VP Finance Abhi Mishra accomplished major goals this term, stabilizing the AMS/GSS Health & Dental Plan and increasing student financial literacy. He looks to continue work on creating a strategy to address AMS' running deficit which is estimated to be $738,766 in this year's budget.
Mishra's goals in office largely align with what he promised when running for the position, with a focus on funding for the AMS food bank and strengthening the AMS financial system. His campaign promise to support students with housing has since been removed as its out of the jurisdiction of his office.
Mishra improves financial structures, continues work on organizational transparency and deficit
“When we had started earlier on in the summer, our biggest goal was to fix the health and dental plan,” he said.
The AMS/GSS Health & Dental Plan has seen a sharp increase in usage since the start of the pandemic, leading to the AMS using up its reserves to cover the additional costs.
At the start of the term, the AMS unveiled a new funding model for the AMS/GSS Health & Dental Plan. His work in this area helped to stabilize the plan, moving it from a refund accounting model to a fully-insured model, reducing the AMS’ liability for deficits.
Mishra also worked with the VP Academic and University Affairs and president’s office to secure a one-time funding allocation from UBC so students' mental health coverage is 100 per cent per appointment, rather than 80.
In addition, his office created a strategy to determine how the plan’s funding reserves should operate from year to year. With this strategy, a certain percentage of the total funds will be deposited into a "rainy day" reserve.
Mishra has also worked to maintain financial transparency by publishing consolidated financial reports, reviewing funding applications and increasing accessibility to financial information for clubs and students.
He said the Finance caucus meetings has helped his office "better understand what other constituencies and clubs are thinking."
Mishra has also engaged with students in the pursuit of improving financial literacy through monthly newsletters created in collaboration with the Commerce Undergraduate Society. He said the AMS is also in the process of hosting some workshops around financial literacy to reduce knowledge gaps on key financial issues pertaining to students.
Deficit reduction is a major financial issue the AMS continues to tackle. He said the office and the organization continues to work on creating a systematic plan to improve processes and reduce the cumulative deficit. Notably, in the first quarter, all AMS businesses have lost money — except for Blue Chip. Although Mishra said he couldn't share details about the strategy at this point, he reported that the AMS is “getting a lot of legwork” on it.
New food bank partnerships
Mishra said that costs per use of the AMS Food Bank have gone down because of “the cost per interaction has significantly been brought down,” attributing this to the work his office has done to secure better partnerships and increase funding donations.
Recently, the AMS announced that Acuitas Therapeutics, a Vancouver-based biotechnology company, will be sponsoring the purchase of eggs for the rest of the academic year, lowering the cost of the overall basket of items.
This year, the AMS saw a significant spike in visits, with its busiest day being reported in October 2023. Mishra said these user spikes presented a new challenge for the team, but that the AMS has adjusted suitably.
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