Students' Council

Students' Council is the ultimate authority in the Students' Union. It consists of 40 members:

• The Speaker (non-voting)
• The President of the Students' Union
• The four Vice-Presidents
• The Undergraduate Board of Governors Representative
• 32 Faculty Councillors (distributed on a representation by population principle)
• The General Manager (non-voting)

Together, these individuals are responsible for fulfilling the mandate of the Students' Union. This mandate comes from the Post Secondary Learning Act.

To this end, while Students' Council has delegated some of its authority to its various committees, notably the Discipline, Interpretation, and Enforcement Board and the Executive Committee, it retains ultimate control and authority over the elected Executive Officers, staff, all monies collected under its authority, and any subsidiary body created under its auspices. In short, all power, control and responsibility ultimately is vested in Council.

Council has created nine committees to assist it in its work. They are:

• Audit Committee
• Budget and Finance Committee
• Bylaw Committee
• Council Administration Committee
• Discipline, Interpretation and Enforcement Board (judiciary)*
• Elections Review Committee
• Executive Committee
• Grant Allocation Committee
• Policy Committee

*This committee is made up of appointed, non-elected officials to avoid conflicts of interest and maintain judicial independence.

While there are other committees in the Students' Union established by the Executive Committee or Staff, the above committees exist exclusively to carry out the business of Students' Council. As such, they consist almost exclusively of elected members of Students' Council. These committees allow Council to greatly expand the amount of business it can deal with by carrying out delegated activities and refining suggested actions to be taken by Council.

Meetings of Students' Council are generally every second week on Tuesdays from 6 PM until 10 PM in Council Chambers, University Hall. Meetings are open to the public except when Council moves in camera to discuss sensitive business. Students' Council welcomes input from the public during meetings, but please be aware that all meetings of the Council observe Robert's Rules of Order. If you are interested in attending a meeting of Students' Council, please check the meeting schedule for information for when and where the next Council meeting will take place.

The logistical and procedural concerns of Council are the responsibility of the elected Speaker. Any questions should be directed towards this officer of Council at speaker@su.ualberta.ca.

If you would like to volunteer with—and learn more about—Students' Council, please visit the Students' Council Mentorship Program information page.