ALMA MATER SOCIETY OF QUEEN S UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED AMS Board of Directors Open Session Minutes

Transcription

1 ALMA MATER SOCIETY OF QUEEN S UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED AMS Board of Directors Open Session Minutes March 28 th 2017, at 6:00PM AMS Board Room, John Deutsch University Centre, Kingston, Ontario ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER The March 28 th 2017 meeting of the AMS Board of Directors was called to order at 6:02pm. ITEM 2: ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Present: Q. Giordano, Chair G. Giannopoulos, Vice-Chair C. Thompson, Vice-President (University Affairs) D. Walker, Vice-President (Operations) T. Lively, President A. Zhou, Corporate Secretary B. Rudson, Student Director J. Fonseca, Student Director E. Trus, Student Director C. Bevans, Student Director M. Garcia, Media Services Director J. Neretlis, Community Director M. Lindsay, Community Director Guests: M. Blair, Incoming Student Director A. Mair, Incoming Student Director M. Page, Incoming Student Director E. Jones, Director of HR K. Saychuk, Marketing Research Coordinator Regrets: L. Parry, General Manager ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF AGENDA BE IT RESOLVED THAT the agenda of the March 28th 2017 meeting of AMS Inc. is adopted, as presented. Page 1 of 10

2 Moved: Q. Giordano Seconded: G. Giannopoulos No questions or comments. All for. Motion unanimously adopted at 6:05pm. ITEM 4: APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING BE IT RESOLVED THAT the minutes of the February 28th 2017 open session meeting of AMS Inc. are adopted, as presented. Moved: Q. Giordano Seconded: G. Giannopoulos No questions or comments. All for. Motion unanimously adopted at 6:06pm. ITEM 5: ITEM 5.1: REPORTS CHAIR OF THE BOARD - Corporate Secretary hiring and Chair elections have been moved up to improve continuity planning. This also allows the pool to be wider and allows the incoming Chair and Vice- Chair to meet with the Board and go over plans and take questions. (Q. Giordano) Report ended 6:06pm. ITEM 5.2: PRESIDENT - Looking to bring in a Member at Large. Want someone with non-ams governance experience, but perhaps government experience. It would have to be an undergraduate student who is part of the AMS. Had our first meeting with the architectural firm N45 last Thursday, very professional and knowledgeable about the process. (T. Lively) - Regarding continuity, Wayne and Lyn will both be here to maintain it. Myself and Mike are returning to the Board. Secretariat will provide administrative support. (T. Lively) Report ended 6:08pm Page 2 of 10

3 ITEM 5.3: VICE-PRESIDENT (OPERATIONS) - Last year Kyle decided to increase health benefits but not adjust the fees. Health coverage claims have gone up, it s no longer generating the surplus it has been getting in the past. Increasing coverage for psychologists to 80% from 60%, with the addition of Masters of Social Work students and clinical counsellors. This will make it more accessible, as they charge about $60/hour as opposed to $400 from a professional. Thinking of increasing fee by $7 to catch up on health plan changes from last year, dental won t change. (D. Walker) - The impact per student of increasing to 80% is $1.42/student. (D. Walker) - Student legal insurance is 60 months old, it hasn t taken off in Ontario but is popular in Quebec. Uptake has been fairly successful, only handling about 20 cases. The majority are related to sexual harassment in the workplace. Student Care wanted to do a phone survey, discouraged this because it s not likely to get traction but that is considered the gold standard. (D. Walker) Report ended 6:13pm. ITEM 5.4: VICE-PRESIDENT (UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS) - The nuisance by-law is potentially coming forward in May, as discussed by Principal Woolfe. Will address issues like people drinking on the roof with fines. Concern is that enforcement is difficult. Trying to get at the core of Queen s drinking culture. (C. Thompson) - Want the AMS at the table, Palmer will take over the conversations after the LWT term is over. (C. Thompson) - Discussions around it will begin in May. (C. Thompson) Report ended 6:15pm. ITEM 5.5: GENERAL MANAGER - No comments or questions. Report ended 6:16pm. ITEM 5.6: RETAIL SERVICES DIRECTOR - Changing the name of the P&CC from publishing to printing, thinking of making an announcement later. (L. Burns Scully) Report ended 6:17pm. ITEM 5.7: MEDIA SERVICES DIRECTOR - Walkhome app has not yet been released, still fixing bugs. Incoming team will release it. (M. Garcia) Page 3 of 10

