Thread by @UbysseyNews

Good evening! We're covering tonight's #UBCSenate meeting, the last governance meeting of 2021!

Here is the agenda/materials if you want to follow along: senate.ubc.ca/sites/senate.u…

Senate Chair and President Santa Ono brings tonight's meeting to order with a land acknowledgment.

First order of business, a change in membership.

Registrar Kate Ross says she is "disappointed" to announce that Dr. Peter Choi has resigned. A by-election will be called.

Next up, approval of the last meeting's minutes.

Chris Eaton says that anything discussed in the chat during the last meeting has not been included in the minutes.

Dr. Claudia Krebs moves a motion to include parts of the Zoom chat into the meeting minutes.

Dr. Sue Forwell says that she "did not" consider the chat to be a part of the meeting, and therefore should not be included in the minutes.

Dr. Steven Pelech says that it doesn't make sense to include only parts of the Zoom chat in the minutes.

Dr. Anubhav Pratap Singh says he opposes the motion because people in the chat weren't formally recognized to speak on the Senate floor.

Dr. Adlai Fisher says it wouldn't be fair to people who spoke in the chat to include their comments in the minutes if they weren't aware they would be.

Dr. Austin Uzama echoes Fisher's comments.

Dr. Richard Spencer says he opposes the motion because "off-air chat" should be considered the same as two people who are sitting next to each other speaking to each other during a meeting.

Eshana Bhangu says she is generally opposed to including the Zoom chat in the meeting minutes, but that Krebs used it to provide comments when her mic wasn't working.

Forwell acknowledges Krebs' situation but that her comments were later read out, so they're already in the minutes.

Krebs gives a "strong reminder" to senators to bring up substantial comments verbally.

Senators are now voting on the motion.

It fails with 9 in favour and 50 opposed.

Now back to a vote to approve last meeting's minutes.

They are approved.

Ono says there are two items arising from the minutes.

He calls on Julia Burnham, chair of the Agenda Committee, to present the finalized version of the motion described here: ubyssey.ca/news/senate-su…

Ross is now recommending that the COVID-19 Health Academic Regulations "be amended to impose a less severe consequence on students" to make it fairer with the consequences on staff and faculty.

She recommends that students are at first placed on academic hold (can't see grades, can't request transcripts, can't apply to new programs).

Dr. Shigenori Matsui asked when deregistration would take place.

Ross says it will happen after a personal communication is sent to the student and after they have been put on academic hold.

Eshana Bhangu says she will be supporting this motion. She says an academic hold is an effective punishment, mentioning how she has been put on hold due to unpaid parking tickets.

Dr. Hisham Zerriffi says he is happy to see a more graduated punishment system for this policy.

He asks two questions:
- How many students haven't reported their vaccination status?
- Why wasn't academic hold an option originally?

Pam Ratner says she cannot give an answer to the "data anomalies" questions. She says these occurred due to duplicate CWL accounts and accounts belonging to those who are deceased, among other things.

Ross says that a conversation after the last meeting led the university to come across the academic hold solution.

Eaton says that the new policy would create an incremental punishment where students would be blocked from future registration.

He says deregistration would take place on an "individual process."

Emmanuel Cantiller says that he supports the motion, and echoes Bhangu's stance on academic hold.

He asks about the timeline of these consequences.

Eaton says students will be contacted on the "first business day" of January and will then receive follow-ups before being put on academic hold if they are non-responsive.

Arts Dean Gage Averill says he believes this policy is more practical.

He asks why deans are being called on to contact students in some cases instead of the registrar's office.

Eaton says this is to improve communication with students who are in programs that have third-party vaccine requirements (i.e. students in health sciences or co-op students on assignment).

Dr. Paul Harrison asks what the Board of Governors decided to do about faculty and staff who haven't reported their vaccination status.

Ono, temporarily stepping down as chair, says that non-compliant faculty and staff will receive a letter of expectation.

He says that UBC has discussed this policy with unions and that they have "agreed up until the letter of expectation"

Also on unions, Ono says "pending these conversations" staff who are still not compliant by January 24 will be placed on non-disciplinary unpaid leave.

Prata Singh says he doesn't support this motion.

"I don't support the stick approach simply because, in the colonial past of Canada, these stick approaches have always been used as a mechanism by which a majority views are being imposed on the minority."

Dr. HsingChi von Bergmann asks if there is a date for the start of the academic hold.

Ross and Eaton says the blocking of future registration will end the same day course withdrawals end, so "around January 24."

Dr. Kin Lo says he is worried students "who have a particular political position" may comply at first and then later become noncompliant.

He proposes an amendment that states that "continued non-compliance may lead to deregistration."

Matsui says that the change "fails to allow us to adopt" a policy of deregistration.

Eaton says it's "difficult to deal with someone trying to game the system."

He adds that deregistration has always been a disciplinary measure at UBC for when students have breached certain policies.

