Council is the democratic governing body or “House of Commons” of the Society.
SOGS Council is comprised of:
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- The Speaker who administers and governs Council;
- The Deputy Speaker who assists the Speaker and chairs the Bylaws and Constitution Committee;
- Councillors who represent their departments and faculties (have voting rights);
- The SOGS Executive (*only the President has voting rights);
- Ex-officio members (i.e., the SOGS Ombudsperson, Commissioners, committee Chairs, and student Senators; no voting rights); and,
- The SOGS Staff hold “Observership” at Council (*no voting rights, but can speak and bring forth reports)
Administration and Governance:
- SOGS Council is held monthly, October through September each year (except the month of December)
- Councillors are elected in September by their departments
- The SOGS Annual General Meeting is held in February
- SOGS issues “Departmental Grants” to reward departments for councillor participation each year (*$3 per enrolled student per term for 100% attendance; pro-rated)
- The SOGS Speaker is elected each June by SOGS Council, taking office July 1 for 12 months
- The Speaker governs and administers Council; the SOGS Governance & Policy Administrator is the recording Secretary
Please contact the SOGS office if you’re interested in:
- Becoming a councillor;
- Taking a leave of absence as a councillor; or,
- Resigning from your role as elected councillor.
Please direct all administrative council queries to Nick DeSumma, SOGS Governance & Policy Manager [sogs.governance@uwo.ca]
How: Complete a Nomination or Vacant Councillor form found here and submit to the SOGS Office (MC, Rm 8) or SOGS Governance & Policy Manager (sogs.governance@uwo.ca) via email. When: Usually the last Thursday of every month at 6:00pm (with Zoom sign-in starting at 5:30pm). Where: Middlesex College, room 105B for the Fall 2024 Term (or via Zoom, if need this as an accommodation) What: Councillors should arrive to the meeting prepared, having read the council package. Councillors should share each month’s council summary with their department and bring forward concerns from their department to Council/Executive. Why: In addition to advocating on behalf of your department’s interests and keeping informed about campus-wide information that impacts all graduate students, SOGS issues Departmental Grants ($3 per full-time equivalent student times 3 terms per year, which is pro-rated to departmental Councillor attendance) to each graduate department. The amount of the grant reflects how many meetings each department’s Councillors attend. The Council year begins with the October meeting. Please submit a Councillor Nomination Form (2024-25) to the SOGS Governance and Policy Manager (In-person at the SOGS office or via email – sogs.governance@uwo.ca). To learn what happened at SOGS council each month (i.e., what motions were passes, Executive reports, and more), read our council summary here. The below Councillor Seat Chart will be updated once all Councillor Nomination forms are submitted to the SOGS Office. SOGS members in good standing can run for any SOGS position. See our elections table here. SOGS will calculate how many seats each department has based on SOGS membership numbers given to us by the Registrar’s Office. Our Communications Administrator will notify each department by emailing the graduate student society if there is an email on file or by contacting the department’s Graduate Administrative Coordinator. The allocation of Council seats for the 2023-24 year is detailed below.Relevant Documents
Attending Council
Joining Council
Council Summary
Council Seats