Last night, AMS councillors met for the first time this year to discuss creating a VP Student Life and heard updates from the services interim report.
Here’s what you might have missed.
Food bank interactions continue to grow, along with other services
Council began with a discussion about the potential of creating a new VP position: VP Student Life. President Christian 'CK' Kyle explained that the idea of creating this position has existed across several previous administrations.
After, councillors heard a presentation on the 2024/25 Services Interim Report from AMS Senior Student Services Manager Kathleen Simpson.
The interim report includes data collected from the 23,771 interactions between May and December 2024. The total budget was $1,262,264.
“We’re quite on track to be on budget or slightly below budget in all services, except for one,” said Simpson. Advocacy is potentially projected to go over budget by approximately $2,000.
Similarly to previous years, the food bank was the most used service by students, comprising 70 per cent of all student interactions. The food bank’s operating budget this year is $116,408, with the total cost to date at $60,768.
The food bank has seen a 14 per cent increase in user interactions from the same period in 2023/24. Overall, Simpson categorized this as a “manageable growth,” comparatively lower than that of previous years.
Peer Support recorded 369 user interactions between May and December 2024 and saw a 41 per cent increase from last year’s term one numbers. The demand for harm reduction and hormone replacement therapy supplies were higher than the previous year.
AMS Safewalk usage grew by 53 per cent in May to December 2024 compared to May to December 2023. Some issues with the service included inappropriate client behaviour and busy shifts during holidays, which have caused a review and update in the service’s policy.
Simpson also said the Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) had a busy term. Key statistics driving this increase include larger numbers of sessions, intakes and anonymous interactions.
SASC reported a 112 per cent increase in support interactions from May to December 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. The service averaged 229 interactions each month, with October being the busiest month.
AMS tutoring reported the service saw the majority of its popularity surrounding first year math courses, with these courses comprising 38 per cent of drop-in sessions in term one. MCAT tutoring was launched last year, but will discontinue this term because of its low interest rates.
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