Von Bergmann voices support for the amendment and thanks Eaton for his explanation.

Keanna Yu says she is in support of the motion because it makes it clear that deregistration takes place when in breach of policy.

Dr. Richard Spencer asks that the amendment be written out. Here it is, along with the original motion:

Bhangu asks if academic hold can be instituted earlier.

Ross says that it wouldn't take place until a couple weeks into term two so the registrar isn't constantly having to monitor things.

Dr. Steven Pelech asks that all references to COVID be changed to COVID-19.

These changes were made.

Pratap Singh says he thinks it's unnecessary to include "deregistration" in the amendment since its not in the original motion.

Lo says "deregistration" is included b/c students who become non-compliant again shouldn't be able to remain registered in the summer term.

Pratap Singh asks if deregistration would occur in term two or in subsequent terms.

Lo says the latter and accepts a friendly amendment to make this clear.

Matsui says that the amendment means that deregistration is only a future measure.

Eaton affirms this but notes that students could be deregistered in the current term (term two) under existing disciplinary measures.

Bhangu says she opposes the deregistration from subsequent terms and that students should be deregistered if they are ignoring the university's COVID-19 policies.

She motions an amendment to the amendment to the following (changes are highlighted):

Pelech says this is going "from worse to worse." He expresses concern how the motion is "punitive."

Dr. Santokh Singh says he supports the amendment to the amendment and that it would allow UBC to respond to omicron before the summer term.

Dante Agosti-Moro says he supports the motion and that it is not intended to punish students who don't want to get vaccinated, but those who refuse to report their status or show up for testing.

Dr. C.W. (Toph) Marshall calls for a vote on the amendment to the amendment.

Pelech objects.

Marshall's call for a vote is approved. Senators are now voting on the amendment to the amendment.

It passes.

Now back to a discussion on the amended amendment of the motion.

Dr. Charles Menzies says he is opposed to the entire motion. He says he doesn't understand this "punitive desire."

He adds he doesn't think it's equitable to deregister a student and to put a non-compliant faculty/staff on unpaid leave.

Menzies also expresses concern with how this policy will work with booster shots.

Bhangu says that she is "quite frankly tired of the infantilization of students" and that they can be expected to comply with COVID-19 measures.

Veta Chitnev said she is against the phrase “remove people from the classroom.”

Chitnev said this would be punishing students for their personal choice. She said she doesn't understand the aggression against those who are unvaccinated.

Krebs emphasizes that this is for students who are not compliant with the policies, not to punish those who are not vaccinated.

She said she wonders if they're going so in detail because they're worried about how the pandemic is evolving currently.

Singh said going forward, UBC cannot have incomplete or incorrect data. He asks to have the data made available on time and have completely accurate data.

Dermot Kelleher said we're looking at a new scenario and a new variant. He said they need to recognize that they can't see into the future. He said these amendments are intended to protect everyone.

Sebastian Cooper calls to question.

Eaton clarifies the wording again. Here's the current wording.

Pelech asks if this would be indefinite.

Eaton said if a student comes into compliance they will be able to register again. He said he's not sure what the cure for past non-compliance with testing would be, and how would someone come into compliance with that.

A senator asks for this to be passed back to the registrar.

Now they're voting on whether to vote on the amendment now. Motion passes, so the question is called.

Now they're voting on whether to approve this amendment. 49 in favour, 6 opposed. Amendment carries.

Now to the amended proposal.

Burnham highlighted the fact that they have 9,800 students who have not complied with policies. That makes this motion very much needed.

Burnham said the conversation should be focused more on safety, rather than discipline.

Burnham said they can do more beyond this to address safety and the new variant, but this is an important step in that.

Thorne notes it's likely not negligence from the registrar that this data has been complicated to untangle — it's just complicated data.

Thorne also said this has to be a continuing conversation due to the evolving nature of the pandemic.

A senator asks how the amendment speaks to the intent of the original motion. He asks how many times someone will have to flout the rules to be deregistered.

Ross said they first need to understand the numbers and get as many people to fill out this declaration as possible. From there, she said they can make decisions around the remaining students.

Senator Spencer said UBC needs systems that are integrated and can identify people as individuals. He asks UBC to improve the quality of data it has on people.

Kelleher said the problem with the data is that people haven't entered the data properly. He said getting to the bottom of this is very slow, as people have not behaved responsibly in terms of how they entered their data.

Pelech said he's actively been doing COVID-19 research for 20 months. He said many people have antibodies against COVID-19, but this discussion has not considered natural immunity.

A senator calls Pelech's comments irrelevant.

Ono said he's not hearing anything new, so he wants to move on.

Pelech said he's open to debating this with anyone who wants to engage.

Call to question.

They're no voting on the amended proposal. 57 in favour, two opposed so the motion carries.

It was unclear if they were voting to call to question or voting on the amendment so they're voting again. 54 in favour, 3 opposed. Motion carries (again).

