On November 21, the Union organized a session for Student Caucus members to discuss the proposed changes to TRU’s Election Procedure, which was postponed during the October 28 TRU Senate Meeting due to the lack of community consultation prior to the decision request.  

The changes proposed by the Registrar’s office will affect TRU’s governance elections for the positions on the Board of Governors, Senate, Planning Council for Open Learning, and Community Trust. The procedure covers the eligibility, campaigning, and disqualification for staff, faculty, and student positions. Updates included the recommendations that campaigning be prevented on voting days and that candidates be barred from using their MyTRU email addresses to campaign.  

At the Student Voices session, students highlighted two areas of concern that were outlined in the existing procedure. Firstly, appeals from disqualified candidates will be overseen by the Senate Appeals Committee, which currently has no requirement for student representation. This means that decisions will be made about nominated students without students contributing their voices in the process. Secondly, the only eligibility requirement pertains to students, stating that they must be in good academic and non-academic standing. Unlike students, faculty and staff have no such requirement.  

The lack of student representation on the Senate Appeals Committee and unfair eligibility requirements led to Student Caucus members submitting a redlined version of the TRU Elections Procedure to the Registrar and Provost’s Office for inclusion in the final draft before it goes for decision at the next TRU Senate Meeting on January 27.  

“I hope we see this feedback incorporated in the revised version of the TRU Election Procedure before it returns to the Senate. These changes could much more effectively improve some of the concerns students face during the election proceedings,” said Waqar Ul Mulk, a student Senator.  

All TRU Senate meetings are public and open for TRU community members to attend. 

To learn more about other Student Voices activities your representatives have been engaging in on your behalf, click here.  

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