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McGill Governance Structures

This McGill governance guide provides brief descriptions of the composition, function, and structure of each major body in student and university governance. It has been created to aid researchers who are not familiar with the university in understanding our materials and timelines.

For information on policies within these organizations, see our policies timeline.

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU):

The Students’ Society of McGill University is McGill’s downtown campus undergraduate student government, which represents all undergraduate faculties and schools (including Law, Dentistry, and Medicine). Founded in 1908, the SSMU coordinates student groups on campus, advocates for student interests and needs within McGill’s larger administrative governance structures, and strives to advance student life and learning, including organizing social events, improving the quality and accessibility of education, and supporting social justice-related causes on campus. SSMU is made up of several different bodies: the Board of Directors, the Legislative Council, the Executive Council, the Judicial Board, and the Senate Caucus. The representatives that make up these entities are either appointed or elected. Elections are held in March each year and elected officials serve one-year terms.

Board of Directors (BoD)

The BoD is SSMU’s highest governing body. This body “supervises the management, and administers the business and affairs, of the Students’ Society of McGill University.”1

The BoD is made up of 9 appointed students (including 4 representatives of the legislative council and 5 members at large), 1 appointed non-voting international student (based on an application process), and 4 members of the SSMU executive council.

Legislative Council

Sometimes colloquially known as “leg council,” this is the political decision-making body and legislative arm of the SSMU. As noted in the SSMU constitution, the legislative council is “empowered to make all decisions and take all actions on behalf of the Society.”2 This most frequently involves making decisions on and passing policies.

The legislative council is made up of 30 elected students, including 2 student senators and 6 elected student executives which make up the executive council. The council includes representatives for undergraduate faculties and schools, athletics, student residences, SSMU First Year Council, and clubs and services. These representatives are elected by the student bodies that they represent.

Executive Council

The executive council is the elected governing body of the SSMU. These representatives are elected by the undergraduate student body after a spring campaign period. It is made up of 6 elected executives: President, VP University Affairs, VP Internal, VP External, VP Student Life, VP Finance. Students in these positions typically take classes part-time as these positions require full-time work (but are still considered full-time students, therefore not violating terms of international student permits or visas). Executive council members oversee a number of staff and committees specific to their portfolios.

For more information on the specific responsibilities of each executive, visit https://ssmu.ca/about-us/organigram/.

Judicial Board

Sometimes referred to as “J-Board”, the Judicial Board is a committee of the BoD and “an official dispute resolution body of the SSMU empowered to hear Actions involving Members of the SSMU and emit Decisions within its Jurisdiction.”3 According to The McGill Tribune, “the board also has authority over the SSMU Legislative Council’s motions and resolutions, procedures, questions and results of all elections and referenda, the constitutions of clubs and services of the Society, the interpretation of any other governance documents of clubs and services of the SSMU as requested, and any equity complaints.”4

The judicial board consists of seven students: one chief justice and six other justices. These students are appointed through an application process.

SSMU Senate Caucus

The SSMU Senate Caucus is composed of elected student senators reporting to the McGill Senate. Student senators are typically elected by students in their respective faculty or school. For more information, see “McGill Senate” below.

Referenda

SSMU oversees a number of student clubs, services, and independent student groups (ISGs). Some of these groups are funded by student fees. There are also a number of projects of the SSMU that have their own fee levies.

For anyone to instate a fee levy, they must have a referendum question approved by the Chief Electoral Officer of SSMU. Questions can either be initiated and proposed by the legislative council or student-initiated. For a student-initiated question to be placed on the ballot, the proposer(s) must collect 500 signatures from members of SSMU in support of the question appearing. Referenda take place twice a year, in early November and early March.

Groups that operate independently of McGill but collect student fees (such as SSMU, faculty associations, and SSMU services and ISGs) each have a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the university. This agreement outlines the conditions to which the group must adhere in order to collect student fees, operate on campus, and use the McGill name. MoAs last for an agreed-upon number of years, beginning at the time of a successful referendum vote. Once this period has ended, the group must run a new referendum question to continue to collect student fees and engage in other terms permitted by the MoA. Groups must also run new referendum questions to increase fees (with an exception for a few societies that have grand-fathered cost of living index increases each year).

Undergraduate associations:

McGill is made up of eleven faculties and eleven schools, each of which has its own undergraduate association. Undergraduate faculty and school associations offer services, resources, and events to students in the faculties and schools they represent. They also represent students in the faculty or school to promote their welfare and interests.

Each faculty and school association has elected representatives who sit on the SSMU Legislative Council.

