Council Meeting Minutes 

Thursday, March 27th, 2025 at 4pm PDT  

In Attendance: Valentine, Acorn, Mia, Marissa, Zoe, Hannah, Jitendra 

 

Call to Order/Welcome 

  • Chair calls to order at 4:05pm  

Land Acknowledgement 

  • Chair does a land acknowledgment of Lekwungen and WSANEC people whose land this is, and how white settlers the chair included presence is not neutral and aims to support connection for Host Nations  

Check-In Question 

  • Share one thing that you are proud of this semester? 
    • Hannah: proud of their TA’ing this semester! Nobody cried in exam  
    • Marissa: moved in with their partner which is scary but good!  
    • Mia: started to go to the gym and be healthy  
    • Zoe: in 5 classes  
    • Acorn: just took 3 days off of social media and it was lovely  
    • Valentine: restarted uni and very excited about what they’ve done including joining SSD  

Access Needs Check-In 

  • Break at 45 minutes 
    • Good, have snacks and water  

Adoption of Agenda/Minutes 

  • Adoption of today’s agenda 
    • Add a motion –  

WHEREAS the SSD supports students in reducing barriers in to education;
AND WHEREAS appropriate enaction of accommodations is paramount to disabled student;
BIRT the SSD sign to support the provided letter titled “Joint Letter to Senior Admin on Accommodations” 

Also add another motion: move to accept the budget for the BC rehab grant  

  • Acorn moves  
  • Valentine seconds  
    • To accept the amended agenda 
  •  Acorn moves  
  • Valentine seconds 

Ratification of January 30th, 2025 Minutes 

  •  Valentine moves 
  • Acorn seconds  

Reports 

Council 

    • Chairpersons 
      • Julia 
      • Hannah 
        • Continuing to support autism week events, regular programming, did the sociology event as well, and also working on the letter  
  • Treasurer 
    • Mia 
      • Marissa taught about treasury – converting recipes to budget file – still complex but as soon as GL is released would like to do the forms and get more familiar ongoing – and will be here all summer to get familiar with budget things  
  • Student Liaison 
    • Valentine 
      • Autism week events, keeping space functional, getting information sent out for autism week, have a meeting coming up with dietitian to get info about nutrition for autistic folks  
  • UVSS SSD Representative 
    • Acorn 
      • Looking over the board minutes from past month – acorn appointed to uvic campus plannig committee but have not met yet  
  • International Student Representative 
    • Kush 
  • Graduate Student Representative 
    • Jitendra 
      • GSS has been busy with transitions and SAGM – advocating for better supporting international students with disabilities – had lots of meetings and mentioned to UVic exec to exec meetings etc…  also attended accommodation letter meetings  
  • Secretary 
    • Zoe 
      • Finished budget  
  • General Members at Large:  
    • Lola 
    • Kat 
    • Gabi 

 

Staff 

  • Office Coordinator 
    • Adrean Meuser 
      • On leave, Marissa e-hired into the role 
      • Have been a busy bee : working with folks on autism week, met with UBC duc  (disability united collective) person talking about shared goals for the future (knows Hannah also) who wants the post-secondary disability alliance back and yearly meeting hosted at UBC, working on letter with Hannah also had a workshop with Neils, finished up AIR yoga program, ,has another meeting with Neils coming up to talk about workshops next week, also cooking class happened! And one coming up: honey lemon flavor. Thanks everybody for stepping up in time of changeover  
  • Research & Communications Coordinator 
    • Diana Viafara 
      • Marissa reporting about Diana: Have finished recipe book draft from last year  
    • Education & Administration Coordinator 
      • Marissa Donaldson 

