SSD COUNCIL MINUTES
November 14th at 3pm PST on Zoom

Meeting link: https://uvic.zoom.us/j/83320493442?pwd=cjRhQnFSdURMU2h4NFZLOFBXMkZCZz09

In attendance: Julia, Anika, Rowan, Marissa, Andrea, Alison, Emma, Adrean, Nicole, Faria, Hannah

  • CALL TO ORDER / WELCOME – 3:05 PM
  • LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – Chair offers land acknowledgement.
  • ADOPTION OF AGENDA/MINUTES
      1. Adoption of today’s agenda – Andrea/ Anika
      2. Ratification of October 13th minutes – Anika/Alison
  • REPORTS
  1. Council
    1. Chairperson: Julia
      1. Nothing specific. Normal behind the scenes chair stuff.
    2. Treasurer: On-leave
      1. Away for a month.
    3. Student Liaison: Vacant
    4. SSD Rep UVSS: Cate
      1. Absent.
    5. International Student Rep: Vacant
    6. Graduate Student Rep: Andrea
      1. In October, met with Wyatt (GSS). Spoke about relationship with SSD (GSS). Their next meeting is Nov 28 (last Tuesday of each month, 2 hours). Maybe we could speak there for 5-10 minutes about who we are and what we do for students. They have a coffee event with muffins coming up. Perhaps we could send a representative, let Andrea know. We could set up a table. I felt there wasn’t enough support for grad students (with disabilities). There might not be enough support for grad or undergrad students. The experience (with accessibility) is different for grad students compared to undergrad. There may be potential for research for what grad students need from CAL. GSS does not have capacity to fund a research position that would look into meeting this deficit (in support). 
  • Julia posits research should be done for students in general who need support. 

Simple takeaway is that SSD should attend one of the GSS meetings and collaborate to meet the needs of students with accessibility problems. Anybody interested can reach out to Andrea. 

  • Marissa may be interested.
  1. Secretary: Anika
    1. Nothing new to report. Happy to be here with everyone. Spending the break catching up with physio and medical appointments.
  2. General Members at Large: Alexa, Alison, Emma, Jacob, Rowan, Vanessa, and Zack
  1. Staff
    1. Adrean
      1. Off the top of my head – we had our first hybrid baking night and it was fun! It’s been such a whirlwind lately.
      2. UVic students solidarity with Palestine
      3. Doing lots of professional development
      4. Putting together an accessible activism guide
      5. Successful team building event!
    2. Marissa
      1. It’s mostly within the discussion session (esp. Cooking classes and food security)
      2. We have 51 applications for food security. 
      3. I’ve been chatting with students about job boards.
      4. Did a presentation last week to coop and careers staff members about disability and accessibility in the workplace.
      5. Has been working with a work study student (Grace) on a transportation presentation. Looking at taxi or uber voucher program. They have some ideas and we’ll be meeting again on Friday.
    3. Hannah
      1. (Marissa) They will share their update when they return!
      2. (Adrean) Hannah is handling funding requests and research as well.
      3. Covering for Bella while on leave.
      4. Mainly working on funding requests. Seven are active. One new one for today.
      5. In the space frequently, helping students.
      6. Working on Indigenous disability awareness month post. Working with NSU (for input from indigenous peoples). Also e-mailed Aboriginal BC society.
    4. Charles
      1. (Adrean) Doing research for the accessible activism guide. Reminder to take care of yourself as well as your community. 
      2. (Adrean) Designing buttons for button making workshop. Handling graphics and research. 
  1. EMAIL MOTIONS 

Email Motion – 2023/10/18: 01

WHEREAS the SSD supports having more representation of disabled folks on the UVSS board and would like to support candidates whose platforms focus on disability-related issues; therefore,

BIRT the SSD endorses Varian Panych in the October 2023 UVSS by-election, in which they are running for a Director-at-Large position.

THE ABOVE MOTION DID NOT CARRY.

