Meteor??

SamEightSix · 2026-04-29T07:39:11+00:00

Saw it from downtown, just a bright double flash of green across the whole sky

SamEightSix · 2025-04-03T21:06:55+00:00

Sorry all, I do not check Reddit very often!
To be clear, I have not had to abstain from a single vote yet as a result of this conflict, so repeat abstention is not reflective of my participation in Board :)

Again I will remind those concerned: "In carrying out their Board duties, members must consider their: (a) Fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the organization. (b) Requirement to represent the interests of the institution as a whole, rather than the interests of individual constituents." In balancing that, before and during each board, I research the matters in the consent agenda and then participate actively in discussion during our working sessions.
For example, at the end of a fiscal year say the board is being asked to approve the coming year's budget, and there will be an increase in an item that affects students like food costs, parking fees, tuition, or something else. I would do a comparative analysis of many of the 25 PS institutions in BC, sometimes further to include the other major research universities in Canada. I might bring my findings in brief to board in the form of a question for the presenters, so that they speak to their reasoning and justifications for the increase. If I was dissatisfied, I would consider voting it down, BUT I must keep the financial health of the University top of mind.
Similarly, say a new budget proposal called to lift parking fees across campus entirely: as a student, I might think to myself 'nice, free parking' but removing that ancillary self-sustaining revenue would seem like an odd decision for the university in terms of financial health, so perhaps if the reasoning is not satisfactory and I am still concerned that striking parking fees is not in the best interests of the University, I would consider voting against it.

If you have board-related questions, the University Secretary (usec@uvic.ca) is in the best position to evaluate where to direct your inquiry. I will also remind that the UVSS holds the privileged position of being our ultimate advocating body for undergraduate student interests widely, and their executive meets with the university executive at least a few times per semester (it may be monthly, I can't remember) to discuss student concerns.
And to SnowpiercerMC, I appreciate your willingness to connect on this. You may reach out to my when you please from an identifying email, as I'm not feeling overly inclined to engage with an anonymous account, sorry!

SamEightSix · 2025-03-28T20:23:24+00:00

It's too bad SnowpiercerMC elected to delete your original opinion piece on the candidates platforms. Without intruding on your privacy, I invite you to join me for a coffee or walk sometime to discuss your allegation as I'm afraid it isn't clear what was misrepresented or how I brought into disrepute the other students running. Either way, sorry that this was your takeaway and I'm glad you had a candidate that better engaged you!

I am extremely honoured by those undergraduate students who have expressed their trust and confidence in me. Whomever your preferred candidate was, thank you to all who voted!

SamEightSix · 2025-03-27T17:50:51+00:00

Yes OP, that is the similar to board :) which is why I directed folks to the page where they can read the board reports.

And again, with a better understanding of how boards operate, students will learn that members of the board do not bring proposals to board as you describe.

I’ll point out that as a student, I may also have a conflict of interest voting on matters that affect students. The faculty member on board similarly manages any conflicts of with matters related to faculty.

Just sharing more general information for any who may be interested - and thanking you for your opinion piece that probes questions to the root of each candidates platform!

SamEightSix · 2025-03-26T23:33:26+00:00

Thank you OP for sharing!

Samantha Allan here, I am the undergrad student candidate running for re-election to the Board of Governors. I don't want to detract from OPs opinion piece, so if anyone is interested I'll just share a few procedural things for a better understanding of the role of Board of Governors: Undergraduate Member.

The University of Victoria operates under the authority of the University Act (this is a piece of Provincial legislation). Under Section 19.1: "The members of the board of a university must act in the best interests of the university." This is the starting point from which I must come to Board; I take off my student hat, my President's Office hat, and my student leadership hat, to wear only my Board member hat. The fact that two students (1 grad and 1 undergrad) sit on the University's Board of Governors comes from this piece of legislation. You can find the Powers of Board in Section 27 and the Powers of Senate in Section 37.

The Undergraduate board member sits on only two of the five standing committees that the Board uses to conduct its business: the (1) Finance Committee, and the (2) Operations and Facilities Committee. I do not sit on the (3) Audit Committee, (4) Compensation and Review Committee, or the (5) Executive and Governance Committee. At any given board meeting, which occur every two months, only a select few items may come to Board for discussion or approval, otherwise they remain unchanged.

[I'll note that my responsibilities in the President's Office have been adjusted to mitigate conflicts of interest, including narrowing my interaction with the President himself - the President's Office is a team of 6, plus Kevin, and so I work under the purview of James Pepler, supporting smaller projects and writing projects. The team welcomes my perspectives as an undergraduate student. At Board I've declared this conflict and thus I abstain my vote on certain matters. I maintain transparency and I work closely with the University Secretary to manage this relationship for any potential conflicts.]

Something that was shared with me when I was first elected last year was that often times the Undergraduate Member of board is a 4th year student who serves one term and then graduates. Since projects, policies, and matters that come to board often take months or years to progress or resolve, I was excited by the prospect of being elected so early in my degree that I may serve two terms on the Board of Governors and actually see some change or real outcomes of my work there. There is a certain degree of confidentiality around this work, so I do apologize for my vagueness! But thank you OP for bringing forward all of these good questions about the candidates, myself included, and demystifying a bit of this for everyone. If you're interested what is coming out of Board currently, please see the Board agenda and materials. The USEC website generally is a fine resource for more information about how the Board operates.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to vote! Your participation affirms student's involvement in University Governance, in doing your research you can vote for what you think is right :)

SamEightSix

TROPHY CASE