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Via Virtual Meeting room
Report Number 96 Of The Elections Committee
June 1, 2023
To the Executive Committee,
University of Toronto.
Your Committee reports that it held a virtual meeting on June 1, 2023 at 5:00 p.m., with the following members present:
Present:
Mark Lautens (Chair), David Bowden, , Summer Hart
Regrets:
Vikram Chadalawada,Robert Cooper
Secretariat:
Tracey Gameiro, Secretary, Anwar Kazimi, Deputy Secretary of the Governing Council and Chief Returning Officer (CRO), Timothy Harlick, Secretary and Deputy Returning Officer (DRO), St. George, Cindy Ferencz-Hammond, Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council and DRO, UTM, Lydia Gill, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council and DRO, UTSC
- Chair’s Remarks
The Chair welcomed members guests to the final Committee meeting of the governance year. - Report for the 2023 Elections for the Governing Council, the Academic Board, University of Toronto Mississauga and University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Councils and their Standing Committees
The Chair stated that there was considerable work related to election matters for the multiple constituencies for the Governing Council and Academic Board elections, as well, for the UTM and UTSC Campus Council and their Standing Committees.He added that, despite the complexity and multi-faceted nature of conducting the 2023 elections completely online, the process was successful.
The Chief Returning Officer, Anwar Kazimi thanked Cindy Ferencz-Hammond (Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council and DRO, UTM), Lydia Gill (Acting Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council and DRO, UTSC) and Timothy Harlick (Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council and DRO, St. George Campus) for their roles in running a successful election.
Mr. Kazimi provided an overview of the 2023 election process and results.He highlighted that during the 2023 Elections, in response to the recommendations of the Anti-Black Racism Taskforce, the Office of the Governing Council engaged the expertise of the Executive Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in outreach to community partners to increase awareness and encourage participation in governance.
A member remarked on the continuing challenge of engaging part-time undergraduate students in the elections; and, when unfilled, whether the seats for the part-time undergraduate students on the Governing Council could be allocated to full-time undergraduate students to ensure full student representation.
In reply, the CRO advised that the number of part-time undergraduate student seats was prescribed by the University of Toronto Act and therefore could not be changed.Mr. Kazimi advised however, that to help address this issue, changes had been made to combine the full-time and part-time undergraduate seats on the UTSC and UTM Campus Council and their Committees.This did not change the total number of student seats, but allowed for fungibility across the constituencies to ensure that the undergraduate seats were filled.
Mr. Kazimi noted that a third and final call for nominations for the two part-time undergraduate student seats on Governing Council would be held in Fall 2023.
The Chair thanked the CRO, the Deputy Returning Officers and UTSC Governance Coordinator for their efforts.
- Report of the Previous Meeting - Report Number 95 (November 24, 2023)
The report of the previous meeting was approved.
- Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting
There was no business arising from the report of the previous meeting. - Date of Next Meeting: October 16, 2023, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
The Chair advised members the first meeting of the next governance year would be held on October 16, 2023.He noted that the meeting would be held at a special time, starting at 3:00 p.m. - Other Business
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
June 2, 2023