AMS Council convened last Wednesday to present last year’s financial statements, announce $2 million in new funding for undergraduate research opportunities and discuss the recent Textbook Broke and SkyTrain advocacy initiatives.
Here is what you might have missed.
Financial update
Council reviewed the financial standing of the AMS for the 2024-25 fiscal year, highlighting notable improvements in both liabilities and deficit.
The total liabilities this year was $79 million, marking a $4 million reduction from last year.
VP Finance Gagan Parmar said the drop was due to improvements in the AMS’s accounts payable process, resulting in cost reductions and lower liabilities.
This year, Parmar reported a significant improvement in the organization’s deficit. “Through a collective effort across all our departments we've been able to reduce our deficit this past year by just over a million dollars, bringing our remaining deficit down to just under a million,” he said.
According to the presentation from council, the average annual deficit from 2020 to 2024 was approximately $3.5 million, with none of those years recording a deficit below $2 million.
Parmar explained the decrease in expenses was due to a combination of factors, including reduced spending in several areas, involvement of staffing agencies, additional revenue from tenant services and notably strong returns from investment income.
Undergraduate research funding and textbook campaign
VP Academic and University Affairs Zarifa Nawar announced that UBC has committed $2 million from 2025 to 2028 to expand undergraduate research opportunities. The funding is part of the UBC’s Undergraduate Research Expansion Pilot Program, created in collaboration with the Vice-President Research and Innovation (VPRI) Office.
“Every dollar goes directly towards creating NEW student positions,” with no administrative costs covered, Nawar stated in an email to The Ubyssey.
As part of the funding model, faculties are required to match the VPRI’s contribution, effectively doubling the funding to $4 million. Nawar added she was "particularly pleased,” that students must be consulted in how the funding is used.
The AMS will play a role in adjudicating proposals and distributing funds, which according to Nawar, will “effectively complete” her executive goal to expand undergraduate research access across faculties.
At council, Nawar also confirmed the conclusion of a major student advocacy effort: the Textbook Broke campaign, an initiative run by the student union in September. The campaign provided reimbursements for textbook costs and promoted affordable learning through open educational resources — free learning materials in the public domain — in response to rising textbook costs that burden students financially.
“This campaign has been the largest Textbook Broke campaign [the] AMS [has] ever held,” said Nawar.
She highlighted substantial financial support for students that the campaign brought, sharing that “the total amount that we have planned to give out is over $20,000.”
SkyTrain advocacy campaign
VP External Affairs Solomon Yi-Kieran announced that Vancouver City Council voted in favour of a motion that calls upon the provincial and federal governments to expedite planning and fund the UBC SkyTrain extension.
“I’m really proud to announce that our UBC SkyTrain motion at City Hall passed unanimously,” Yi-Kieran said, marking a key step in the AMS’s campaign to bring rapid transit directly to the UBC Point Grey campus.
Yi-Kieran also provided an update on the AMS’s SkyTrain petition, a key part of its campaign. After removing duplicate votes, the student union’s petition has reached 15,007 signatures. “We are 5,000 over our previous expectation and our goal,” they said.
As well, Yi-Kieran said that the AMS SkyTrain rally had “over 1,000 people turn out.” As they noted, the campaign has drawn significant attention in both media and political circles appearing on CBC, Global News, and CTV News, among others.
They thanked their staff and volunteers who “made this entire thing possible.”
Committee appointments
Several committee roles were vacant heading into this week’s meeting. During the session, council confirmed new appointments to fill these positions.
Bryan Buraga was appointed to the External Briefs and Communications Committee. Humleen Samra stepped into a role on the Human Resources Committee. Meanwhile, Ash Dennis took on a position in the Building Operations Committee. These appointments are effective immediately and will continue until the end of their terms in May 2026.
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