Email Motion – 2023/11/01: 01

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

BIRT the SSD approves this Fall 2023 Hybrid Baking Night Policy; and, 

BIFRT the SSD approves up to $1000 for a Hybrid Baking Night on November 9, 2023, including pizza delivery, beverages, and baking ingredients for up to 15 participants.

THE ABOVE MOTION CARRIED.

  1. BUSINESS 
  • MOTIONS

MOTION 2023/11/14: 01 – Rowan/Emma

WHEREAS the SSD endeavours to support disabled students who may face undue financial hardship due to their disabilities; and,

WHEREAS to help in this mission, the SSD has set up a bursary with the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) to increase access to Learning Assistance Program (LAP) Tutor, Learning Strategist, and Full-Serve Note Taking services for students who do not qualify for funding through the Canada Student Grant program; therefore,

BIRT the SSD approves $3000 towards the UVic Learning Assistance Program as the CAL-SSD Bursary for the May to August Summer 2023 semester; and,

BIFRT the SSD approves $6000 towards the UVic Learning Assistance Program as the CAL-SSD Bursary for the September to December Fall 2023 semester; and,

BIFRT the SSD approves $6000 towards the UVic Learning Assistance Program as the CAL-SSD Bursary for the January to April Spring 2024 semester.

PASSES

MOTION 2023/11/14: 02 – Rowan/Andrea

WHEREAS the SSD strives to support disabled artists on- and off-campus and to create opportunities for self- and community-care; and,

WHEREAS the SSD wishes to create a colouring book by disabled artists for the purpose of giveaways and fundraisers; therefore,

BIRT the SSD approves up to $2000 for compensation for eight artists for the production of the first colouring book; and,

BIFRT the SSD approves a cost of approximately $11.50 per colouring book printed at Zap Copy, up to a total cost of $3500 for the first 300 colouring books.

PASSES

MOTION 2023/11/14: 03 – Alison/Anika

WHEREAS the SSD supports disabled students on campus by providing respite and access to light refreshments and easy meals; and,

WHEREAS the SSD purchases a variety of snacks, and easy meals for on campus consumption and takeaway for at home for students’ open access; therefore,

BIRT the SSD approves $250 more for the Fall 2023 semester for the purchase and delivery of space snacks and simple convenient meals.

PASSES

MOTION 2023/11/14: 04 – Rowan/Alison

WHEREAS the SSD will elect a new Interim Student Liaison until our next election/bi-election; therefore,

BIRT the SSD elects Emma Levins to take on the Interim Student Liaison role.

