Senate

Under the University of Guelph Act, the Senate is the ultimate academic authority in the University. Senate Bylaws may be consulted in the office of the Secretary of Senate. College students and faculty at Alfred, Kemptville and Ridgetown may obtain this information from their Director's Office.

Diploma student senators are elected by their fellow students. The meetings of Senate are open to visitors who have tickets. Tickets are available from the Secretary of Senate (or the Director's office for regional Colleges). Senate directs the academic life of the University assisted by its boards and committees which report regularly to Senate. The Senate meets from September to June. Dates for the meetings may be obtained from the Secretary of Senate or from the Senate website <http://www.uoguelph.ca/Senate/>.

Board of Undergraduate Studies

The Board of Undergraduate Studies, which meets from the beginning of September to the end of June, controls all undergraduate degree and associate diploma programs under the authority of Senate. The Board of Undergraduate Studies shall consist of the Associate Vice-President Academic or designate; the University Registrar, the Coordinator of Undergraduate Curriculum; the Associate Vice-President Student Affairs or designate; the Chief Librarian or designate; the Director of Open Learning; the Director of the Centre for New Students; the Director of the Agri-Food Education Programs; one College Dean; five faculty; and four undergraduate students (one of whom shall be the Academic Commissioner of the C.S.A. and preference may be given to a diploma student for one of the other seats).

Provincial Diploma Programs Committee

The Provincial Diploma Programs Committee is a subcommittee of the Board of Undergraduate Studies comprised of one faculty/instructor and one senior diploma student from the College Curriculum Committees at OAC and the three Colleges, plus 8 ex-officio members including the Dean of OAC; the Director, Agri-Food Diploma Programs; the Associate Directors from each college; the Co-ordinator of Undergraduate Curriculum; the Director, Counselling and Student Development Centre (Guelph); and the Associate Registrar Undergraduate Program Services. The Committee has the responsibility to manage curriculum, approve new/deleted courses, review and revise the schedule of studies and make recommendations to the Board of Undergraduate Studies.

Other responsibilities include:

• managing guidelines and the application process
• reviewing and overseeing student counselling, advising and student services
• overseeing the creation and operation of Boards of Appeal at the Colleges which function in place of the Senate Committee on Student Petitions
• other academic matters as may be appropriate or assigned by the Board of Undergraduate Studies

College Curriculum Committees

The Ontario Agricultural College and the Colleges at Alfred, Kemptville, and Ridgetown each have a Curriculum Committee chaired by the Associate Director (Director at OAC) and comprised of faculty/instructors from each Diploma Program offered at the College. Membership also includes students from years one and two of each Diploma program. Other faculty/students may be added as required. Students are elected by their peers. The Associate Director, one faculty/instructor and one senior student from the Curriculum Diploma Programs Committee represents their college on the Provincial Diploma Program Committee.

The responsibilities of each Curriculum Committee include:

• to review and submit course proposals and revisions to the provincial committee
• to appoint an Academic Review Committee to process all student requests for supplementals, academic consideration, absences from examinations etc.
• to appoint an Admissions Committee to deal with readmission, appeals, and recommend changes to the admissions criteria
• to oversee student counselling, advising and student services at their location

Senate Committee on Student Petitions (O.A.C. at the University of Guelph only)

This committee assesses and disposes of academic appeals from students registered at the University of Guelph. The Senate Committee on Student Petitions consists of ten members of Senate and a chair, who is named by Senate and is a tenured faculty member or student member of Senate. Of the ten members of Senate, five are students and five are faculty members. The members of the committee are appointed annually by Senate based on recommendations from the Senate Committee on Bylaws and Membership.

Board of Appeal (Alfred, Kemptville and Ridgetown Colleges)

Each of the three Colleges has a Board of Appeal in place of the Senate Committee on Student Petitions. The Board of Appeal is comprised of six members including the chair. The six members of the Board are comprised of three students and three instructors/faculty appointed annually.

The Board assesses and disposes of academic appeals from students registered at that College of the University of Guelph.

Admission inquiries: Admission Services ~ ~ ~ General calendar inquiries: Undergraduate Program Services
Last revised: 14 May 2003
© 2003 Office of Registrarial Services, University of Guelph