic buildings.
Stadium neighbourhood
The Board will be receiving the latest iteration of the planning of the Stadium Road Neighbourhood at this meeting, which is now in its third stage. There are two main layouts under consideration, and the Board has also received a number of community comments on the matter.
Stay tuned
During future meetings, the Board will be focusing on mental health and wellness support, as well as student financial aid.
Stay up to date
The next open Board of Governors meetings will be November 26 (committees) and December 4 (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. Or if you can’t attend, you can always follow @UbysseyNews for the play by play.