Society for Students with a Disability (SSD)

Council Meeting

Thursday January 25th @ 2pm-3pm PST

Zoom link: https://uvic.zoom.us/j/89901239674?pwd=SlFUVzM3ZUJGRWxrbFhwQ21aODFXUT09 

  1. Call to Order/Welcome

    • Called to order at 2:05pm

  2. Land Acknowledgement

    • Chair offers acknowledgement

  3. Access Needs Check-In

  4. Adoption of Agenda/Minutes

  5. Reports

  1. Council

    1. Chairperson

      1. Julia 
        1. Not too much to report – some health stuff going on but feeling better! Spoke at NEADS AGM as part of panel discussion a couple weeks ago – lots of positive feedback from NEADS folks about SSD programming and the things that we are doing. Carly from NEADS will be organizing another summit type of thing in the future. Will let folks know when that comes to fruition. Wanted to take a moment to thank Bella for all that she has done for the SSD – her last day is tomorrow. We have not yet closed the position on the website, closes Jan 30th. Offered some explanation to new council about moving and seconding.

    2. Treasurer

      1. Hannah 
        1. Mostly business as usual for treasurer. AGM at the end of February – will be making a yearly financial report. Excited to be involved in SSD things and has been in the space a lot, excited for A4A meetings starting up again and will be part of the Disability and Kink panel at Sexpo.

    3. Student Liaison

      1. Emma 
        1. De-stress fest happening Feb 8th! Friends of Music is playing, everyone should come 🙂

    4. UVSS’ SSD Representative

      1. Cate 
        1. Not much to share. Slow start back to things. Talking to Connor about starting the autism support group again. Board did anti-oppression training a couple weeks ago. Potential of reaching out to AVP about autism and sexualized violence. Confirmed to be on the UVic accessibility committee and welcomes feedback that folks may have for the committee to bring to meetings. Would love to schedule a meeting about engaging with UVic and what the status-quo has been in the past to curb expectations. 

    5. International Student Representative

      1. Faria 
        1. Not much to share, just excited to be here!

    6. Graduate Student Representative

      1. Andrea 
        1. Interested in meeting with GSS. Interested in being looped into the conversation with Adrean, Allie, and Kyla. 

    7. Secretary: 

      1. Anika 
        1. Absent

    8. General Members at Large: 

      1. AJ
        1. Absent
      2. Rowan  
        1. Absent
      3. Mya 
        1. Nothing to share sorry but I’m happy to be here thank you all for being so welcoming
      4. Vanessa
        1. Absent
      5. Zack
        1. Absent
      6. Alison
        1. Presenting in March to clinical psychology program about disclosure in psychology (in relation to disability) wondering if we have resources that we can share for that. Anything is helpful, send them my way! Message on Teams is the best. 
      7. Jacob
        1. Absent
      8. Alexa
        1. Absent

  2. Staff

    1. Office Coordinator

      1. Adrean Meuser
        1. Absent

    2. Research & Communications Coordinator

      1. Bella Jacobs
        1. It is heartbreaking to leave but I know that it is the right decision for my degree. Last day is tomorrow. I hope to not disappear and be around still! Will be working on a website manual for the next person because the website is a nightmare. Going to help Adrean finish up the colouring book. Getting as many funding requests in a good position so they aren’t in disarray. Will miss you all!!!!!! Will likely be coming back for a few days to support the new person with their job in order to transition new coordinator. Button workshop on Feb 8th from 4-6/

    3. Education & Administration Coordinator

      1. Marissa Donaldson
        1. Slightly disoriented. Write in this morning in collab with all Avdo and affiliate groups. It went well, lots of people writing letters and we now need to send the in the mail. We did a policy consultation with EQHR, I think it went pretty well. I was direct with what their policy was missing and was contradictory to itself. Will be sending out feedback next week and can send folks the link for feedback on the draft policy if you have any input. Cooking classes start next week on Jan 30th, if you want to sign up and haven’t yet we only have 2 in-person spots available. Last day to sign-up is today. We got all the supplies for the class, (camera, mic). Food security is going well, very popular, 55 applications and 19 of those are Good Food Box. Accessing Academic Accommodations workshop CAL is coming to it as well. You don’t need to sign-up but we will have a form for it. Discord update we can post on Discord as staff, on an SSD account. In the same fashion we would post on Instagram and Facebook. Do games night on discord as well, as long as we no longer own the discord. Julia offers materials for accessing accommodations workshop.