Some undergraduate faculty and school associations are comprised of representatives from smaller departmental associations – for example, the Arts Undergraduate Society oversees associations for arts departments including English, Anthropology, Philosophy, and many others.

These associations are as follows:

  • Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS)
  • Arts & Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS)
  • Dental Students’ Society (DSS)
  • Education Undergraduate Society (EdUS)
  • Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS)
  • Law Students' Association (LSA)
  • Management Undergraduate Society (MUS)
  • Medical Students' Society (MSS)
  • Music Undergraduate Students' Association (MUSA)
  • Nursing Undergraduate Society (NUS)
  • Physical and Occupational Therapy Undergraduate Society (POTUS)
  • Science Undergraduate Society (SUS)
  • Social Work Students' Association (SWSA)

Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS):

The PGSS is the association of all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at McGill. PGSS was originally a part of SSMU, but became an independent entity in 1991.

Council

The PGSS Council is the main governing body of the PGSS and “is charged with dealing with the long-term vision of the Society, of policy, approves committee placements, and serves as an accountability mechanism for the Executive.”6 Each postgraduate student association has 1-3 seats on the council (based on student population). PGSS executives and commissioners also sit as non-voting members on the council.

Executive

The PGSS has six executives: the Secretary-General, University Affairs Officer, External Affairs Officer, Financial Affairs Officer, Internal Affairs Officer, and Member Services Officer.

For more information on the specific responsibilities of each executive, visit https://pgss.mcgill.ca/en/executives.

McGill University:

McGill University is made up of a number of governing bodies that involve students, staff, Governors, and alumni.

Students were not originally members of these governing bodies, but in the late 1960s, students held a number of demonstrations to gain seats on McGill Senate and departmental committees.7

Board of Governors (BoG)

The BoG is the highest governing body at McGill and “has final authority over the conduct of all academic, business, and financial affairs of the University.”8

The Board is made up of 25 members and 2 non-voting observers, divided as follows:

Members:

  • Chancellor, ex officio
  • Principal and Vice-Chancellor, ex officio
  • 12 members-at-large
  • 3 representatives of the McGill Alumni Association
  • 2 representatives of Senate
  • 2 representatives of the academic staff 2 representatives of the administrative and support staff
  • 1 representative of the Students' Society of McGill University
  • 1 representative of the Post-Graduate Students' Society

Observers ("voice but no vote"):

  • 1 representative of the McGill Association of Continuing Education Students
  • 1 representative of the Macdonald Campus Students' Society9

The 12 members-at-large are appointed by the BoG and largely consist of corporate directors. For a more detailed list of directors, please consult the following web​​page: https://www.mcgill.ca/boardofgovernors/membership.

McGill Senate

The McGill Senate is the second-highest governing body at McGill and serves as a link between the McGill community and the Board of Governors. The Senate primarily makes decisions on academic matters at McGill.

The Senate has 111 voting members, including staff, students, Governors, and alumni.

Secretariat

The Secretariat is McGill’s corporate head office and governance office, responsible for the Board of Governors and Senate (as well as their committees). In addition, it is an “impartial office which carries out a range of regulatory functions including the administration of processes related to academic tenure and promotion, academic staff and student dispute resolutions, safe disclosure, access to documents, University-wide elections and statutory advisory committees.”10

Works cited:

1. "Board of Directors," Students' Society of McGill University, accessed November 13, 2021, https://ssmu.ca/governance/board-of-directors/.

2. "Legislative Council," Students' Society of McGill University, accessed November 13, 2021, https://ssmu.ca/governance/ssmu-legislative-council/. 

3.  "Judicial Board Procedures" (policy document, Students' Society of McGill University, 2019), 6.

4. Kate Addison and Sequoia Kim. "Tribune Explains: SSMU’s Judicial Board," The McGill Tribune, October 20, 2020, https://www.mcgilltribune.com/news/tribune-explains-mcgills-judicial-board-10202020/.

5. Eric Van Eyken, "The Students' Society of McGill University: Celebrating 100 Years" (report, Students' Society of McGill University, 2010), 5.

6. "Council," Post-Graduate Students' Society of McGill University, accessed October 23, 2021, https://pgss.mcgill.ca/en/council.

7. Van Eyken, "The Students' Society of McGill University: Celebrating 100 Years," 6.

8. "Board of Governors," McGill University, accessed October 13, 2021, https://www.mcgill.ca/boardofgovernors/.

9. "2021-2022 Composition and Membership," McGill University, October 23, 2021, https://www.mcgill.ca/boardofgovernors/membership.

10. "Secretariat," McGill University, accessed October 23, 2021, https://www.mcgill.ca/secretariat/.