With Meric Gertler nearing the end of his four-year term as President of the University of Toronto, the Governing Council has put together a Presidential Review to oversee the hiring of his successor, or his reappointment.
Gertler, the university’s sixteenth president, will complete his term on June 30, 2018, although he has expressed “a willingness to consider re-appointment.”
According to a Governing Council memo published on February 17, the Presidential Review will seek input from various interest groups across the university and make its recommendations to the Governing Council at the next meeting on May 18.
According to the memo, the Presidential Review aims to “seek input and advice from governors and from specific groups and individuals within the University of Toronto community and beyond” in making a decision about the next president.
The review will be undertaken by the Executive Committee itself, although it will create several smaller panels of Committee members to conduct interviews and discussions. Board and Campus Council Chairs, which include representatives from UTM and UTSC, will also be invited to participate in the process by serving on the panels.
The Governing Council’s Executive Committee is made up of a number of staff, faculty, students, and other interest groups, including four government appointees and two alumni.
Additionally, the Governing Council will also solicit written input from various groups, including the presidents of the five student governments, faculty and college-based student associations, the University of Toronto Faculty Association, key individuals from the federal, provincial, and municipal governments, and select alumni and donors. Local partners of the university such as the Toronto Academic Health Science Network, MaRS and other universities in the GTA will also be consulted.
If Gertler is re-appointed, he will be following in the footsteps of several former presidents who have taken on multiple terms. Gertler’s predecessor, David Naylor, for example, served as President of U of T for eight years.
Gertler’s term began in November 2013. An urban theorist by education, he has previously served as an advisor to local, regional, and national governments in Canada. He also holds multiple degrees — including a Masters of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley along with a PhD from Harvard University. Before his tenure as president, he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science for five years.
