What is the UTGSU
The UTGSU is the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union. Founded in 1964, the UTGSU represents more than 22,000 full-time and part-time graduate students at the University of Toronto St. George, Mississauga, Scarborough and Aerospace campuses.
The UTGSU is a membership-driven organization. We are your students’ union and that means you have great opportunities to participate in the decision-making process of the UTGSU. Learn more about how we function in the section below, while also exploring the rest of the site to learn more about how you can get involved in our campaigns, programming, services and other opportunities.
Organizational Structure
As a large organization focused on Member engagement, the UTGSU has a comprehensive governing structure as set out in our organizational Bylaws. You can learn more about these governing bodies by visiting Governance or find relevant contact information at Team.
Members
All fee-paying full-time and part-time graduate students at the University of Toronto St. George, Mississauga, Scarborough and Aerospace campuses (minus students in the School of Theology) are members of the UTGSU.
Your rights as a member:
- Get involved in advocacy and campaigns
- Make use of the programming and services
- Exercise your vote through elections, referendums, and membership meetings
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is composed of the Directors and Executive Officers elected by the Members. The Board is responsible for setting the goals and priorities of the Union, formulating UTGSU policy, approving the UTGSU budget and receiving reports and information from other campus groups. See Governance for more details.
Committees
The UTGSU has several committees, some open for all Members to join and some closed. The open Committees tackle issues such as food security, base funding and cost of living issues. These committees are instrumental in the facilitation of turning membership ideas into membership realities. The closed committees deal with UTGSU operations, like Finances or Governance. See Committees for more details.
Course Unions and the Assembly
Each graduate department has established a student organization or group referred to as a Course Union. Each Course Union has a democratically-elected executive responsible to the graduate students in its department. The Assembly is a forum for Course Unions to discuss matters that are of interest for the whole Membership of the UTGSU. See Course Unions for more details.
Caucuses
The UTGSU has seven Caucuses that represent specific groups of Members. They organize events and advocate for issues faced by their members within the UTGSU and the University. See Caucuses for more details.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is composed of the six Officers elected by the Members. The Executive Committee is responsible for the day-to-day management of the UTGSU finances; health and dental insurance; services, campaigns and programming; and the GSU building, which houses the GSU Pub, Gym, and Grad Loft. See Governance for more details.
Staff
There are six full-time staff members who administer the services and operations of the UTGSU on a day-to-day basis. The Executive Director supervises the full-time staff members and ensures that the direction set by the Executive Committee, Board of Directors and General Meetings are implemented accordingly.
Board of Appeal
The UTGSU maintains a multi-level dispute resolution process, laid out in the UTGSU Bylaws. The Board of Appeal is the final level of dispute resolution which is empowered to investigate and make recommendations to the Board of Directors. See Governance for more details.