The University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) General Council met virtually on November 23 for its monthly meeting. The council voted to elect Kirthika Shanmugham as the executive-at-large, approved the yearly budget, and further discussed the board restructuring proposal which is set to be finalized at the UTGSU Annual General Meeting on December 7. 

Monthly reports 

At the October meeting, four executives had failed to submit their executive reports in time for them to be included in the board package. The General Council had passed a motion for both their October and November reports to be included in the November meeting package, and all four executives followed through on this commitment. Additionally, all six executives spoke and gave a brief discussion on the work they had been up to over the last month.

Internal Commissioner Sarah Alam reported working on the ongoing UTGSU restructuring, which was discussed later in the meeting. 

Academics and Funding Commissioner, Divisions 1 & 2 Dhanela Sivaparan said that she has been working with individual students on departmental issues such as grade appeals, and with U of T on opening more study spaces for graduate students. 

University Governance Commissioner Lwanga Musisi’s written report went over a number of meetings he attended on topics like the University-Mandated Leave of Absence Policy (UMLAP).

An-Noûra Compaoré, civics and environment commissioner, talked about working with a number of campus groups on advocacy, such as LEAP U of T and the Community Liaison Committee. 

External Commissioner Justin Patrick noted that he recently attended the Canadian Federation of Students National General Meeting on behalf of the UTGSU and was successful in putting forward a “number of amendments to increase some solidarity with student movements [and] student unions around the world.” He added that further details would be discussed at the December Annual General Meeting. 

Finance Commissioner June Li noted that she has continued to work on getting student grants and bursaries operational. Li also mentioned that the Black Graduate Student Excellence Bursary is now live, and she encouraged students to get the word out to their colleagues. 

Financial audit and 2021–2022 budget approval 

Li discussed the annual financial audit of the UTGSU, which was conducted by an independent auditor. In her words, the union passed with “flying colours.” When discussing the budget for the upcoming year, she noted that staff expenses went up by $10,000 due to the addition of a new staff member and that the union increased funding for the Women and Trans Peoples’ Caucus from $200 to $800. The General Council voted to approve the proposed budget for the 2021–2022 fiscal year. 

Executive-at-Large election

At the October meeting, no one ran for the executive-at-large position, and it remained vacant. However, at this meeting, Shanmugham ran unopposed and was elected. Shanmugham is a masters of engineering student who had previously run for the role of external commissioner during the spring 2021 election, and is currently the chair of The Varsity’s Board of Directors. 

She cited her experience on the Grad Life Advisory Committee and volunteer experiences at organizations like the Centre for International Experience as reasons for running. Additionally, her speech emphasized her desire to conduct “frequent town hall meetings so that students feel that their voices are heard.” After a brief discussion, she was elected. 

UTGSU board restructuring 

Later in the meeting, legal counsel Matthew Joseph proposed slight modifications to the board composition presented in July and October 2021. In the previous meetings, the board’s proposed restructuring included equity-based seats such as a queer and trans student representative, a disabled students representative, and a racialized students representative, as well as others. 

However, at this meeting, Joseph proposed two other options that removed the equity-based seats and instead distributed the number of seats across divisions. After a brief discussion, 23 members voted for the equity-based seats alternative and 25 voted for the distribution across divisions. Thus, the board selected the latter as the preferred option. These changes will be finalized and discussed at greater length at the AGM on December 7. 

Disclosure: Kirthika Shanmugham is the chair of The Varsity’s Board of Directors for the 2021–2022 term.