Council Meeting Minutes 

Tuesday 29th April 2025, at 4pm PST 

Call to Order/Welcome 

  • 4:08pm call to order  
  • Those in attendance: Julia, Zoe, Acorn, Hannah, Valentine, Marissa  

Land Acknowledgement 

  • Done by Julia  
    • Added onto by those calling in from other territories 

Check-In Question 

  • What is one thing you are looking forward to this summer? 
    • Hannah: excited about conference  
    • Marissa: moving in and unpacking  
    • Valentine: Autistic self-advocacy network camp  
    • Zoe: field schools and travel 

Access Needs Check-In

  • Break at 45 minutes 
  • Many fidget toys  

Adoption of Agenda/Minutes 

  • Adoption of today’s agenda 
    • Mover: Hannah 
    • Seconds: Valentine 

Amendment to agenda 

  • Brought by Marissa:  
  • WHEREAS the Society for Students with a Disability seeks to ensure students on campus have sustenance to support their brains and bodies while on and off campus; and,
    WHEREAS the SSD has stocked a variety of dietary friendly snacks and light meals for students’ enjoyment; therefore,  
  • BIRT the SSD approves up to $1000 in snack budget for the Summer semester. 
    • Nobody opposed to amendment  

Ratification of March Minutes 

  • Mover: Valentine 
  • Seconds: Hannah  
    • No opposition to ratification  

Reports 

Council 

  • Chairpersons 
    • Julia 
      • Got surgery and recovering and thank you for those who stepped up  
      • Joined the Hiring committee for open positions  
  • Hannah 
    • In the UK (: 
    • Autism week which went well  
    • Community panel and attended self-care workshop  
    • Developed flyer  
    • Facilitated Council training  
    • Joint letter about CAL signed and sent to uni and social media post  
    • Began creating yearly workplan for upcoming year  
    • Hiring committee and interview questions  
  • Treasurer 
    • Mia 
      • Absent 
  • Student Liaison 
    • Valentine 
      • Autism week was very successful  
      • Involved in community panel and self-care and advocacy workshop  
      • Attended council training  
      • Moved back home  
  • UVSS SSD Representative 
    • Acorn
      • Nothing to report 
  • International Student Representative 
    • Kush 
      • Absent 
  • Graduate Student Representative 
    • Jitendra 
      • Absent 
  • Secretary 
    • Zoe 
      • Autism week  
      • Attended council training  
      • Recovering from surgery  
  • General Members at Large:  
    • Lola 
    • Kat 
    • Gabi
      • All absent 

Staff 

  • Office Coordinator 
    • Diana Viafara (e-hire) 
      • Important Updates:  
        • Collab with Advocacy and Campaigns committee of the GSS: “Interest to co-write/co-sign a letter regarding the lack of accessible pools at UVic, since the closure of McKinnon some months ago. Since UVic has no plans to support the building of a new pool, our idea was to write it to Saanich and Oak Bay municipalities, advocating for consultation with UVic in planning a new facility on campus”. – Victor Marrugat (the ECE grad co-representative at the Grad Representative Council) 
      • Possibly collab with PRIDE? 
      • Hannah would be happy to lead an accessible swim event and also requested to talk to the community about barriers people face to swimming in pools  
      • Next steps: Marissa to arrange meeting with GSS 
      • Wheelchairs project: $7200 has been initially approved by the UVAA Executive at their noon meeting today. The final approval will occur on June 3 AGM, and it is after this date that the UVAA can drop off a cheque at our office. 
        • Hannah: context is to have wheelchairs that folks can use and borrow as needed on campus  
        • Marissa: have to figure out who is responsible for wheelchairs and whose insurance it’s on  
      • Could collab with student wellness centre 
      • Hope to pass them off to another org  
      • Also have to think about repairs and maintenance  
      • If collab-ing with campus security making sure they are properly trained in transferring  
      • Collab with nursing department at UVic? 
      • Collab with library? 
      • Collabs for summertime:  
      • Seed-saving workshop confirmed: May 22, June 26 
      • Rock painting or bike basket: June 12 
      • Consultation about activities for summertime: 
  • Research & Communications Coordinator 
    • Diana Viafara 
      • Posted: Hiring information in social media 
      • Posted: Respite Room video: students share feedback about how useful was to clarify how to get to the respite room and motives them to booking the space 
  • Education & Administration Coordinator 
    • Marissa Donaldson 
      • Volunteer appreciation  
      • Demographic survey going over 
      • Modifying events workstudy to a grants workstudy 
      • New budget spreadsheet’ 
      • Going on leave for much of May  

Campaigns 

  • #Access4All 
  • Discussion 
  • Committees 
  • May 15 is global accessibility day 
  • Business 

Email Motions 

Email Motion : 2025-04-16: 01 

WHEREAS the SSD has run three identity based peer support groups for the Spring 2025 semester; and,
WHEREAS the SSD seeks to compensate disabled people for their time and lived experience; therefore,
BIRT the SSD approves paying the peer support group facilitators $35 each per session, for a total of $630 across 6 facilitators. 

Motion Passed with 3 votes yes; Julia abstains.  

Motions 

WHEREAS the Society for Students with a Disability seeks to ensure students on campus have sustenance to support their brains and bodies while on and off campus; and,  

WHEREAS the SSD has stocked a variety of dietary friendly snacks and light meals for students’ enjoyment; therefore,  

BIRT the SSD approves up to $1000 in snack budget for the Summer semester.   

Marissa: important for safe foods providing for students, many students have told us about the importance of accessible snacks  

  • Mover: Valentine 
  • Seconds: Hannah  
  • Passes unanimously with 4 votes yes  

 

Future Meeting Times 

Council Meetings 

Weekly Staff/Exec (Thrive) Meetings  

#Access4All Meetings  

In-Camera (If needed) 

Adjournment 

 

 – Adjourned at 5:30pm 

Thank you for coming!