Consultation on Draft Policy on the Recognition of Student Groups

Thank you for providing us with your feedback on the proposed changes to the Policy on the Recognition of Campus Groups.

Overview

The Office of the Vice-Provost, Students is proposing changes to the current Policy on the Recognition of Campus Groups. This policy has been in existence since 1987 and provides the framework by which groups that are voluntary in nature are recognized by the University. This will be the first revision to this policy since 1993 and the University is seeking feedback from the University community, especially students involved in Recognized Campus Groups.

The proposed changes include replacing all instances of “campus group” with “student group”, including renaming the policy to the Policy on the Recognition of Student Groups. This name change reflects a shift towards ensuring that resources to support the groups currently recognized through the Student Life/Student Affairs offices on our three campuses support the academic, co-curricular, and social lives of current U of T students. To this end, leadership opportunities and the access to space on campus should be provided to student-led organizations. Other areas of the University, such as Alumni Relations, have their own guidelines in place for their respective groups and networks.

Phase 1 Consultation

We invited students, staff and faculty to provide comments on the proposed changes to the Policy on the Recognition of Campus Groups (proposed new name: Policy on the Recognition of Student Groups) from February 11 to April 5, 2020.

Some of the proposed changes to the eligibility requirements for recognized Student Group status included:

  • Student Groups must have a minimum of ten (10) members. Currently there is no minimum.
  • Executive members of Student Groups must be registered students of the University of Toronto.
  • Should a Student Group wish to use “University of Toronto” in their name, the name shall include a notation indicating its student status (i.e., “Student Group”).
  • Clarifying the relationship between external groups and campus groups.

Changes also include minor edits such as formatting and restructuring of existing content and updates to wording. For example, we have proposed organizing the content into sections and have added headers, shifting the position of some content as a result.

Phase 2 Consultation

After reviewing feedback received in Phase 1 consultations and making updates to the proposed changes to the Policy, we invited community feedback on an updated draft from April 27 to May 4, 2020: “This is what we heard — did we miss anything?“. After consultation with the University community, some of the proposed changes to the eligibility requirements for recognized Student Group status include:

  • Student Groups must have a minimum of five (5) members who are registered students of the University of Toronto. Currently there is no minimum.
  • Executive members with voting privileges must be currently registered students of the University of Toronto. Staff, faculty, or alumni members may hold non-voting executive positions to a maximum of one (1) or ten per cent (10%) of the full executive body, whichever is greatest.
  • Should a Student Group wish to use “University of Toronto” (or similar) in their name, it must be clear in their name and all related representations that it is a Student Group.
  • Clarifying the relationship between external groups and campus groups.

Changes also include minor edits such as formatting and restructuring of existing content and updates to wording. For example, we have proposed organizing the content into sections and have added headers, shifting the position of some content as a result.

Next Steps

The consultation period is closed. The final version of the proposed Policy is planned to go through University Governance for approval in cycle 6 (May to June 2020).

Confidentiality

Comments on this consultation were collected by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students. Individual comments were stripped of any identifying information to ensure confidentiality. Respondents were asked to indicate their primary stakeholder group (student, staff, or faculty) and their primary campus affiliation (St. George, UTM, or UTSC). Clearly identifiable comments received from student organizations will be reported as coming from those organizations.