4 - The Android app is in the final stages, the ios version is still in the works. (D. Walker) - At the Journal, we ve received about 50% of the money owed by clients. (M. Garcia) - In mid-february a client decided to advertise with the Journal looking for a caregiver. He did not hear back from anyone and has refused to pay. Has put it through a collection agency to get his first credit card payment back. Sent notice of legal action from our collection agency. (D. Walker) - The Alibi got sold, still waiting on finding out about new management to try to collect. (M. Garcia) - Regarding transition for the Business Manager, we ve written Phase 1 of the transition manual, working on Phase 2. (M. Garcia) - The new Business Manager was hired with the new hiring program. He understands that he must be here for the summer. (M. Garcia) Report ended 6:23pm. ITEM 6: ITEM 6.1: NEW BUSINESS STUDENT CARE LEGAL INSURANCE REPORT - Student Care commissioned a survey to students. Prospective program includes employment, housing, and academic (and non-academic misconduct) representation. Would give students up to 5 cases a year and up to $100,000 in billings. There will also be a hotline which students can call if they get into legal trouble. Expect that over time it would bring up the quality of housing. Would be $28/individual per year. (D. Walker) - Queen s Legal Aid is currently funded through Ontario. Get roughly $100,000 from students with a $400,000 transfer from Ontario. It s not guaranteed legal advice, but this is. (D. Walker) - Most of the forms for housing court are available publicly, most of the fees are paid to file the suit, and tenants can get counsel at the hearing. May not be too useful on the housing side. (J. Neretlis) - The survey s questions are fairly ambiguous (e.g. legal injustice ), hard to determine how much this is needed by students. (J. Fonseca) - This will be an opt-out fee if approved. There is no financial commitment from the AMS. The AMS cannot be sued using this, but students can get advice for an AMS-related grievance over the AMS. (D. Walker) - Since this is pooled across Canada, a couple cases shouldn t significantly increase the overall price. (D. Walker) - Likely won t be implemented for this year, the information will be passed on to the next year team. (D. Walker) - Not much enthusiasm for it at Assembly. (Q. Giordano) - We don t have sufficient data to make this decision on whether this significantly impacts students. (J. Neretlis) - Fairly indifferent, if students want to take advantage of it and it doesn t really have an impact on us there is no harm in joining this year. (J. Fonseca) - Impartial as well, the last Assembly is tomorrow night, but the next week the template must go in. (D. Walker) Page 4 of 10

