UTSU members will vote to implement one of two proposed union board structures this Wednesday at the union’s annual general meeting.
Moved by Khrystyna Zhuk, a UTSU directors of Arts and Science, and seconded by Daman Singh, a director representing University College, the proposed board structure features six appointed equity positions responsible for advising UTSU on matters related to justice and equity. Each equity director would be responsible for chairing one of six proposed sub-commission portfolios: LGBQ, transgender, indigenous, women, disability, and racial matters.
Also proposed in the motion by Zhuk, students running for VP equity would be prohibited from running as part of an election slate and would only be able to run as independents. Changes also proposed by Zhuk include the option to allow faculties and colleges to run internal elections to elect representatives to the UTSU board.
Alongside Zhuk, six other students worked to put forward the proposal, including UTSU directors Angelo Gio Mateo, Mathias Memmel, Steve Warner, Auni Ahsan,and co-presidents of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council, Ben Atkins and Gabe Zoltan-Johan.
Proposing a different board structure is Grayce Slobodian, who was UTSU’s VP external last year and this year’s orientation coordinator. Seconded by Suryana Thappa, the proposal includes 12 director positions representative of different stakeholders.
Of the 12 director positions, the proposal allocates one position each to represent mature students, commuters, racialized students, international students, LGBTQ students, sustainability matters, first-year students, resident students, indigenous students, women’s matters, athletic matters, and disability issues.
Both motions propose that the VP campus life position become an elected position, rather than one that is hired by the executive team.
UTSU must pass a new board structure by October 14 to be compliant with changes to the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Last year, then-UTSU president Yolen Bollo-Kamara told The Medium that although the consequences of failing to pass a compliant structure on time were uncertain, new bylaws could be imposed on the union, the union could face legal problems, or it could potentially dissolve.
UTSU members, including all full-time undergraduate students at UTM and St. George, will vote on which structure to adopt at the AGM scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The public meeting will be held in OISE G162.
