COUNCIL MEETINGS

Details of 2009/20010 GSU Council Meetings are posted below. With the exception of the October 29th meeting, all meetings will take place in the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1130.

Meetings begin at 6:10 pm sharp.

• Council Materials
• Meeting Schedule, Agendas, Minutes
• Bourinot's Rules of Order
• Information on speaking rights
• Family Care Allowance
• See Also: Information for Councillors
  

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COUNCIL MATERIALS

Materials that are relevant to council agenda items but have not been sent in the monthly council mailout (usually due to time or size) will be made available here to allow Councilors to better prepare for upcoming meetings.

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MEETING INFORMATION

The council chair can be reached at: chair@utgsu.ca

Meeting Schedule, Agendas, Minutes

Council meeting schedule, agendas and minutes will be posted here throughout the year.

The monthly meetings of the GSU Council are open to all graduate students, although only GSU reps may speak and vote. Approximately 100 representatives from every course union discuss and vote on various issues.

Over the years Council has dealt with the mundane to the esoteric: preposterous tuition increases, university blunders, student income tax deductions, divestment in South Africa, the War in the Gulf, student involvement in departmental committees, comprehensive exams, childcare at U of T, housing in Toronto, SGS Bursaries, etc.

Council also receives reports from the GSU Executive & Staff, CUPE 3902, CFS Executive, senior University of Toronto administration, and spokespeople for groups on campus and the community.

With the exception of the October 29th meeting (details below), all meetings will take place in the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1130.

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Bourinot's Rules of Order

These are the rules which govern GSU Council Meetings.

Bourinot's Rules at a Glance (PDF)

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Information on speaking rights for GSU members who are not Course Union representatives:

Non-reps may freely attend (and are encouraged to attend) Council meetings. They can be extended speaking rights at the pleasure of the meeting. In other words, if non-reps show up and want to speak (and haven't been invited to come and speak - as for instance the guests on the agenda) a motion must be put to the meeting to extend these guests speaking rights. The motion would typically be worded as:

BIRT the GSU Council extend speaking rights to (name, name, name, etc.) for the duration of the (date and time) meeting.

If the motion passes they will be allowed to speak on any issue raised at council. They will not be allowed to participate in debate on the motion that would extend them speaking rights.

The motion could also be worded so as to limit their speaking rights to a particular item: e.g. BIRT the GSU Council extend speaking rights to (name, name, etc.) for agenda item (#) at the (date, time) meeting.

It would be a sign of respect to the council, the chair and the GSU if such guests would introduce themselves to the chair before call the meeting to order.

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Family Care Allowance

The GSU Executive adopted a family care allowance policy, which is in effect immediately and retroactively to the Council meeting of January 27, 2002.  The text of the policy is below. Please contact Carol Ramm to claim remuneration.

* BIRT GSU provide allowance for family care expenses to GSU Council representatives while attending a GSU Council meeting.  Allowances will also be provided to GSU appointees attending GSU related events, as approved by GSU Executive. Expenses will be paid as follows:
1. coverage for the duration of the meeting or event, plus two hours travel time (one hour coming and one hour return), to a maximum of five hours per event.
2. child care up to $10 per hour for one child; additional $5 per hour per additional child.
3. other family care expenses: allowance for items such as eldercare and care for disabled dependants to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

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