5 - Although it appears to be a voluntary fee, it s important to remember that it s not the same as opt-in. There are many students who don t remember to opt-out. (B. Rudson) - Would like to see some more consultation from the student body. (E. Trus) - Is it possible to make this an opt-in fee? (C. Bevans) - We can t make it opt-in because of the way that the fee works. It may create backlash from students to add in a $28 opt-out fee. (D. Walker) - Student Care is happy to come back and work with the new team. (D. Walker) Discussion ended 6:41pm. ITEM 6.2: AMS BRAND PERCEPTION - 50% of students believe hiring to be fair and equitable, a high for the AMS. (K. Saychuk) - The as a student wording for what students feel best represents them (AMS vs faculty society) may affect their response to the question. (Q. Giordano) - The Marketing Research Coordinator last year tried to formalize the questions in the survey. Before that the questions were different so it would be hard to compare. We ve done the survey before but the questions were different. Couldn t see information further than two years before. (K. Saychuk) - AMS involvement was asked of survey participants, as well as faculty and year demographics. In this survey, the demographics and AMS involvement were consistent with the population. (K. Saychuk) - The results for winter 2017 may have been affected by public discourse between QJ and the AMS as well as the election. (T. Lively) - Charts were made with both complete and incomplete responses. (K. Saychuk) - Having this once a semester as a strategic discussion would be useful. Maybe something that the Board would want to institutionalize more heavily. (G. Giannopoulos) - We do customer experience surveys but not customer perception surveys. (K. Saychuk) - Did ask generally how the businesses were seen. The office has the capacity to do a similar study on perception. Would be within the capacity of the Board to request. (K. Saychuk) - The perception differences between faculty societies and the AMS are interesting. Would be interested in seeing that further broken down to see where faculty societies are excelling and the AMS is not. (A. Mair) - Would be great to break down the data further demographically. (C. Bevans) - In the future it would be valuable to take some of the questions we have and leverage those in the focus groups. (C. Bevans) Discussion ended 7:00pm. ITEM 6.3: JDUC REPORT - Report is presented for approval. We ve begun meeting with the architects and are looking at feasibility studies. Report discusses how the renovations align with the broader goals of the AMS, financial implications, risks, our communications plan. Also has a tentative timeline which gives a broad overview of steps involved. (T. Lively) Page 5 of 10

6 - Queen s has introduced university facility design standards, as far as possible we will use those. The builders have built on other university campuses. The standards are very cutting edge. (T. Lively) - Loading dock is a safety issue because it will be in a place with lots of traffic. Architects have bounced around a few ideas for making it safer. (T. Lively) - The AODA has new requirements every year, could take years to build and redo. Standards and fire codes can constantly change, may make permits more difficult. (J. Neretlis) - Queen s environmental organizations are in and out on a 12-months basis, especially in the summer. They evaluate the health and safety of the project. Windows were replaced as a result of the findings. (D. Walker) That the Board of Directors endorse the renovation of the John Deutsch University Centre with the following goals: - Improve circulation and eliminate dead-end hallways - Rebuild AMS and SGPS services and offices to better meet the needs of students - Create more informal study and social spaces, club meeting rooms and offices - Expand retail space available for commercial tenants - Unify building aesthetics and bring in more natural lighting - Eliminate safety hazard arising from the JDUC loading dock - Achieve full AODA compliance - Reduce environmental footprint Moved: T. Lively Seconded: D. Walker Motion unanimously adopted at 7:15pm. ITEM 6.4: QJ ASSISTANT EDITOR PROPOSAL - Everything has already been approved to come to the Board by the Journal Board. Idea is to help out the video editor by having a new position and not hiring three copy editors, only two. Helps us by saving $100. (M. Garcia) - Not just for financial output, just because it s more efficient. (Q. Giordano) - Nothing contentious at Journal board. Presented by outgoing and incoming EICs. Only person who raised concerns was Michael Blair about how the honorarium worked. Came to an understanding that video may not be the future of the Journal. (D. Walker) That the AMS Board of Director s approve the addition of one Assistant Video Editor for The Journal, and the removal of one Copy Editor as presented in this proposal. Moved: M. Garcia Seconded: D. Walker Motion unanimously adopted at 7:22pm. ITEM 6.5: QJ POLICY AMENDMENTS Page 6 of 10

