The Ubyssey

And with that, the public portion of tonight's council meeting concludes. Thank you for following along!

Council has passed two more motions discussed in camera.

A second code-change motion has passed unanimously.

The motion was passed unanimously.

The motion gives the committee the power to remove a person appointed by Council if the appointee has met the threshold for job abandonment.

After a brief in-camera discussion, council has moved a code change motion regarding the HR Committee.

Now onto AMS Archivist Sheldon Goldfarb's historical update. Interim Speaker Jasper Lorien called the update the "chair-mandated favourite part of Council."

Committee reports are now underway.

VP External Solomon Xingtian Yi-Kieran announced that the AMS's SkyTrain petition has over 6,000 signatures currently.

VP Administration Dylan Evans said that nine new clubs have been processed from January, making for a total of 319 clubs currently.

During her update to Council, the VP AUA said that her office is conducting "environmental scans" of exam databases at UBC and other institutions as part of her push for a centralized exam database.

AMS executives are now presenting their updates and remarks.

The Executive Performance and Accountability Committee goals have been approved unanimously.

The Finance Committee goals have been approved. Its goals include creating a loan framework for clubs and constituencies.

All code change motions have been approved unanimously.

Council is now tabling code change motions. First on the list is a change to circulate Council agendas at a later time than they are currently.

Parmar said that the "health and dental plan reserve is returning to a more stable position."

VP Finance Gagan Parmar has started his presentation on the Funds & Fees Report 2024-2025.

94 per cent of respondents "expressed their preference for SSC in system navigation compared to Workday at just 3%."

Conducted from July to October 2024, the report was created in collaboration with various undergraduate societies. 89 per cent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the Workday rollout.

With two presentations back-to-back, Nawar has started her second presentation on the Workday Student Survey Report.

Capping off her presentation with a list of recommendations, Nawar stressed the importance of implementing the action items to improve the university. "Please help implement some of these recommendations and hold your faculty members
accountable," she urged.

52 per cent of respondents "reported experiencing financial hardship related to the cost of housing." The VP AUA said that in response to student housing issues, the AMS has asked UBC "to take immediate steps to address student hardship related to housing costs."

"77% of students reported buying a textbook or other course material at some point that they rarely or never used," the report revealed.

In regards to affordability, the survey found that 58 per cent of respondents believe they can manage their finances.

The survey found that "76% of respondents agreed that [course] learning outcomes are clearly communicated," with 87 per cent of students believing that an exam database would be "a valuable academic resource."

The AMS also "recommend[s] several actions for the university administration to improve the overall student experience at UBC," based off of the results of the survey, she stated.

The survey, presented yearly, is a survey "that collects data across a variety of concerns from academics to affordability and well being," said Nawar.

Following approval of prior minutes, VP AUA Zarifa Nawar has started a presentation on the AMS's Academic Experience Survey Report 2025.

The meeting has started.