University of Toronto Mississauga
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

The University of Toronto Mississauga has four governance bodies. They are the UTM Campus Council, and three standing committees which report to it: the Agenda Committee (AC), the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) and the Campus Affairs Committee (CAC). All these governance bodies have representatives from the constituencies of students, administrative staff, teaching staff (academic staff) and non-academic members (community and alumni members). On behalf of the Governing Council, the UTM Campus Council exercises governance oversight of campus specific matters, as well as any matters assigned to it by the Governing Council from time to time. In general, the UTM Council is concerned with matters affecting the Campus’ objectives and priorities, the development of long-term and short-term plans and the effective use of resources in the course of these pursuits. Decisions of the UTM Council may be final with confirmation by the Executive Committee on behalf of the Governing Council or constitute a recommendation to the Governing Council or one of its bodies. The UTM Campus Council is the highest governance body of the UTM Campus and is a body of the Governing Council of the University of Toronto, which is the highest governance body at the institutional level. A description of each constituency’s membership on the above governance bodies is provided below: • Students can participate in governance via membership on the UTM Campus Council (4 students), and its Standing Committees, the Academic Affairs (9 students), Campus Affairs (7 students) and Agenda Committees (1 student). Student membership of these bodies is established via yearly university wide elections open to all UTM students. Outside of formal governance, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union has a mandate to represent, provide social and academic services and in general promote the interests of all full time and part time undergraduate students at UTM. UTMSU serves as a bridge between the students and the Faculty & Administration of UTM. This is to ensure that student needs are being addressed and that there is an actual direct link between all the sectors of the University. UTMSU sits on various committees representing student issues and discussing the campus needs regarding food, parking, the Student Centre, academics and student services. • Academic staff may participate in university governance via membership on the UTM Campus Council (6 teaching staff), and its Standing Committees, the Academic Affairs (39 teaching staff), Campus Affairs (9 teaching staff) and Agenda Committees (1 teaching staff). Academic staff membership of these bodies is established via yearly university wide elections open to all UTM teaching staff and via ex-officio membership available to the Chairs of the academic departments at UTM. • The majority of non-academic staff are represented through groups including the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and United Steelworkers (USW). These groups complete the collective bargaining process with the university every few years. Employees may raise concerns and issues with their union, and the union may bring these concerns to university governance for consideration. Changes to university policy that may affect union members are also discussed at regularly scheduled union meetings, which union members are granted release time to attend. Employees may also contribute through their union through participating in regularly scheduled union meetings, attending union trainings, voting in union elections, and running for elected positions in their union. • External to the university, community and alumni may participate in university governance via membership on the UTM Campus Council (11 community/alumni members), and its Standing Committees, the Academic Affairs (2 community/alumni members), Campus Affairs (4 community/alumni members) and Agenda Committees (1 community/alumni members). External membership of these bodies is established via yearly appointment processes overseen by the Agenda Committee and the Campus Council.

UTM regularly engages with existing formal committees within the community and across the city and region as part of community relations and community engagement activities.  For example, UTM meets with local ratepayer associations at their formal forums and events to facilitate meaningful dialogue between the University and local community.  Regular outreach with these committees allows UTM to provide updates on university activities and offers an opportunity for community members to provide feedback and contribute to UTM’s decision-making process. In addition, UTM regularly consults with the community on capital projects and strategic planning. As an example, recent discussion forums held by our Principal allowed the community to be a part of a broader discussion around UTM’s Strategic Framework, the new, 10-year Campus Master Plan, and new capital projects which were underway at the time.  Both university- and campus-governance processes and committees include community representation by design, giving community voices a direct say in university decision-making and governance.

Openness and reciprocity is at the heart of our Strategic Framework, and it drives how we approach the work that we do across all University activities. In 2022, UTM added a new Director of External Relations to its senior leadership team. The Director is responsible for enacting the campus’s mission in community leadership, public impact and reciprocal external relations. https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/vp-principal/people/amanda-pautler.