Now to president's remarks.

He said he respects the concerns around in person exams. He's now running through this update from yesterday.

ubyssey.ca/news/more-test…

Ono said they are not currently seeing a spike in diagnosed COVID-19 cases that would pose a threat to the university community. This makes UBC's situation different than other universities. He said this is being reassessed on a regular basis, and notes it could change.

Ono said Student Housing did share an exposure notice with Totem Park residents, but the number of cases is very low.

There's now rapid testing in student housing on a temporary basis. Symptomatic testing is coming to campus next year.

There have been updates to student misconduct policies. He said these updates were discussed with students over five years ago, but the implementation was delayed. More recent student consultation did not occur, so Ono rescinded his authorization of this change.

Ono made it clear that these revisions will not be enforced. University Counsel will need to consult with students and then Ono will consider it again.

Ono notes that many people have been really excited about the recent property acquisition in Surrey. More info on this: ubyssey.ca/news/ubc-70-mi…

Ono also thanks all the senators for their work this year. He wishes them the best over the holiday season.

Now to five items from the Admissions Committee.

Here's the first one, on an Indigenous transfer partnership agreement between UBC and Langara College. This is a renewal of the agreement, Senator Jaeger clarifies.

Gage Averill points out this sentence in the agreement. Jaeger said this appears to be a sentence from their strategic plan, and they're aiming to be the "employer of choice."

Allison Beardsworth said she's happy to include language that is reflective of UBC as well and something from UBC's strategic plan.

Senator Harrison asks why kind of review was carried about for this proposal to renew.

Beardsworth said they have seen the numbers increase year after year. She said they held a focus group and called the steering committee back together.

Zerriffi asks if students part of a cross-border Indigenous group who live on the US side would be included in this. He also notes the use of aboriginal in here.

Beardsworth said they tried to include language that was consistent with UBC's tuition policy. The language is not up to date due to the name of a certain policy.

Motion to extend time by 30 minutes.

47 in favour of the motion at hand, no opposed.

Now to the next motion from the Admissions Committee.

51 in favour, no opposed.

Now to the next motion on the Doctor of Medicine Black Student Admissions Stream.

This would put in a stream or pathway for application review, somewhat similar to the Indigenous stream or pathway.

Kelleher said he believes this is overdue and will allow them to ensure appropriate representation of the Black student community in the faculty.

Shahin Shirzad said there a few different pathways, and this would be the fourth. He said this is looking to correct the lack of Black students in the MD program. He also notes the lack of Black physicians overall in BC.

Bhangu said she's grateful for this kind of proposal, and said this is aligned with their commitments as a university.

Ben Fischer asks if there's a stream for students with disabilities or a stream for LGBTQ+ folks.

Shirzad said they have a fair amount of data on students, but they have not had good data on applicants or those who interview. He said they do have clear support for disabled students through the Centre for Accessibility, but no stream.

Motion passes with 57 in favour.

Now to the fourth item on the suspension of admission to the Vantage One Arts program.

Jaeger said the international student seats are being absorbed back into the faculty of arts.

A senator asks how this impacts enrollment in Vantage itself. Jaeger said enrollment is smaller in arts and they're looking for more opportunities to grow in other disciplines.

Senator Singh asks why enrollment has decreased.

Vantage said this was intentional. Arts wanted to absorb students more directly into its own faculty, so it was a "planned and phased approach," Jaeger said.

55 in favour.

Last motion from Admissions Committee.

Motion passes.

Now to a motion from the Awards Committee on new and revised awards.

Thorne said there is one award for Black students and one award for Indigenous students.

Thorne highlights a new memorial scholarship from former faculty member W. Wesley Pue.

Motion passes.

Now to a curriculum proposal motion from the curriculum committee. This motion includes curriculum proposals from the applied science, arts and graduate & postdoc studies.

Motion passes.

Now to two items from the Tributes Committee. First is some new emeritus appointments. The full list can be found on page 117 on this doc: senate.ubc.ca/sites/senate.u…

Motion passes.

Now to an update on the matter of revoking honorary degrees.

ubyssey.ca/news/ubc-revie…

John Gilbert said the tributes committee has established a subcommittee on the matter. They met for the first time in December.

Gilbert said the subcommittee is now determining the scope of its review. It will begin by looking at the O'Grady degree, but will be broader as this will establish precedent.

Now to other business.

Ono repeats that the PHO's advice to UBC at this time is to continue with in person exams.

A senator asks a question about the Surrey expansion. He asks if it will be part of the UBC Vancouver campus, and which faculties will have a location over there.

Ono said it's early days, but several deans have approached him about having a presence there. For programming, it would depend on the origin of that programming what Senate it would go to.

Ono thanks the group of students from the AMS for going out to Surrey with him the other day for an event.

No more business! Next meeting will be in the new year, so we'll see you all in 2022!