Students cry foul over cancelled GC exec meeting

Student leaders have called into question the cancellation of a Governing Council Executive Committee meeting, voicing concerns over transparency and decision-making procedures. Governing Council is the highest decision-making body at U of T, and the 14-member Executive Committee sets the agenda for meetings, deciding which issues will be brought before the council.

This year’s first Executive Committee meeting was scheduled for Oct. 22. It was cancelled due to lack of business, meaning there were no items to discuss on the agenda.

EC members voted online on Sept. 8 to cancel the meeting, and the decision was relayed to new GC members during an orientation meeting on Sept.10.

“The way in which the meeting was cancelled was very problematic. An online ballot is being used to make a binding decision,” said Joeita Gupta, the representative for part-time students on GC. She said there is no way to scrutinize results and that the use of email ballots sets a bad precedent for how such decisions should be made. Gupta and Adam Awad, VP university affairs for the U of T Students’ Union, both sent letters to GC chair John Petch expressing their concerns.

According to GC bylaws, a minimum of four days’ notice is required to cancel meetings. The Oct. 22 meeting was cancelled a month in advance, during which time new agenda items could have been added, Gupta said.

Petch said the issue was up for debate among executive members at the informal Sept. 10 meeting, after the online vote had taken place. “We should have handled it in a different fashion [by holding a regular meeting],” he conceded.

Because the exec meeting was cancelled, decisions that would normally be voted on by GC can be approved by U of T president David Naylor and GC chair John Petch, in consultation with vice-chairs of various committees. The Summer Executive Authority provision passed at the June 23 GC meeting will be extended to Dec. 10, the next time GC is set to meet.

Gupta said the provision could endow Naylor with too much authority in the event of an emergency. Petch responded that the Summer Executive Authority usually handles administrative decisions, such as new appointments. “There is no emergency to speak of,” said Petch. “It is hard to imagine the need for urgent action on such a short-term basis.”

September saw a string of cancelled GC meetings, including those for the Academic Board, the Planning and Budget Committee, and the University Affairs Board.

“It really begs the question of why, as a public university, we don’t have enough business for boards and meetings,” Gupta said. She suggested that student groups, labour groups, and faculty associations should be allowed to put items on the agenda.

Greg West, a grad student representative on GC, agreed. “The executive members are within their rights to cancel meetings, but I wish student unions and groups on campus had access to put items on the GC agenda,” he said.

“It’s easier for students to express opinions at committee level or at board meetings,” Petch said. “To go to the Governing Council directly doesn’t create much opportunity to address grievances.”