PASSES

  1. DISCUSSION
  1. Interim Student Liaison position 
    1. Victoria stepped down.
    2. It would be nice to have someone in this role to interact with students.
    3. We’ve been preoccupied with funding requests.
    4. We would like to have this filled before GSM.
    5. This discussion item led to a motion to vote on a new Interim Student Liaison.
  2. Memorial bursary
    1. We could top-up the endowment and bursary amount.
    2. We talked about it being not a bursary but an award due to different eligibility and different funding section.
    3. Warns that bureaucracy will take time. A decision should be made now to approve this for the 2024 academic year (September).
    4. (Adrean) We wouldn’t have much control over the funds. It’s all applied to tuition. I like our current system but it’s not sustainable.
    5. (Julia) We’re not replacing our funding with this bursary. One reason to do this via UVic is to eliminate conflicts of interest (i.e. council members could apply). We didn’t know it existed but the deadline is now for next year. We’re deciding if we want to add to this fund.
    6. (Adrean) The endowment would be more sustainable. We could invest and not lose our principal amount. Right now we’re just spending money. It is something to consider when we’re making bigger decisions.
    7. (Julia) Part of what’s good about our program is that it’s available through the year rather than once a year. If an access need comes up people can apply when they need it. There can be an emergency basis program through UVic.
    8. (Hannah) We budget in a deficit but not an overall deficit. The current way we’re going, based on projections, we’ll be running into serious budget issues. Doing this would make us more financially stable. I envision this as the majority of funding going to the main bursary but then we’ll have an emergency fund for accessibility items. But we do need to have this decided by tomorrow. As a group, we can take more time to bring it before council and make a decision.
  3. Access4All
    1. We could be doing more with capacity.  More members would be appreciated. E-mail Julia or Adrean to express interest.
    2. (Adrean) there is a lot of support for this. An event, like a walk-out, would help to generate awareness of access needs.
    3. (Julia) Also proposes events. There was a survey about whether peoples needs were met by online classes. We would like to see the results of this survey.
  4. Cooking classes
    1. (Marissa) Fun and exciting news! I have a proposal – I have been in contact with someone in the SUB (Dan – chef de partie at health food bar). He asked if we do cooking programs. I said no but we want to! An idea going forward is using the good food boxes (I checked in with Allie and this is a viable idea). We can collaborate with Dan on an accessible cooking class using the good food box items to teach folks how to make healthy food. Folks can learn how to chop veg, using knives without cutting themselves, basic kitchen skills ,etc. Anyone, not just the good food box recipients, should be able to join in and learn more about food from a professional cook. I would love to start this in January. Dan is excited about this idea. Allie approves. This is presented to council.
    2. (Julia) We could make the ingredients list available beforehand so people with/without the box can shop and join in. 
    3. (Marissa) It’s still in the infant stages of planning but we could have this up and running by January. We would need to collaborate with UVSS or Multifaith for supplies. Honoraria is approved because this is by a professional. We are exploring how this can be hybrid. We’ll need an appropriate setup, not just a single zoomed out camera.
    4. (Julia) Suggests Fernwood https://fernwoodnrg.ca/neighbourhood/fernwood-community-centre/room-rentals/ $30/hr
    5. (Adrean) Campus Community Garden is open to donating food for our cause.
  5. Special general meeting – poll
    1. Dates are updated. Members are invited to add their availability. It would be ideal to have this filled out by Thursday afternoon.
  6. UVic Students in Solidarity with Palestine
    1. (Adrean) Shares the meeting minutes https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ECiaU8Lhm8AplcDCjE7hHmpvo_bnfFnMQOqzJJjLDfg/edit  How do we feel about participating with this divisive topic? Open invitation to chat about this. Please speak up if there’s anything you want to discuss and process. You’re invited to come to meetings and participate. A collective statement isn’t released but I can speak for myself (about Palestine). It’s been a hard time, there’s been a lot of pain and suffering coming into the space. We’ve seen trauma and death threats on campus. Would the SSD be comfortable with supporting this? There has been a lot of pressure to sign onto the movement from the organizers. I sent an e-mail about this topic. I’m willing to follow-up with members.
    2. (Hannah) Supportive of an anonymous vote.
    3. (Adrean) I am always here. Creating an anonymous form so that folks do not have to feel judged. Even if you are pro-Israel then I will talk to you
    4. (Julia and Adrean) This is not about not caring about Israeli/Palestinian folks dying, it is anti-hate and not antisemetic. 
    5. (Adrean) This is a mega stressful time for students right now, feeling big sympathy for students having to work through these times.
    6. Follow-up email will be said regarding this discussion point.
  1. IN-CAMERA – Alison/Anika

Funding requests – DT – APPROVED

MOTION TO MOVE OUT OF CAMERA – Andrea/Rowan

  1. FUTURE MEETING TIMES 

Special General Meeting – tbd? 

Council Meetings – tbd

Weekly Staff/Exec (Thrive) Meetings – Wednesdays at 4pm – email Adrean at uvicssd@uvic.ca if you’d like to attend (all council members welcome)

Access4All Meetings – biweekly Thursdays at 1pm; see the running agenda/minutes doc

  1. ADJOURNMENT – 5:08pm

Thank you for coming!