This article was updated on December 6, 2024 at 1:51 p.m. to include the motion regarding VP External Ayesha Irfan's reprimand. The Ubyssey did not learn the VP external was reprimanded until after a previous version of the article was published.
This article was further updated at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 7, 2024 to better contextualize the Council meeting's motions and contents. The Ubyssey regrets this error.
On Wednesday, AMS Council met to announce VP External Ayesha Irfan’s leave of absence, pass a reprimand motion for Irfan violating AMS bylaws and to approve the Indigenous Student Society constitution.
Here’s what you might have missed.
VP external leave of absence & bylaw violation
AMS President Christian ‘CK’ Kyle announced that VP External Ayesha Irfan has taken a leave of absence, which went into effect at 5 p.m. on December 4 and will last until December 23.
This comes after VP Finance Gavin Fung-Quon took a leave of absence for “personal reasons” and former VP Academic and University Affairs (AUA) Drédyn Fontana was removed from his role — both happening in November.
According to an email CK sent to The Ubyssey on December 5 at 3:58 p.m., Council also approved a motion after a private in-camera session to reprimand Irfan for violating AMS bylaw 5(3)(d)(v)(3) during the October 2024 provincial election.
Irfan had failed to obtain AMS Council's approval for briefs, discussions and negotiations with the provincial government and political parties.
Irfan gave the AMS's Executive Performance and Accountability Committee a written response acknowledging the bylaw violation, an apology and a commitment to future consultation. The Ubyssey does not have access to the written response or other materials related to this reprimand.
CK did not specify if Irfan's leave is related to her bylaw violation and subsequent reprimand.
Council passes Indigenous Student Society Constitution
AMS Council passed a motion to approve the Indigenous Student Society (ISS) constitution.
The ISS had requested AMS to use its bylaw powers to amend their constitution into being. In 2023, the AMS passed a referendum to create an Indigenous constituency, but the creation and approval of a formal constitution had not yet been done.
“Usual practice is to go through a series of committees that involve faculty. [However], this is a unique case in which there is no faculty or school," said CK. “What this actually does is put us into alignment with our bylaws by approving a formal constitution.”
CK said the constitution was greatly worked on by the Indigenous Committee and added “It’s exciting stuff ... I suspect that we're going to probably find one line or two that doesn't work in like four months or six months, but this is our first draft and I think it is a hell of a try.”
VP AUA plan and priorities
Interim VP AUA Zarifa Nawar presented a plan highlighting the VP AUA’s priorities and strategies for the next two months. Nawar went through the various goals that were set by the AUA team in the beginning of the year.
Nawar said she planned to identify urgent deadlines and set timelines for upcoming projects like completing the budget submission to UBC.
“My focus has largely been on and continues to be working to determine a timeline for targeted campaigns in term two, consult with university units to review and finally complete the budget submission which is very close to being done," said Nawar.
“[Another priority is] to start work on Workday survey reports and recommendations to identify key student priorities for the further development of Workday Student.”
She also wants to build “key” relationships with UBC executives and administration, as well as the Centre for Accessibility, the Career Centre and Enrolment services.
She added another immediate action for the VP AUA portfolio in the next two months would be to expand their team and strengthen workflow.
“The way that I plan to do that, and have been doing it, is by establishing clear expectations regarding work products, meeting deadlines and team dynamics, having consistent check-ins through weekly meetings and one on one conversations,” she said.
Nawar said there has been no progress on the goal of securing larger investments for need-based bursaries but mentioned that the office intends to advocate for this in the upcoming budget submission and initiate discussions with UBC's provost office.
She also said no progress had been made on increasing AMS support for affiliate colleges either but she plans on setting up meetings with affiliate colleges to identify what their priorities are.
She added no progress had been made on the goal to secure a commitment from the university to reserve at least 10 per cent of new university endowment land rental units for students or on the goal to lessen the discomfort of extreme weather by advocating for more sustainable and innovative air cooling systems in student housing.
“No progress on this has been done to date, and it's a multi-year target completion. I will be beginning conversations specifically with campus and community planning to explore the capability of these goals,” she said.
On mental health resources, Nawar said good progress has been made in expanding resources for students with every faculty now having a dedicated embedded counselor.
Student Senator Jasper Lorien asked Nawar how she would ensure policies will be passed and actually be discussed because she does not sit on the Vancouver Senate but most of these goals have to go through it.
In response, Nawar said she will have individual conversations with senators to build relationships and to collaborate with them.
This article was updated on December 6, 2024 at 1:51 p.m. to include the motion regarding VP External Ayesha Irfan's reprimand. The Ubyssey did not learn the VP external was reprimanded until after a previous version of the article was published.
This article was further updated at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 7, 2024 to better contextualize the Council meeting's motions and contents. The Ubyssey regrets this error.
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