7 Brought forward because of the current working relationship between the Business Manager and Director of Media Services. Not much of a relationship. Hope is that with this change it will be more solidified. Will also make QJ more aware of available resources within the AMS. (M. Garcia) - Has been followed for the hiring of this year. (M. Garcia) - In favor. Wonder if it would be helpful to specify what permanent staff member sits on the panel. (G. Giannopoulos) - Left general because we don t have a specific permanent staff member in mind, Wayne was there. John McDiarmid sits in hiring of other services, depends on who we want moving forward. (M. Garcia) Jane has been in talks with the Kingston Whig standard. Business Manager for the Journal will spend some time learning on the Whig team on a news editor and photo editor internship lasting a few weeks. Allows the Business Manager to work with the business team of the Whig to learn about the business side of a paper and do sales. Part of the discussion as well is that it would help our future pool of applicants. A lot of the time some of the best candidates want to pursue summer jobs in Toronto, Vancouver instead. This internship component would let them learn and get a better pool of applicants for the hiring. (M. Garcia) That the AMS Board of Director s approve the changes to Bylaw that the Queen s Journal Business Manager is selected by a hiring panel consisting of the incoming Editor(s) in Chief, the incoming Media Services Director, as well as a Permanent Staff from the AMS, and is subject to all policies as stipulated in the AMS Hiring and Appointments Policy. That the AMS Board of Director s approve the addition of a 6 week summer internship for The Queen s Journal s Business Manager at The Kingston Whig Standard, as stipulated on The Journal s Policy Section 12 Summer Internships. Moved: M. Garcia Seconded: D. Walker Motion unanimously adopted at 7:28pm. ITEM 6.6: AMS EMPLOYEE POLICY - Prepared a briefing note on changes, gone through it with AMS legal counsel to ensure that everything is in line with legislation. Have the ok. (T. Lively) - Outlines sick leave and vacation policies, addresses professional training, modifies progressive discipline policy, updates the food credit and transition expectations. (E. Jones) - Before, appeals to the Board Chair for termination would be to terminate with cause. Now, the VP-Ops would be involved in the process so the Board Chair does not have to make the decision alone. In areas where we haven t properly informed or practiced progressive discipline appeals are allowed. (E. Jones) - There are only certain positions where staff are able to apply as rehires. Only exceptional staff are eligible to be rehired, one with a written warning would not eligible to be rehired because the written warning would not allow them to be exceptional. If the staff member successfully appealed the written warning they would be eligible for rehiring. (E. Jones) Page 7 of 10

8 - The Committee on Occupational Health and Safety comprises the GM, two of the Executive, two staff members, as well as the Director of HR. The training itself is through the permanent staff. Not all staff receive occupational health and safety training. I would probably say that it s something that could be looked into from the committee level. (D. Walker) - All hiring and termination records are recorded in Excel. Terminated employees records are kept only five months. (D. Walker) - Should be kept for two years as a risk measure. (J. Neretlis) - Can be done primarily digitally. Only the interview notes are kept in paper. (E. Jones) Motion to eliminate Section 7.13 but keep Section 7.14 and stipulate that employment records will be kept for two years from the date that the employee was terminated. Moved: J. Neretlis Seconded: T. Lively Motion unanimously adopted at 7:40pm. - Summaries are provided on disciplinary action, supervisors would provide that with all identifying factors taken out. (E. Jones) - Regarding s and s. 10.4, I m happy that legal has reviewed it, but I m concerned about the statement when a staffer is terminated. Any and all staff members affected would be immediately notified we should refrain from using such broad language. (M. Lindsay) Motion to amend s and s of the AMS Employee Policy such that the AMS has the responsibility of ensuring that when decisions to lay people off are made, staff members affected by the decision would be notified in a reasonable time frame. As well, should have the clause unless the employee has been laid off for reasons of cause. Moved: M. Lindsay Seconded: L. Burns Scully Motion unanimously adopted at 7:46pm. - Every employee gets a copy of this when they are hired. It s on the AMS website and it is touched upon in all contracts, found in the AMS office and services offices. No personal hard copies. (E. Jones) - Employees can sign on the spot or whenever they feel comfortable as it is ed in. (E. Jones) - Should note down that they will be given 48 hours and be given the chance to consult a lawyer before signing. As well it seems and are fairly redundant. Motion to amend the AMS Employee Policy such that all employees will be given 48 hours to review their contracts and consult legal counsel. Motion to delete articles and Moved: J. Neretlis Seconded: T. Lively Motion unanimously adopted at 7:52pm. Page 8 of 10

