Working Group on Board Governance Review

Background

The basic structure of the Board of Governors was established by the University of Guelph Act (1964) and at its first meeting on May 8, 1964. Since that time, the Board has recognized the value of engaging in periodic comprehensive reviews and has undertaken such a review every 10 to 20 years. The last comprehensive review of the Board was completed in 1999.  

Accordingly, at its meeting on January 23, 2018 the Board determined that it would be timely and appropriate to conduct another comprehensive review. The Governance & HR Committee of the Board determined that it would be most effective to conduct this review internally, and proposed that a working group undertake the review and report back to the Committee. 

Mandate

The mandate of the Working Group is to "is to determine whether the bylaws, committees and practices of the Board of Governors, as it is presently legislatively constituted, are best positioned to support the Board’s advisory and oversight roles."

Membership

The Working Group is comprised of 4 external members, 1 faculty member, 1 staff member and 1 student member. In determining the membership of the Working Group, the Governance & HR Committee was also mindful of the need for diversity and meaningful alumni representation. The Working Group is composed of the following members: 

• Eleanor Fritz (Chair | External | Alumni)
• Rich Appiah (External | Alumni)
• Bill Hogarth (External)
• Wendy Millar (External | Alumni)
• Byron Sheldrick (Faculty)
• Irene Thompson (Staff | Alumni)
• Andrew Kuttain (Student)

Consultation

In order to ensure that the governance review process is transparent, accountable and attentive to the perspectives of the university community, the Working Group consulted with a broad array of stakeholder groups including:

• Current and Former Members of the Board of Governors
• Employee Groups
• Primary Student Organizations 
• Senators
• University Leadership Team
• University of Guelph Alumni Association 

Final Report

The final report of the Working Group can be found here.