Board of Appeal

The Board of Appeal (BoA) is the final level of appeals within the UTGSU.

The BoA can investigate any decisions made by the UTGSU Board of Directors Chair, Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Elections and Referenda Committee, the Chief and Deputy Returning Officers, and the UTGSU Course Unions. Through these investigations, the BoA may rule on final appeals regarding elections, referenda, decision-making processes defined in the bylaw and policies, issues of conflict of interest and penalty, and concerns regarding the operations of any UTGSU body.

The BoA is composed of a Chair, Vice Chair, and five graduate student representatives, who hold office from May 1 to April 30.
The articles and policies concerning the BoA can be found in Bylaw 14.6 and Policy G10: Appeal Process.

To Submit an Appeal

To submit an appeal, Members should first read this page, which provides information around the processing of an Appeal. Appeals are governed by Policy G10: Appeals Process – in case of a contradiction or vagueness on this page the Policy takes precedence.

Decisions or events can only be appealed within 28 days of the Member receiving the decision from the immediate prior level of appeal.

An appeal is formally submitted by filling the appeal form with the necessary information, including

• Name and contact information of the Appellant
• The decision of event that they wish to appeal
• The Body that made the decision or event (if applicable)
• The reasons for the appeal

The appeal form together with any additional evidence must then be sent to the Chair of the BoA appealchair@utgsu.ca.

Accommodations will be made at the discretion of the BoA and may include but are not limited to flexible times for the submission of evidence and alternative forms of submission of evidence or testimony.

Process

Upon receipt of the appeal form, the BoA meets within 14 days to discuss the appeal.

The Chair of the BoA will contact the official or Chair of the body whose decision is under appeal, requesting a statement and evidence. The statement will address the initial decision made by the body and outline the processes followed to reach the decision. All evidence considered in a lower appeal or decision must be supplied by the body to the BoA.

The BoA might seek oral testimony to clarify written statements. Oral testimony will be appended to the minutes of the meeting, which are kept confidential.

Rulings

The BoA will make a ruling via report and, if applicable, a suggested ruling in the case of a minority report. A ruling from the BoA may include:

• Overturning or upholding the decision made by the body of the UTGSU in question,
• Any recommendation as outlined under the Elections Code, policies, or Bylaw regarding Elections or Referenda,
• Any recommendation regarding a flaw inherent in a Bylaw Article or policy of the UTGSU,
• Any recommendation to discipline a Member, Director or Officer in accordance with Bylaw 10, and
• Any other recommendation as the Board, in its discretion, sees fit.

The BoA will seek consensus in its rulings. In the absence of consensus, the ruling shall be made by majority vote and both a majority and minority report will be produced with the listed names of members of the BoA who support each particular report.

The BoA report will then be sent to the Board of Directors, who ratifies the report. The report will be made publicly available on the UTGSU website 7 days after it was ratified.

Contact

To contact the BoA, email the Chair, Reke Avikpe, at appealchair@utgsu.ca.