Campaigns 

#Access4All 

      • No updates, hopefully reinvigorated in the summer  

Discussion 

  • BC Rehab Grant 
    • Going to motion  
  • CAL Survey 
    • Have been working on – hopefully can put in place over the summer  
    • Figured out how to make it so that only staff can see results  
  • SSD Demographics Survey 
    • Inspired by GEM who did the same 
    • Annual report is due coming up so do before that – usually a summer job  
      • Annual report asks to talk about demographic so would be useful for that  
      • Also: useful to ask different groups for more funding (UVSS, global community, grad students etc…)  
      • Also help know which groups we are not serving currently and connect better 
      • We have demographic data from previous surveys, but this would be more updated snapshot and more comprehensive 
    • Also: only want to be viewed by staff members  
      • Q: what questions will be asked  
      • A: what type of student are you, are you an international student, also: intersecting marginalized identities such as racialized, food insecure,  
      • Q: should we include asking for feedback or only demographic data??  
      • A: maybe some open questions  
      • Note* GEM has done an all in one  
      • Q: When is ETA to have this out? 
      • A: shouldn’t take too long – maybe before end of schoolyear ideally depending on capacity also  
      • Can also do it now and then in October  
      • Gender? Yes – drop box as well as yes or no to gender diverse  
      • Racialized person and Indigenous as two questions  
    • 2025-2026 Workplan 
      • Can build on this after survey results 
      • Will have key dates for things like budget drafts and ordering supplies  

Business 

Email Motions 

Email Motion 2025/03/04: 01 

WHERAS Acorn Wasserman has been an active member of the SSD community since 2019 and has recently joined the Access4All collaborative team, showing dedications to uplifting Disabled and marginalized voices on and off campus and;
WHEREAS they are currently running for Lead Director of Campaigns and Community Relations;
BIRT the SSD council formally endorse Acorn Wasserman’s candidacy for Lead Director of Campaigns and Community Relations. 

Motion Passed with 5 votes yes; Acorn abstains. 

Email Motion 2025-03-17: 01 

WHEREAS Valentine Anderson-Dargatz has been elected into the SSD Student Liaison position; and, 

WHEREAS the Student Liaison position is an optional Executive Council role; and, 

WHEREAS Valentine wishes to be ratified as an Executive Council member; therefore, 

BIRT Valentine is ratified as being an Executive Council member. 

Motion passed with 5 votes yes, Valentine abstains. 

Email Motion 2025-03-17: 02 

WHEREAS Zoe Peterson has been elected into the SSD Secretary position; and, 

WHEREAS the Secretary position is an optional Executive Council role; and, 

WHEREAS Zoe wishes to be ratified as an Executive Council member; therefore, 

BIRT Zoe is ratified as being an Executive Council member. 

Motion passed with 6 votes yes. 

Email Motion 2025-03-17: 03 

WHEREAS the SSD wishes to support and uplift disabled student voices; and, 

WHEREAS April is Autism Awareness/Acceptance month; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD is planning a series of events and workshops to coincide with World Autism Day and Autism Awareness/Acceptance week; and, 

WHEREAS the remaining years budget has been examined to ensure funds are available; therefore 

BIRT the SSD approves the following spending for Autism Week events: 

  • Up to $500 in catering for snacks from the Events line item for April 1st open mic/craft night 
  • Up to $500 in catering for snacks from the Events line item for April 3rd Autism Community Panel 
  • Up to $500 in honoraria from the Honorarium line item for Autism Community Panel panelists 
  • Up to $1,250 in care package items for up to 25 people from the Programs line item for the April 4th Autism Self Care workshop 
  • Up to $150 in advertising costs for online advertising of the weeks events 
  • For a total budget of up to $2,900. 

Motion passed with 6 votes yes. 

Email Motion 2025-03-17: 04 

WHEREAS the Pride Collective is tied as the lowest funded UVSS Advocacy Group; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD works closely with all UVSS Advocacy and Affiliated Groups and knows of their continued value and importance; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD endorses the Pride Collective Funding referendum question for the March 2025 UVSS elections cycle. 

Motion passed with 6 votes yes. 

Email Motion 2025-03-17: 05 

WHEREAS the Native Students Union is tied as the lowest funded UVSS Advocacy Group; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD works closely with all UVSS Advocacy and Affiliated Groups and knows of their continued value and importance; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD endorses the UVic Native Students Union Funding referendum question for the March 2025 UVSS elections cycle. 

Motion passed with 6 votes yes. 

Email Motion 2025-03-17: 06 

WHEREAS the Campus Community Garden continues to produce and provide no-cost food to UVic students through the Food Bank; and, 

WHEREAS the Campus Community Garden is looking to continue growing their food production to support students facing food insecurity; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD works closely with all UVSS Advocacy and Affiliated Groups and knows of their continued value and importance; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD endorses the UVic Campus Community Garden Fee referendum question for the March 2025 UVSS elections cycle. 