9 Motion to approve the AMS Employee Policy as amended. Moved: D. Walker Seconded: B. Rudson Motion unanimously adopted at 7:52pm. ITEM 6.7: FEBRUARY 2017 FINANCIAL STATEMENT ENDORSEMENT - Things are on track, many services are ahead of the budgeted figures. Services were 80% of the shortfall. Reflective of the greater difficulty of forecasting for services in a government office. March is typically a good time for the Cogro. Society should close in a healthy financial position. (C. Bevans) - Price increases contributed to a lot of it. Customer retention has continued. March is typically the best month. Credit for Cogro s performance goes to the managers. (D. Walker) That the AMS Board of Directors endorse the February 2017 financial statements, as recommended by the Finance & Risk Committee. Moved: C. Bevans Seconded: D. Walker Motion unanimously adopted at 7:59pm. ITEM 6.8: SPECIFIC FEE COMMITTEE REPORT - Back for the second time. Recommendation is in the executive summary in four points. For us to recommend a specific percentage or dollar amount would be unwise given that the AMS has a volatile financial position. At the end of the year it can be reviewed and then decided if/how much should be diverted to the JDUC. (G. Giannopoulos) - Some years there is a lot of variance. Want to know that we can allocate without being concerned. Not necessarily wise to allocate a specific number. (D. Walker) - Would like to maintain the current fee structure with the Executive and BOD able to allocate funds if there is a comfortable surplus. (G. Giannopoulos) - Shouldn t be making decisions around how the specific fee is spent, going to see enrollment increase. Real increase in terms of what we re projected to bring in for the student fee. Going to subsidize corporate losses. Not appropriate, better to set aside thousand for the JDUC project. Should be incorporated into budget as zero-budgeting is applied. Need to cover those costs somehow. The money is meant to be incorporated in the budget. (T. Lively) - Shouldn t be taking specific fee revenue for corporate deficits. Facilities costs are decreasing after the new arrangement with Mac Brown. (D. Walker) - Concerned that the fee increase should have decision-making within the commissions/relevant groups, not necessarily just a discretionary amount. (G. Giannopoulos) - University project enrolment in three-year cycles. There are increases we can rely on, aiming for a consistent target. Best to plan off that. (T. Lively) Page 9 of 10

10 - At present, myself and Dave and Tyler have taken different stances. We have informally ruled out lowering the fee, but raising the fee/allocation is still up for consideration. (G. Giannopoulos) - It would be unwise to decide on the amount now with so many pieces missing in the puzzle. (G. Giannopoulos) - If everything is operating at 100% operating rate, it would only be 23k available to siphon off. Becomes a question for the new team. Didn t want to bind Brian to a specific budget for the next year. (D. Walker) - Don t want current students to pay for a building they won t use, upfront costs. (G. Giannopoulos) - Will be seen again in April with a motion. (G. Giannopoulos) Discussion ended 8:20pm ITEM 6.9: WINTER SPECIAL PROJECTS GRANTS - Got 9 applications, chose 4. This is just to approve the grants for those four projects. (C. Thompson) - Strange that the board has a granting fund separated from the AMS. (T. Lively) - Should look into what makes this grant specifically significant. Perhaps a good directive. (Q. Giordano) - We have had issues in the last several years in that we have received many low quality submissions. Certainly a rubric change is needed but should acknowledge the low quality. (M. Lindsay) - This is a great discussion, at this point where we re ready to pose the question to the incoming Board on what they want to do. This is a good topic for transition. (Q. Giordano) - ASUS orientation week is looking at getting more diversity in its orientation week. Trying to film a video about equity and diversity. (C. Thompson) - Irrespective of whether ASUS received this grant, it would have happened within the allocation process. (C. Thompson) That the AMS Board of Directors approve the 2017 Winter Special Projects grants. Moved: C. Thompson Seconded: J. Fonseca Motion unanimously adopted at 8:19pm. ITEM 7: ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn. Moved: Q. Giordano Seconded: G. Giannopoulos Open session ended 8:34pm Page 10 of 10