Meeting every two weeks during the Academic Year, and every three weeks during the summer, this body has representatives from each of the Schools and Faculties of UBC, the affiliate colleges: Regent College, Vancouver School of Theology, and St. Mark's College, Vancouver as well as the five members of the Executive, and several non-voting positions including the two representatives of the Student Senate Caucus, the two Vancouver student members of the UBC Board of Governors, the Student Services Manager, and the Ombudsperson.
Voting members of Council are the Directors of the Society (as defined under the Society Act of British Columbia) and are responsible for all high-level financial and legal decisions made by the AMS - including the overseeing of internal procedures (known as the Code of Procedure), a $22 million budget, the Student Union Building (known as the AMS Nest Building), and policy statements.
Past slates included Students for Students (more right-leaning candidates with strong support from athletes, fraternities and residences), Action Now/Students' Voice/SPAN-Student Progressive Action Network (more left-leaning candidates with strong support from students living off-campus, the safety community and resource groups) and the Radical Beer Faction (the longest-running slate in AMS history).
Voter Funded Media and the introduction of Condorcet method style voting for executive positions.
It divides the clubs into 9 categories: Academic/Management, Community Service, Cultural/Identity/Social, Leisure/Hobby/Special Interest, Media/Arts/Performance, Rec/Athletic, Political/Social Action, Science, and Spiritual.
In addition, the AMS lobbies local and provincial governments and institutions for the benefit of the student body.
The organization continues to exist today as a separate registered not for profit under the BC Societies Act.
[6] In 2008, AMS Council voted to step down to Associate Membership, citing concerns over centralized control, costs and value.
The AMS is currently affiliated with the Undergraduates of Canadian Research Intensive Universities and voted to become a full member of the federal student coalition in May, 2021.