AMS Council met Wednesday last week to hear presentations on the impacts of its bursary funding, the relocation of the club commons space and changes to the student union’s investment strategy.
Will Atkinson, a development officer with UBC Development & Alumni Engagement, gave the presentation on the AMS’s bursary funding.
“We want to make sure that the AMS is recognized as a really, really key and crucial donor, particularly in our bursary program,” Atkinson said.
Currently, the AMS primarily funds two different bursaries; the AMS Student Aid Bursary and the AMS Special Bursary. The Student Aid Bursary, which is financed by a $12 student fee, provided nearly $2.9 million in funds to 1,090 students from 2021 to 2025. The AMS Special Bursary, funded by an endowment, distributed over $200,000 among 217 students from 2021 to 2024.
AMS President Riley Huntley previously noted in an email that the AMS requires all fee-paying members — including international students — to contribute the $12 annually toward the student aid bursary, and asked how to ensure that international students have access to these bursaries. Atkinson explained that international students currently do not have access to AMS bursaries, since UBC’s bursary program requires that students be citizens, residents or have refugee status at the time of application.
Huntley asked Atkinson whether there were any alternative mechanisms by which international students could access the funding provided by the AMS’s bursaries, allowing the student union to fulfil their commitment made on the grounds of a 1998 referendum, allowing all UBC students to access bursary funding.
Atkinson stated that international students are required to demonstrate that they have the financial means to attend UBC before they are admitted.
However, he said that “there are a few avenues that I can think of, first up with international students. I think pre-entry [funding] would be … the best [option] to ensure that we can support students from more economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are international students.”
Proposed clubs common space move
VP Admin Dylan Evans presented a proposal to relocate and refurbish the AMS’s club commons space. He said that the Nest’s current club commons space — between The Pit and El Cartel — is small and noisy, making it less than ideal for its intended purposes. However, he stated that the heavy foot traffic outside the commons space makes it an appealing location for potential tenants.
Evans noted that the AMS has found it challenging to secure tenants for the space where Number 5 Hair Salon was formerly located in the Nest’s lower level. The plan would be to move the club commons to the hair salon’s former space and generate revenue by renting out the current club commons space.
“Roughly 20 new study spots, roughly 20 new club storage locations … and roughly a doubling of the size of our lending inventory,” could be expected from the project, Evans said.
Updates to the student union’s investment portfolio
VP Finance Gagan Parmar proposed changes to the AMS’s investment strategy, suggesting a switch from a conservative to balanced portfolio.
“I believe, once again, it is time to update our policy to ensure it still works in the best interest of the society,” said Parmar.
He said that because the current inflationary economic environment and the student union continues to increase services, the AMS’s expenses are likely to continue to increase as well.
“We see time and time again, the student body really asking for the AMS to be doing more and providing more,” Parmar stated.
Since the AMS’s revenue streams from student fees and businesses are relatively consistent, Parmar said shifting from a conservative to balanced investment portfolio is an option to generate more revenue over time.
According to his presentation, while the AMS’s current portfolio would generate an estimated 2.98 per cent in annualized returns over a five-year period, switching to a balanced portfolio would increase that to 7.65 per cent within the same time frame.
While currently the majority of the AMS’s assets are in bonds, the proposed change would involve dividing assets more evenly between bonds and equities.
“In terms of risk parameters, the change we're proposing here is not that significant,” said Parmar. Council voted in favour of implementing the Finance Committee’s recommendations.
Provincial lobbying trip
VP External Affairs Solomon Yi-Kieran informed Council about the issues they plan to advocate for on their provincial government lobbying trip to Victoria.
“It's the first time we'll have done this, I think, as an organization in about three years,” they mentioned.
Yi-Kieran said that the lobbying group includes the Graduate Student Society along with representatives from seven other student unions from across B.C.
The group is focusing on nine lobbying priorities, including creating a student food security grant, advocating for legislation to protect student tenants' rights and improving sexualized violence action plans across the province, among other issues.
“And, as always, UBC SkyTrain,” Yi-Kieran added.
Council approved Yi-Kieran’s lobbying agenda.
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