Council Meeting Minutes 

Thursday January 30th at 2pm PST 

 

In attendance: Hannah, Marissa, Julia, Acorn, Kush, Emily, Marten, Shelby, Anika 

Call to Order/Welcome 

  • Chair calls the meeting to order at 2:12 PM PST. 

Land Acknowledgement 

  • Chair offers territory acknowledgment for lək̓ʷəŋən territory. 

Check-In Question 

  • What’s the last book you gave up on and stopped reading? 
    • Hannah – Lord of the Flies 
    • Acorn – Dracula 
    • Marten – Dune 
    • Shelby –Great Gatsby 
    • Marissa – Some mental health related book that was transphobic 
    • Anika – Three Body Problem (Dark Forest) 

Access Needs Check-In 

  • Break at 45 minutes 

Adoption of Agenda/Minutes  

  • Adoption of today’s agenda (Acorn/Julia)
    • Adopted. 

Ratification of December 6th 2024 Minutes (Julia/Marten) 

  • Minutes ratified unanimously. 

Reports 

Council 

    • Chairpersons 
      • Julia 
        • Peer support groups are starting soon. Autism dates are confirmed for Fridays, now added to signup form. Chronic pain – we don’t have enough interest to confirm a date. We are seeking facilitators. 
        • There will be a social media/community survey to figure out what our community needs (e.g. education, tutorials, craft groups, etc.) 
        • I’m hosting a webinar this Sunday and after that I will have more capacity for SSD stuff. 
      • Hannah 
        • Currently dealing with medical problems. Down to a single spoon. 
        • We’re working on a push for accessibility on campus. 
    • Treasurer 
      • [Vacant] 
    • Student Liaison 
      • Marten 
        • The last day to register for Mixology/Mocktail event on Feb. 4th is today. Thank you to Kush, Adrean, Jitendra, and Julia for helping this dream come together. 
    • UVSS SSD Representative 
    • Acorn 
      • Nominations are coming up in February. We’re seeking electoral positions. 
      • I’m on the accessibility on campus board. We’re facing issues with meeting times. I’m working on resolving this issue. (Hannah: this issue is perhaps due to incompetence and doesn’t appear to be accidental. Julia: they are aware of this.) 
      • I’m on the OAC with the Ombudsperson 
      • I have a board meeting on Monday and can update Thrive next week. 
    • International Student Representative 
      • Kush 
        • Mocktail/Mixology is coming up and I’m excited. 
        • I’m looking for more ways to get involved this semester. 
        • This morning I met with Marissa, Zoe, and Adrean. 
    • Graduate Student Representative 
      • Jitendra 
        • Absent 
    • Secretary 
      • Anika 
        • It’s been an eventful time! Considering running as treasurer at the AGM. Not too much to report. Little amount of spoons to go around lately. 
    • General Members at Large:  
      • Lola 
        • Absent 
      • Mya 
        • Absent 
      • Vanessa 
        • Absent 

Staff 

  • Office Coordinator 
    • Adrean Meuser 
      • There’s been a lot of maintenance and behind the scenes work. 
      • We got a desk replaced. 
      • Looking forward to Mocktails/Mixology 
      • We had team building with our coordinators. 
      • There’s a lot of interest in our AGM. 
      • We met with facilities and discussed snow removal. 
      • Our meeting with Kevin Hall is coming up on Feb 12th. 
      • We’d like to book some field trips. 
      • We’ll be tabling at the Global Village podium. Come out and join us! 
  • Research & Communications Coordinator 
    • Diana Viafara 
      • Absent 
  • Education & Administration Coordinator 
    • Marissa Donaldson 
      • We did a workshop on Tuesday in collaboration with the LAP on learning strategies. There were LAP staff members present. I sent the recording to everyone who attended and it should make it to our website. 
      • We had our first cooking class of the semester last Tuesday! It was successful. All the lasagna was eaten. Our next class is Feb. 26, a Wednesday evening. Others will be on Tuesdays. We’re making a Thai green curry. 
      • We’re also doing a workshop with BRB Friends coming up in a couple weeks on Trichotillomania. If you would like to sign up for the workshop it’s on our Linktree. 
      • There’s a disability tax event coming up. 
      • Keep an eye out on the Instagram for events and sign-ups. 

Campaigns 

    • #Access4All 
      • We got a bunch of Access 4 All hand sanitizers! Our meeting is tomorrow. We’ll be tabling on the 13th. Come have hot chocolate with us. 

 

Discussion 

    • Partnerships 
        • AP: Adrean send Isabella an email re: (update link access) 
        • Adrean checked with Allie if this is okay – Allie seems into it so long there is clarification, and it now goes to council in March. 
        • This would be a council motion that wouldn’t go through until after the AGM. 

Committees 

Accessibility on Campus  

    • Operation: UVic Accessibility 
      • Alumni Association Grant Received ($1000)   
      • Proposal to get more wheelchairs on campus 
      • Gina from the Alumni Association says that there may be extra budget 
      • Acorn: does the money have to be spent by a certain date? A: yes, will have to be continued on with money spent over the next year 
      • Currently in money gathering stage 

Business 

Motions 

MOTION 2025/01/30: 01 (Julia/Acorn) 

WHEREAS the UVic Accessibility Committee has requested a representative and an alternate from the SSD to sit on their hybrid committee; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD Council was approached and requested to sit on this committee if they were interested; therefore, 

BIRT Hannah Brown was selected as the SSD representative for the UVic Accessibility Committee for the 2025 session. 

Motion carries 

MOTION 2025/01/30: 02 (Acorn/Julia) 

WHEREAS the SSD strives to create community connection opportunities for disabled students; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD is hosting a Mocktail Mixology Social on February 4th 2025 in Vertigo; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD approves a budget of up to $350 for juices, canned pops, garnishes, syrups, rimmer, and other beverage accompaniments for this event. 

Motion carries 

MOTION 2025/01/30: 03 (Anika/Julia) 

WHEREAS the SSD supports students’ use of the Learning Assistance Program (LAP) through our CAL/SSD Bursary; and, 

WHEREAS the SSD has reduced our budget significantly for the CAL/SSD Bursary, but still seeks to contribute what we can; therefore, 

BIRT the SSD approves $2000 for the Spring 2025 Bursary. 

Motion carries  

 MOTION 2025/01/30: 04 (Anika/Marten) 

WHEREAS the iMac in the SSD space has reached end-of-support as of October 2023 and has been retired, and; 

WHEREAS Apple products have embedded accessibility software, therefore; 

BIRT the SSD approves up to $1600 for the purchase of a Mac Mini M4 and a Dell 27″ USB-C monitor for the SSD lounge. 

Motion carries 

Hannah steps down as Chair, Julia steps up as Chair 

Future Meeting Times 

  • Council Meetings 
    • Next meeting is our Annual General Meeting! 
      • Friday February 28th at 5pm-7pm with Games Night preceding from 3pm-5pm on Zoom and in the SSD 
      • Every position will be up for grabs. If you would like to self-nominate and self-motivate, you are welcome to fill out this form.  
  • Weekly Staff/Exec (Thrive) Meetings  
    • Spring Thrive time for the semester  
  • #Access4All Meetings  
    • Next meeting is tomorrow January 31st at 2pm on Zoom 

In-Camera (If needed) 

Adjournment at 3:03pm 

Thank you for coming!