KSA hosts AGM entirely online

Originally scheduled for March 26, the Kwantlen Student Association’s annual general meeting (AGM) took place on Oct. 22 over a Zoom video conference. The meeting did not have a high enough attendance to make the minimum quorum to pass motions.

The AGM began with the Speaker of Council Titus Gregory going over the objectives of the meeting and the agenda, which was followed by KSA Executive Director Benjamin Newsom, who explained the plans for the proposed student union building. Newsom said the KSA is looking for the funds to commence the proper construction of the building.

Newsom read the motion on the proposed building to the attendees, which explained the basis on which the KSA would be securing the funds for the building.

The financial statements report says that the Student Union Building Capital Fund was $1,024,547 in 2019 and $1,088,837 in 2018.

One of the attendees questioned the purpose of creating the new student building, and Newsom replied that members of the KSA could no longer vote on the building and that the KSA has already started working on the process to build it.

He added that the KSA is now “seeking authorization to enter into the financial agreements necessary in order to complete the project.”

KSA Advocacy Coordinator John O’Brian explained how non-profit societies need membership permission before taking out loans. He added that the discussion with KPU about securing a location for the student union building has been taking a while.

In his report, Newsom mentioned that last year in the summer, the KSA began exploring upgrades to both the Grassroots Café and student common area on campus. This was meant to make the common areas more inviting to students. Similarly, the KSA is looking to update some student lounge areas in the Birch building on the Surrey campus and space in the Richmond campus.

KSA Student Services Manager, Piper Greekas presented the 2019 services report. She went over all the different services the KSA offered in the past year and the new services they were looking to offer.

The Steve Nash gym pass is no longer in service for students, along with the car share program Car 2 Go. The KSA is actively looking for a new gym for students. Greekas says the KSA wants to make sure they pick a gym that is best suited and accessible for students.

She also announced that about two million plastic bottles have been saved due to the water fill stations across the KPU campuses.

The KSA also changed the name of the START program to the Volunteer Program, and the slogan is now “help make a difference.” The leader of the program is Harky Johal, and according to Greekas, the program received a 20 per cent increase in total volunteers compared to past years.

“I’m really proud of my team this year and I was really happy to see such a successful 2019. I believe that we’ve done the best that we could for 2020 and I’m hoping to do the same for 2021,” said Greekas as she ended her report.

After the budget was adopted the council members who had been elected in the spring were prompted to introduce themselves, however, the minutes show that only five out of 18 total council members were present at that time.

Gregory asked the attendees for questions before adjourning the meeting.