General Senate & Student Governance FAQs

What is the Senate and What do Student Senators do?

Please refer to our home page where we explain the work of Senate and our role as your representatives at Senate.

Will students get an introduction to Osgoode governance?

Yes, this will occur on August 27th during Orientation’s Opening Ceremonies. You may also ask your Orientation Leaders about any specific questions you have about governance at Osgoode, or reach out to us.

What is the difference between Senate, L&L and Student Caucus?

The Legal and Literary Society (L&L) is the main student government at Osgoode. They receive a levy from students so they can fund events and clubs at Osgoode. Student Caucus of Faculty Council is a representative body of Osgoode students who primarily deal with governance matters at Osgoode. Caucus members sit on Osgoode’s Faculty Council, which is the main governance body at the law school. They also sit on Faculty Council Committees such as Academic Policy and Planning, as well as Appeals and Admissions, to name a few. Together, L&L and Caucus make up the two branches of student government at Osgoode and there is some overlap between the two bodies’ memberships. For more on L&L and Caucus, please see their respective websites.

Osgoode elects one Student Senator per year for a two-year term. Osgoode Student Senators sit on the York University Senate. In terms of hierarchy, Osgoode’s Faculty Council (which all Caucus members sit on) receives reports from York Senate, and most avenues of final appeal on everything from grades to academic policy goes to Committees of the York Senate. The York University Senate is the ultimate academic governance body at the university (the Board of Governors is the ultimate authority on budgetary and planning matters).

What are some issues that my Student Senators can take up at Senate?

Student Senators can take up any matters in theory at the York University Senate, but there are some limiting factors. Meetings of the Senate are made by the Senate Executive Committee. Students typically cannot simply add agenda items and topics without advanced warning and the approval of the Senate Executive Committee. More likely, issues would be raised at Senate Committees and brought forward for approval or discussion.

As well, Student Senators are only able to sit on one Senate Committee. There are 7 Committees in total: Academic Policy, Academic Standards, Appeals, Awards, Executive, Tenure and Promotions, and Tenure and Promotions Appeals. There are also 2 sub-Committees of the Senate. Osgoode Student Senators may only be able to sit on two of these Committees at a time and so may have a limited ability to bring matters up before individual Committees; however, Osgoode Student Senators know which Student Senators sit on other Committees and can reach out to them to answer any questions or raise any matters. Osgoode Student Senators can also speak with members of the Student Senator Caucus (which is a body of all Student Senators from across the university) for joint efforts or brining up matters jointly before the Senate.

Moreover, the Senate only deals with academic matters. While things like tuition are popular topics, and Osgoode Student Senators can certainly work with the other members of student government to see a change, they are unable to bring up financial matters to the Senate as those matters are outside the purview of Senate itself.

When should I get in touch with my Student Senators?

You can get in touch with us anytime! You can consider the issues that we can directly help with before getting in contact with us, but you can always feel free to send us a message even if you’re unclear about whether or not your question or comment is something that we can address. We do our best to help with all inquiries, but if your concern is something that can’t be handled under our purview then we will make sure to direct you to the correct source and we’ll continue to provide our support in any way possible after our referral.

What are some initiatives that the Student Senators have worked on in the past?

We worked with City Councillor Perruzza to propose a crosswalk installation between Nelson Road and the Pond Road in order to enhance the accessibility of campus and also ensure the safety of Osgoode/Passy students. This motion was approved on May 2021.

We continue to advocate on the behalf of Osgoode students at Senate Executive Committee meetings where Osgoode’s proposed policy changes are reviewed for Committee approval.

What is the relationship between Osgoode and the York U Senate?

More complicated than you might think. Firstly, as much as students might like to claim it is, Osgoode is not an independent institution from York University. This means that Osgoode’s Faculty Council, which is the main governing body of faculty, students, and staff at Osgoode, actually reports to the York University Senate. In theory, this could mean that the York Senate has a significant amount of power over the relationship with Osgoode, but in practice this is not quite accurate.

York Senate practices a certain amount of deference to Osgoode’s Faculty Council and administration. Typically, this has meant that Osgoode is able to set its own academic policies largely unchallenged. For example, in 2019, York University announced it would be switching to a new grading scale from a 9.0 to a 4.0 scale and adding minus grades. Osgoode has changed their grading scale from a 9.0 to a 4.0 one but will not be adding minus grades. Another example came in 2020, when Osgoode adopted a mandatory CR/NCR grading scheme to address the inequalities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, York Senate adopted an optional CR/NCR grading scheme per course.

What does the internal structure of the Senate look like?

Internally, Senate is run by a Chair and Vice-Chair, who are elected. The Senate is also run by a small army of members of the University Secretariat who help to organize materials, take Committee meeting minutes, and assist in policy writing. The University Secretary, who is the head of the Secretariat, is the main contact for Senate. The Senate Executive Committee typically sets the agenda for Senate and can make emergency, unilateral decisions taken on behalf of Senate which are then approved at a later date by Senate. Each Senate Committee is headed by a Chair, who typically reports the Committee matters to Senate on behalf of the Committee.

Where does my tuition go?

When you pay your tuition, it does not go directly to Osgoode. Instead, your tuition payment is sent to central York University where it is added together with the tuition of students from other Faculties across the university and used to pay for central services and other matters. York then takes the remaining funds and distributes them to the Faculties of York University under the Shared Accountability & Resource Planning (“SHARP”) model. SHARP’s key feature is the direct attribution of revenues and expenses to Faculties on the basis of resource usage and measurable performance, with the measures set by York. Osgoode then uses its budget on things such as student awards and professor salaries. For more information on these budgets, please check back later this year when we will publish both the York University and Osgoode Hall budgets.

Can Osgoode move back to their former downtown location, or at least use it more?

Under the affiliation agreement with York University signed in October 1965, Osgoode Hall Law School is no longer housed at the historic Osgoode Hall building downtown. In the 1960s, the Government of Ontario mandated all law schools to be affiliated with a university. The site downtown is now in use as a court house and historic site which is co-owned by the Province and the Law Society. Generally during Orientation Osgoode Hall students are given access the halls and are able to take a guided tour. Osgoode students can also participate in mooting competitions which take place at Osgoode Hall, but Osgoode will not be moving back to its original location.