A Tweetcap of the September 10 UVSS meeting
Photo by Belle White, Senior Staff Photographer
The first UVSS Board of Directors meeting of the semester saw several key changes including the ratification of a new Pride representative, the presentation of the prospective 2018-19 budget, and a personalized gavel waved around by Director of Outreach and Community Relations Pierre-Paul Angelblazer.
The gavel, a birthday gift according to Angelblazer, was put to use in just the first few moments of the meeting when a round of introductions fell into a heated debate about which type of chocolate is the best.
Since this is the first meeting of the school year, the board is starting off with a round of introductions (and fun facts about themselves, which has devolved into birthdays and personal opinions about chocolate).
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
When order was restored, the next point of business was to ratify changes to positions held by several of the advocacy group representatives. Representing the Pride Collective, Avria Chrystall took the place of Willa Budz. The board also accepted the resignation of both Karina Dhillon of the UVSS Feminist Collective and Natalie Blecha from the Society for Students with a Disability (SSD). While there were no replacement representatives to be ratified at the meeting, both positions are expected to be filled at upcoming meetings.
The Feminist Collective will have its first meeting this Friday, where they will most likely determine their new board representative.
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
Only two advocacy group representatives were present at the meeting to give reports. Nathan Ponce, on behalf of the Students Of Color Collective (SOCC), announced that the group is excited to have found an artist in residence, and Chrystall said that Pride has been busy planning their Halloween party.
During reports by the Lead Directors, Director of Events Noor Chasib thanked everyone involved with last week’s Campus Kick Off for volunteering their time to help make the event “one of the most successful ones in recent history.” As it was a learning process, he encouraged people to come forward with any thoughts they had on how the event could be improved upon.
Isabella Lee, Director of Student Affairs, reports that a new clubs and course unions booking system has been rolled out. She says it "went off with a couple hitches, but we'll fix those."
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
Curtis Whittla, Director of Finance and Operations, says the UVSS' audit is still in progress.
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
The meeting then moved to question period, where the Martlet asked the board about the still-vacant Director of International Relations position. Although Director-at-Large Adrienne Graham had previously been elected to cover some of the responsibilities of this portfolio, she would be approved for a semester-long leave of absence later on in the meeting.
According to Angelblazer, a by-election to fill the position would be “prohibitively expensive,” a particular concern following the overspending of $26 000 by the UVSS Elections Office during the 2017-18 term.
One member of the gallery asks if it is possible to volunteer for the UVSS. Everyone is shocked – Angelblazer says to check out the volunteer page of their website, while Ainsley Kerr (Director of Campaigns) adds that they should email her.
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
Moving on to the main motions, Curtis Whittla, Director of Finance and Operations, passed out a preliminary 2018-19 UVSS budget. Due to the audit still being in progress, the numbers were only 95 per cent finalized.
Until then, here's a really poor quality picture of the budget Whittla handed out. If you can read this, it's pretty safe to say you can probably opt-out of the UVSS' optical health coverage. pic.twitter.com/qat7dUYtkP
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
One big thing to note is that student fees won't cover the cost of even one election, Whittla says. This is due to inflation (although the fact that last year went more than $20,000 over budget probably doesn't help).
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
The board motioned for the budget to be voted on by students at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) in October. A finalized budget will be made available online before then, said Whittla, and any major changes to the current document would be pointed out at the AGM.
Finally, the last motion of the night was to change the time of the AGM on October 11 from the usual 3 or 4 pm to 2:30 in an effort to make the event more accessible to students and improve attendance.
In previous years, attendance has been a primary concern at the AGM, as the meeting needs to reach quorum (a certain number of undergrads present) in order for students to vote on proposed changes. At the Semi-Annual General Meeting in the spring, quorum was reached for the first time in five years only to be lost after half an hour.
"It's a slam dunk," says Tyler Arnold, Director at Large. Jordan Gilson, also a DaL, isn't so sure. Aren't students still in class at that time?
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
Chrystall asks if a poll of the undergrads have been attempted. Lee says that polling 18,000 students is difficult, but they may consider it for the SAGM in the spring.
— The Martlet (@TheMartlet) September 11, 2018
After a bit of debate regarding the reasons behind this decision—to which UVSS Research and Communications Manager Alannah James added that no time of day can guarantee quorum, and that promotion of the AGM will require significant UVSS involvement regardless—the motion passed.
The next board meeting will be held on September 17 at 6:00 pm in the SUB Upper Lounge.
