AMS Council met in the Michael Kingsmill Forum last night to approve finalized executive goals for the year, appoint a member to the External Briefs and Communications Committee and the Executive Performance and Accountability Committee, and hear a presentation on the AMS Services Report.
Here’s what you might have missed.
Finalized executive goals
Council approved the annual executive priorities and goals for 2025/26, going largely unchanged since first presented in June.
These goals serve as a roadmap for executives, shaping the AMS’s overall direction for the year. All goals presented to Council reflect the organization’s strategic priorities as outlined in its strategic plan.
“The focus here of the goals is to try to look at the big ticket items that go beyond the day-to-day of the job,” said President Riley Huntley.
One change from the preliminary goals was VP External Affairs Solomon Yi-Kieran’s new action item to compile a student tenancy rights report under his goal of increasing and improving housing for students.
“The lack of tenant rights for students in UBC student housing has been an issue on and off for many years … I want to by the end of the year, have a detailed report on history of AMS rental rights campaigns, issues with a lack of student rights and suggestions of how future AMS executives can work a lot of the government and university protections to make sure that future execs are able to start off on the right foot,” Yi-Kieran said.
Other executives had no major changes to their goals.
This year marks the first time that preliminary goals have been released before final approval, allowing “early engagement and feedback across the organization,” according to the executive goals report.
“The result is a more transparent, collaborative, and deliberate goal-setting process shaped through consultation with AMS Council and its committees, Presidents Council, Vice President Caucuses, AMS permanent staff, and university administrators,” reads the report.
Kareem Hassib appointed to committees
Senator Kareem Hassib was appointed to the External Briefs and Communications Committee and the Executive Performance and Accountability Committee. Being the sole nominee, he was confirmed unanimously.
Councillors hear AMS Services Report
Councillors also listened to a presentation on the AMS Services Report 2024/25, detailing students' use of services the organization provided between May 2024 and April 2025.
The presentation, given by Senior Manager, Student Services Kathleen Simpson and Assistant Manager, Student Services Harleen Hundal, followed an online quiz to test councillors' knowledge of the report.
According to the report, the AMS completed 39,264 user interactions in the last reporting period. This includes an 8.4 per cent increase in student usage of the student union's food bank and a 97 per cent increase in support usage for the Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC).
Simpson attributed the increased demand for SASC to the rising visibility of its services.
“I think awareness is a key part of it. We spent a lot effort, especially in term 1 doing lots of boothing and awareness [work] … it definitely is spreading both through reputation and active marketing,” Simpson said.
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