The campaign period for the 2017 Governing Council elections is in full swing, with a total of 37 students vying for eight seats.
The Governing Council is the highest governing body at U of T; it is the final source for approval on changes to university policies, new academic programs, and fee increases, and its members are tasked with making these decisions in the best interest of the university.
There are 50 members on the Council, with 18 appointed and 30 elected members. The President and the Chancellor of the University serve on the council as ex officio members.
The 30 elected members include teaching staff, alumni, students, and school administration.
The remaining seats are available for students from the Faculty of Arts and Science, UTM, UTSC, Professional Faculties, as well as two seats for graduate students. The graduate student seats include one seat for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and one seat for Physical Sciences and Life Science.
There are 16 candidates vying for the two seats reserved for full-time undergraduate Constituency I, which is for the Faculty of Arts and Science, UTM, and UTSC. Last year, there were almost double the number of candidates for this constituency, with 29 candidates on the ballot.
Six candidates are running to fill the two seats allocated to full-time undergraduate students in the professional faculties.
The two available seats for part-time undergraduate students have already been filled via acclamation. For the two seats allocated to graduate students, there are a combined 13 candidates.
In addition to the Governing Council, there will also be an election to fill seats on the Academic Board, which is comprised of teaching staff. While 12 seats are already filled, there are four openings for representatives from the Faculty of Medicine and one for Librarians.
The elections are set to be held between February 6–17 on voting.utoronto.ca. Votes must be cast by 5:00 pm on February 17 in order to be valid.
