PROPOSAL FOR MODIFICATIONS TO STUDENT MEMBERSHIP ON FGS
COUNCIL AND STRUCTURE, RULES AND PROCEDURES
Context
In October of 2015, Senate approved a Proposal for Changes to FGS Faculty Council Membership and Structure, Rules
and Procedures, which included modifications to the membership composition of FGS Council. These modifications
included the removal of several categories of membership that were not necessarily facilitating strong engagement on
graduate education at York (see Appendix A - Proposal for Changes to FGS Faculty Council Membership and Structure,
Rules and Procedures).
The modifications to the membership structure of Council have reduced the overall size of Council from 302 members to
224 members, and have changed the proportion of student membership from 23% to 31%. Upon approving the changes
to the membership structure, Senate reminded FGS that all rules and regulations of Senate must be followed. This
includes the rule that:
“That the number of student members on Councils of graduate Faculties and Colleges (including the Osgoode
Hall Law School) not exceed twenty-five percent (25 per cent) of the total voting membership of each of those
Councils. [January 1969]” (Section B, 11. b.) http://secretariat.info.yorku.ca/files/SenateRulesAndProceduresSeptember2012RevJuly2013RevJan2014RevMa
r2015.pdf
Modifications to student membership on FGS Council are required in order to comply with Senate regulations. FGS
Council should have approximately 50 student members in order to maximize student representation, allow for some
growth in faculty membership, and stay within the 25% Senate guideline.
Rationale
At present, there are 69 student members of Council. Of this number, 7 are elected student members of Standing
Committees of Council, and 3 are student association Presidents. 59 are Student Program Representatives on Council; 1
from each program. There is an underlying structural issue in FGS Council membership composition in that each time a
new graduate program is approved, either 1 (MA only) or 2 (MA and PhD) faculty representatives and 1 student
representative are added to Council. This means either 50% or 33% student representation for each program, both of
which exceed the 25% Senate guideline around student membership. The addition of graduate programs to the
university and the implementation of adjustments to faculty member only categories, have resulted in a misalignment
between Senate policy and FGS Council membership.
Before October 2015:
Number
Percentage
Faculty
227
75
Approved at Senate October 20, 2015:
Student
69
23
Staff
6
2
Total
302
100
Number
Percentage
Faculty
155
69
Student
69
31
Staff
0
0
0%
2%
Faculty
23%
Faculty
31%
Student
Student
75%
Staff
Member Categories by Percentage
gradstudies.yorku.ca
69%
Staff
Member Categories by Percentage
Total
224
100
Proposal
It is proposed that student membership from Standing Committees of Council and Student Presidents remain in
their current format.
It is proposed that the category of Student Program Representatives be discontinued.
It is proposed that student member representation be based on all full time equivalent graduate enrollments,
and structured by anchor Faculty membership. In addition, student representation shall follow these conditions:
 All students registered full or part time in York University graduate programs are eligible to be student
representatives on Council.
 All student representatives are elected through a general election to be held annually.
 Interim elections will be held as required.
 Student representatives would be elected for 1 year terms.
 There may be no more than two representatives from any one graduate program at one time.
 The number of student representatives per Faculty would be determined according to % of overall
graduate student enrolment and recalculated every 3 years, beginning with 2014 enrolment data.
 As per Senate guidelines, the percentage of student representation on Council will not exceed 25%.
It is proposed that these changes take effect as of 1 July 2015 and that administrative preparation begin
immediately.
Should the proposal be approved, FGS Faculty Council membership percentages would be as follows:
Before October 2015:
Faculty Student Staff Total
Number
227
69
6
302
Percentage
75
23
2
100
Should Proposal be Approved:
Faculty Student Staff
Total
Number
155
51
0
206
Percentage
75
24.76
0
100
0%
2%
Faculty
23%
Faculty
25%
Student
75%
Staff
Staff
Member Categories by Percentage
gradstudies.yorku.ca
Student
75%
Member Categories by Percentage
Should the recommendations be approved at all levels, student representation for 2016-17 through 2018-19
would be as follows:
Faculty
Enrolment - # of
FTEs (2014 data)
AMPD
Education
FES
Glendon
Health
LA&PS
Lassonde
Osgoode
Schulich
Science
Total
232
199
313
151
516
1130
171
284
916
349
4260
Percentage of Total
Enrolment (%)
Proposed Number
of Counselors
5.45
4.66
7.35
3.54
12.12
26.52
4.01
6.65
21.50
8.19
100
2
2
3
1
5
11
2
3
9
3
41
Standing Committee Student Representatives
Student Presidents
Sub-Total
Total Number of Student Representatives on FGS Council
Student Membership Percentage of Total FGS Council Membership
gradstudies.yorku.ca
7
3
10
51
24.76%