  3. Campaigns

    1. #Access4All

      1. Meeting on Monday Jan 29th at 1:30pm

  1. Discussion

    • Committees

      1. Funding Request Policy

      2. Post-Secondary Disability Alliance

  2. Business

    • Email Motions

      1. 2024/01/11: 01

WHEREAS the SSD promotes the active inclusion and skill-building of disabled students on- and off-campus; and,

WHEREAS the SSD has a continued need for online programming; and,

WHEREAS students are enrolled in our food security program and may want suggestions about how to cook their food; therefore,

BIRT the SSD approves a budget of up to $500 for a one-time equipment purchase of a webcam, wireless microphone, and tripod to better the experience of online cooking class participants and future online programming; and

BIFRT the SSD approves a budget of up to $500 for cooking equipment purchases, such as pots, pans, peelers, kitchen utensils, and cleaning equipment for the Hybrid Accessible Cooking Class starting on January 30, 2024, for a total of $1000.

MOTION CARRIED

  1. 2024/01/11: 02

WHEREAS the SSD endeavours to provide members of our community with opportunities to build community and connect with other students; and

WHEREAS the SSD strives to build connections with other advocates around campus and in the community; therefore,

BIRT the SSD approves $300 for catering and $150 for supplies for the Write In event on January 25th, in collaboration with Plenty Collective and all other UVSS Advocacy and Affiliated Groups, for a total of $450.

MOTION CARRIED

  • Motions

    1. 2024/01/25: 01 (Alison/Hannah)

WHEREAS the SSD strives to create opportunities for disabled students to connect, share food, and share their talents with others in the community, and;

WHEREAS the SSD Events Work Study employees would like to host a drop-in open mic night on February 8th 2024 from 6:30pm-8:30pm in Vertigo, therefore;

BIRT the SSD approves up to $1500 for advertising, catering, door prizes, and printing expenses. 

Julia steps down as chair to motivate. Hannah chairs this motion.

  1. Friends of music will have an info table there, should be a very good event! People are performing and it is also an open mic situation. Promo materials available. 

MOTION CARRIES – Julia and Emma abstain

  1. 2024/01/25: 02 Hannah steps down as chair, Julia reinstated (Hannah/Alison)

WHEREAS the SSD supports and contributes to events organized by other UVSS advocacy & affiliated groups, and;

WHEREAS the SSD will be holding a four-person panel and workshop during SEXPO 2024, therefore;

BIRT the SSD approves up to $1300 in honorarium expenses to acknowledge and appreciate the lived experience of our speakers. 

  1. Sexpo is an event put on by GEM, this is the third annual event. It is about body positivity, diversity, sex positivity, etc. We will be hosting a panel on Disability and Kink as well as workshop on Accessible Sex Toys. The host of the workshop is a professional in this area, the panelists will be talking about their lived experience.

MOTION CARRIES – Hannah abstains

  1. 2024/01/25: 03 (Andrea/Alison)

WHEREAS the SSD seeks to reduce barriers to disabled students attending events on and off campus, and;

WHEREAS the Gender Empowerment Centre (GEM) is hosting SEXPO this year on February 14th-16th, and;

WHEREAS the SSD has existing relationships with ASL translation service providers and wishes to provide live ASL translation for improved inclusivity, therefore;

BIRT the SSD approves up to $2500 for live ASL translation services for SEXPO events. 

MOTION CARRIES

    1. Future Meeting Times

      • Annual General Meeting

        1. End of February on Zoom

      • Weekly Staff/Exec (Thrive) Meetings 

        1. DAY at TIME on Zoom
        2. Still TBD, likely Tuesdays or Thursdays.

      • #Access4All Meetings

        1. January 29th at 1:30pm on Zoom, every two weeks thereafter 

    2. In-Camera (Alison/Andrea)

  • DEFERRED 

  1. Adjournment

    • Adjourned 3:22pm

Thank you for coming!