Motion passed with 6 votes yes. 

Email Motion 2025-03-17: 07 

WHEREAS having clear voter and campaign information is important for making informed electoral decisions; and, 

WHEREAS the UVSS election cycle is currently ongoing with voting opening March 17; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD approves the sharing of candidate campaigns, platforms, and voter information to the @uvicssd Instagram stories. 

Motion passed with 6 votes yes. 

Email Motion 2025-03-22: 01 

WHEREAS the SSD values providing support and advocacy to international students; and, 

WHEREAS Muskan Singh, an SSD community member, is running for UVSS Director of International Student Relations; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD endorses Muskan Singh for the UVSS Director of International Student Relations for the March 2025 election cycle. 

Motion passed with 4 votes yes. 

Motions 

Motion 2025-03-27: 01 

WHEREAS the SSD values continued programming, events, space operation, and staff hours; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD Budget Committee has thoughtfully assessed the financial status of the group and created a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year; and, 

WHEREAS the draft budget has been approved by the Constituency Groups Director; therefore,  

BIRT the SSD approves the 2025-2026 budget. 

Acorn moves 

Valentine seconds 

Also Marrissa : We have made budget cuts and removed a coordinator position once Diana leaves her position (contract end or if she chooses to leave), we will not be rehiring that position, will leave us in a $4500 deficit which will come out of our trust fund – more discussions needed about student staff or work study student but changing job descriptions  – cannot do that until 6 months after union agreement is finalized 

Unanimous vote yes : 5 

Motion 2025-03-27: 02 

WHEREAS the SSD values accessibility and inclusivity in events; and, 

WHEREAS deaf and/or hard of hearing folks have expressed interest in attending Autism Week events; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD approves up to $800 for ASL translation and/or Zoom captioning for the Autism Community Panel on April 3, 2025. 

Valentine moves 

Acorn seconds  

Coming from professional consulting fee  

Unanimously approved vote : 5 

Motion 2025-03-27: 03 

WHEREAS Canva is an integral part of SSD communications; and, 

WHEREAS the annual fee for the SSD Canva Teams subscription renews annually in March; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD approves up to $450 for the annual Canva Teams subscription. 

Acorn moves 

Valentine Seconds 

Unanimously approved again: 5 votes yes 

Motion 2025-03-27: 04 

WHEREAS the SSD supports students in reducing barriers to education; and
WHEREAS appropriate enaction of accommodations is paramount to disabled students; therefore,
BIRT the SSD sign to support the provided letter titled “Joint Letter to Senior Admin on Accommodations” 

Acorn moves  

Valentine seconds  

Unanimously votes yes: 4 votes 

 

Letter to UVic admin saying concerns about proposed removal of UVic testing support, not fair to instructors, demands include working group – if demands are not met than push them harder  

Also suggestion from Josh from Duc: send to CBC and Martlet  

 

WHEREAS the SSD supports disabled artists and has a $1000 grant from BC rehab grants and needs to create a full budget; and,
WHEREAS we should take appropriate action to support these students and create a budget for this event; therefore,
BIRT the SSD accepts this grant budget, which will come out of the SSD’s 2025/2026 budget. 

Item   Amount  Budgeted  
Artist Honorariums    

14 x $100 per artist = 1400 total 

 SSD: $550 (budget for July and August honorariums)  
Grant: $850  
Art Materials  N/A  None (have already bought for FEMEXPO and Autism week workshops) 
Catering/Room Set Up  $300 total   SSD: $150 (events budget per month)  
Grant: $150  
Advertisements  N/A  $50 (July budget for advertisements)  
ASL Interpreter   2.5 hours of time  $1000 (out of $5000 budgeted per year)  
Total   Grand total: $2550  SSD: $1750 
Grant: $1000 

 

Honorarium funding is okay because peer support groups don’t run during the summer 

Unanimous vote yes: 4 

 

Dont need to move in camera  

Move to end meeting 

 

 

Future Meeting Times 

  • Council Meetings 
    • April Council Meeting poll 
  • Weekly Staff/Exec (Thrive) Meetings 
    • Tuesdays at 4pm on Zoom or in the SSD Office 
  • #Access4All Meetings  
    • TBD 

In-Camera (If needed) 

Adjournment 

Thank you for coming!