The second AMS Assembly of the 2015 fall semester ran without any major conflict or debate.

The assembly took place at McLaughlin Room at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8. Sean Madden, the executive director of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Association (OUSA), visited the assembly as a guest speaker. Madden conducted a presentation regarding OUSA’s function and priorities for the year.

    Passing of goal plans:

  Motions 4 through 8 — Goal plans — Passed.

Goal plans for the following commissions passed unanimously:

• Academic Affairs

• Commission of Internal Affairs

• Municipal Affairs

• Campus Activities Commission

• Commission of the Environment and Sustainability

  Two Orientation Heads announced

Engineering Society (EngSoc) and Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) announced in their reports that they’ve hired heads for their respective Orientation Weeks.

ASUS has hired Becky Wieschkowski as Head Gael, while EngSoc has selected Pippa Gouinlock for Orientation Chair. The Commerce Society (ComSoc) and the Nursing  Science Society reported that they’re still in the midst of hiring.

AMS to move forward with student fee eligibility policy

After a discussion with the Assembly, the assembly voted to allow AMS to move forward with the development of a policy for Student Fee Eligibility. Kyle Beaudry, AMS vice-president (operations), outlined three topics for discussion in his report: the feasibility of a student fee referendum, charity and conference fees.

• Student Fee Referendum

The Assembly discussed whether a referendum for mandatory student fees is preferable over an annual general meeting (AGM) vote. The AMS runs an AGM once a year, where all students are invited to discuss and vote on proposals. During the discussion period, conversation focused on the possibility of holding both an AGM and referendum for student fees.

• Charity

The Assembly agreed that funding a charity was a well-founded idea, but some members brought up concerns about whether it was the AMS’s money to donate. Alex Wood, vice president of EngSoc, said he believed that the AMS shouldn’t allocate money without the knowledge of students. The Assembly agreed that charity should be encouraged as a student initiative.

• Conference Fees

The Assembly debated whether student fees should go towards funding conferences. Members of the Assembly acknowledged that it’s important to support smaller, unestablished conferences that depend on funding. But Ana Lopez, president of the Commerce Society, said conferences are only of value to those who attend, which she said raises questions about whether the AMS would be justified to make non-attendees pay a fee.