Just because the semester was winding down didn’t mean the UVSS Board of Directors weren’t busy the last couple of weeks.
A motion brought forward by the UVSS to the UVic Senate on Dec. 3 granting academic amnesty for undergraduate students failed to pass. The motion would “absolve students of the obligation to hand in coursework, write exams or participate in classroom discussion” so that they could participate in the UVSS’s Education is a Right rally at the Provincial legislature on Feb. 3, 2016.
According to UVSS Chairperson Brontë Renwick-Shields, the Senate said they would instead ask that professors practice “flexibility” in their due dates, but that they would not make it mandatory for professors to give students leave.
At the Dec. 7 meeting, the board voted to approve Tristan Ryan’s official resignation from his position as Director of Finance & Operations, effective Jan. 1, 2016. On Dec. 14, interim Director Kylie Pettifer’s term was extended until May 1, 2016, when a newly-elected director will take the position.
On Dec. 8, Director of External Relations Kenya Rogers had a motion passed at the Victoria Regional Transit Commission that will provide refugees resettled in the greater Victoria region a free one-year bus pass. The UVSS subsequently launched their #WelcomeOnBoard initiative, which asks transit stakeholders in Canada to offer free transit to new refugees.
On Dec. 14, the board approved amendments to policy regarding the allocation of Academic Funds to improve clarity, and to say that no more than $2 000 can be allocated to each project, campaign, event, or course union without board approval. The revised policy also states that upon any allocation approved by the board, record of that approval must be submitted to the UVSS Accounting Department.
Renwick-Shields said that the revisions were partially in response to an incident in early November where the Undergraduates of Political Science were given $6 000 in funding before receiving proper board approval. She said that the new policy will help keep the board “more accountable” in the future.
The next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at 6 p.m. in the SUB Upper Lounge.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that no more than $2 000 can be allocated to a project or course union. The policy states that more than $2 000 can be allocated with board approval. We regret the error.
