Board Meeting Synopsis for April 21, 2021

The third regular meeting of the Board of Governors for the 2020-21 year was held April 21, 2021, via web conference and was chaired by Board Chair Shauneen Bruder. 

The meeting began with a welcome to Governors, followed by a territorial acknowledgment offered by the Board Chair. It was noted that the open session meeting of the Board of Governors was accessible to the public via livestream by contacting the University Secretariat.

The President offered oral remarks, noting the strategic items for the Board’s consideration included in the agenda and highlighting several important reports included in the Board’s materials, including the Sexual Violence Annual Report. The President noted the success of the COVID-19 vaccination clinic located within the University Centre and offered thanks for the five-hundred volunteers. President Yates noted the ongoing work of the Strategic Framework Refresh.

The Board of Governors’ strategic area of focus for the meeting was the consideration and approval of the University's budget plan and certain subsidiary budget plans. Provost Gwen Chapman and Vice-President (Finance and Operations) Sharmilla Rasheed spoke to the various elements of the budget plan, which was approved unanimously by the Board of Governors, along with the University Centre Budget and the University of Guelph-Humber Budget.  

The Board approved the undertaking of a board succession project, with the goal of advancing a review of Board success and recruitment practices, with a particular lens on equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

A regular update was provided on the status of the transition to the University Pension Plan, Ontario. In addition, the Board approved updates to pension plan text language to reflect current collective agreements. 

The Board of Governors considered a proposal to realign the expensing of capital projects within Student Housing Services and received an update on the process for the annual performance review for the President.

The Board also received written reports for information, including reports from all standing committees on recent committee activity, the Student Financial Aid Annual Report, financial reports from the University of Guelph and the University of Guelph-Humber, the annual Health Safety & Wellness Report, a report on the Wellness@Work Initiative, the Sexual Violence Annual Report, an annual report from Student Wellness, the annual report on the pension financial statements, and the most recent valuations of University pension plans. 

The complete open session meeting package is available on the University Secretariat’s Governance Portal. The official record of the meeting is the meeting minutes, which will be available following their approval at the next regularly scheduled Board Meeting, to be held on June 23, 2021.