UTSU General Meetings
Information
The 2022 Annual General Meeting has been set to reconvene at 3:30pm on Sunday, October 30th.
The Annual General Meeting considers standard business, including the audited statements of the UTSU, the appointment of auditors, a presidential address and question period, and the consideration of relevant bylaw and policy amendments.
For any questions about the business to be conducted at a general meeting, please email the Vice-President Operations at vpoperations@utsu.ca.
The 2022 Annual General Meeting has been set to reconvene at 3:30pm on Sunday, October 30th. We will be holding this meeting entirely online via Zoom.
Students are asked to please RSVP before the meeting on Eventbrite. If you have already RSVP’d for the most recent AGM, please do not feel the need to re-RSVP.
This event is hosted exclusively for the purposes of UTSU members. As such, only members of the UTSU are able to attend and participate in this event. Members of the UTSU include:
- Full-time undergraduate students at the St. George Campus
- Toronto School of Theology students
- Transitional Year Program students
- Other students who have paid the UTSU fee
If you are not sure if you are a UTSU member, please check your ACORN statement and search for a fee titled Incid. Stud.Soc.: UTSU UofT Students’ Union. For the 2022-2023 session, the UTSU membership fee is $21.07.
Attendance exceptions are made for appropriate guests and members of the press.
There are two ways to participate in the UTSU’s general meetings. You can participate:
- By being directly present online at the meeting. In-person participation is the single most meaningful way to participate in general meetings at the UTSU.Â
- By proxy. Proxy voting is offered to members who are unable to attend and wish to give another person the authority to vote on their behalf. It is the responsibility of the proxy-giver to pick their proxy-holder well and to communicate their opinions and/or voting intentions well. Likewise, it is the responsibility of the proxy-holder to exercise fidelity to the intentions of their giver(s). Please note that if you give your proxy to another member to vote on your behalf, you will not be permitted to attend the meeting yourself, as your vote will be taken.
For members wishing to assign their proxy to other members attending the meeting, information is provided below.
The UTSU’s general meetings are analogous to general meetings (see Wikipedia Annual General Meeting) hosted by other organizations around the world. The meeting sees both informative and directive items of business concerning the past, present, and future work of the UTSU.
In particular, the Annual General Meeting is a general meeting in which the UTSU conducts regular business that requires approval by the members, and any bylaw amendments or other special business as needed.
Informative items of business open the doors of the UTSU; they are meant to give assurance to stakeholders that the organization is doing worthwhile work and that it is doing it to an adequate standard. Directive items of business, on the other hand, put the UTSU on a designated path. Directive items come in the form of resolutions. Once passed, resolutions bind the organization to a specific course of action. The purpose of business in this category is, in circumstances of limited scope, to compel that the organization to act in the interests of its stakeholders.
The items of business that come to UTSU general meetings from year to year vary. Some items are mandated for consideration at every annual general meeting; these are categorized as ordinary business. All other items are distinguished as special business.
Every item of business to be considered at a general meeting is enumerated on the agenda. Those items which warrant further information and/or documentation will have supporting materials included in the meeting package.
For any questions about upcoming general meetings, email the Vice-President Operations at vpoperations@utsu.ca.
The ability to proxy votes is available at utsu.simplyvoting.com now. This will remain available until Sunday October 30th at 12pm, four hours prior to the meeting.
Students who are not able to attend the meeting themselves have the choice of proxying their vote to another student. Before proxying your vote, please be certain that you will not be attending the meeting yourself. If you proxy your vote, you will lose the ability to attend the meeting yourself, and your proxy holder will assume full control of your vote.
If you plan on proxying your vote to another student, please follow the steps below.
- Visit https://utsu.simplyvoting.com
- Log in using the University of Toronto’s SSO log-in.
- Go to the available ballot.
- Follow the instructions provided to proxy your vote to another student.
Find the meeting package by clicking here, or by clicking on the link below.
Google Drive link to public meeting package folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ps_iFmmRPdtldJzdKJUzFXzPeAO6s27O?usp=sharing
Live transcription will be provided for online meetings conducted via Zoom.
If you have any requests, inquiries, or concerns related to the accessibility of the meeting or the technology being used, please contact the Vice-President Finance & Operations, at vpoperations@utsu.ca.
Meeting Package
Here you will find the meeting package for the UTSU’s next general meeting of the members. This page contains a collection of documents relevant to the coming meeting. Members planning to attend a meeting of the members are strongly encouraged to review the package contents, as various items on the agenda pertain directly to the information inside of them.
The meeting package can be viewed by visiting the link provided below: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ps_iFmmRPdtldJzdKJUzFXzPeAO6s27O?usp=sharing
The meeting agenda lays out all of the meeting’s activities in the order in which they are to be considered.
The agenda is structured in a manner that is consistent with Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), which is the parliamentary authority of the UTSU, and governs how meetings are conducted at the UTSU (including general meetings). At any point, members may make a “point of information” to the Speaker of the Board if they are unsure about meeting procedure or any other element of the meeting.
For questions regarding the agenda for the meeting, please email the Vice-President Operations at vpoperations@utsu.ca.
The minutes of the previous general meeting are an official record of the decisions reached in that meeting. They are meant to record what the assembly considered and decided at the meeting. Minutes are not a transcription of events, but rather a record of decision, and do not attempt to record debate or discussion.
Please note that audited financial statements only appear on the agenda at annual general meetings. For special general meetings, this item is not considered.
Each year, the UTSU’s auditors audit the UTSU’s financial statements, which comprise the statement of financial position, and the statements of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows for the year then ended and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.
Amendments to the bylaws and policies of the organization may be considered at general meetings of the membership. All amendments to the bylaws must be approved by the membership, but often times, many changes will already be in effect (as per the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act) and simply require ratification by the members in order to remain in effect. In some cases, policies may require approval at a general meeting. All changes to the governance of the UTSU falls under the responsibility of the UTSU Governance Committee, reporting to the Board of Directors.
FAQ
What important times and considerations are there to note?
- Please arrive early before all general meetings
- There will be brief breaks provided throughout meetings
Where can I learn more about proposed governance changes?
The proposed bylaws revision has been included in the meeting package, along with a guide that explains the purposes behind the changes. Both can be found by clicking the link presented under “Meeting Package”.
Where should I go if I have concerns or questions about the AGM?
If you have any questions about the AGM, please contact the VP Operations at vpoperations@utsu.ca. For press inquiries, please contact media@utsu.ca.
What types of food and beverage are being served?
This general meeting will be held entirely on Zoom, so no snacks will be served.
Is the online event accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing?
Yes. Live transcription will be made available.