New SLS positions and awards you should know about
By: The SLS Student Affairs and Governance Committee
In March 2020, the JD student body passed a referendum amending the Constitution of the Students’ Law Society (SLS), and directing the SLS to make all necessary preparations for the implementation of the New Constitution on May 1, 2021. This year, the Student Affairs and Governance Committee drafted a new set of by-laws and created three new awards, which the SLS adopted. On behalf of the SLS, we want to share a (relatively) quick overview of the changes and introduce the new awards.
New Names
First up, the two main committees of the SLS: The Social Affairs Committee (Social) and the Student Affairs and Governance Committee (StAG) are changing their names. Social is becoming the Social and Finance Committee to better reflect the committee’s role in funding clubs and managing the SLS budget. StAG is becoming the Student Life and Academic Committee to highlight the nature of the policy and governance issues it examines. While the names of the committees and representative positions are changing, the roles of each committee will stay the same.
New Roles
The third committee of the SLS, the Executive Committee, is also getting an upgrade. Starting with the Spring General Election, the number of executive positions on the SLS will be increased. The current vice-presidential roles are being split into two roles each. There will be no hierarchy between these VP positions. This change is to both provide additional capacity for the SLS to pursue initiatives that support students and to create additional leadership opportunities for students.
The Vice-President, Social Affairs’ responsibilities are being divided into two new roles. The Vice-President Social will be in charge of SLS event planning and community-building at the law school. The Vice-President Finance will oversee the SLS’s budget and ensure a smooth and fair funding process for clubs.
The Vice-President, Student Affairs and Governance role is also being split into two new roles. The Vice-President Student Life will take the lead on advocacy issues, aligning with Assistant Dean Archbold’s role, including mental health and wellness, financial aid, and student success outside the classroom. The Vice-President Academic will take the lead on advocacy issues aligning with Assistant Dean Faherty’s role, including curriculum and experiential learning, the Faculty’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and student success in the classroom, as well as serving on the Law Students’ Society of Ontario Council. Both of these roles will work closely together where there is overlap, including policy issues relating to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility at the Faculty of Law. For more information on the new executive roles, see By-law 3 — Executive Roles on the Governance page of the SLS website.
Finally, the Social and Finance Committee is getting three more team members. Starting with the Spring General Election, there will now be four representative positions for each year on the Social and Finance Committee, instead of three. This change was made to create more capacity to plan and execute events to build community at the law school, and to create more extra-curricular opportunities for students.
New By-laws
The new by-laws enacted by the SLS are intended to create more transparent student governance. While most of the new by-laws officially take effect May 1, 2021, the Spring General Election and SLS awards processes will be governed by the new by-laws immediately. To better serve students, the SLS’s new by-laws cover matters such as equity, executive roles, officer roles, the relationship with the University of Toronto Students’ Union, membership and fees, the SLS Public Interest Fellowship, supplementary governance, and, of course, elections and awards. Full details about the transition to the new by-laws are available on the Governance page of the SLS website.
New Awards: Community and Mentorship
Last but not least, the SLS introduced new awards to recognize the efforts of students who go out of their way to build up our law school community. We are very proud of the way that students support one another, especially this year.
To that end, the SLS has created two new awards for which students can nominate their peers: the First-Year Community Builder Award and the Upper-Year Mentorship Award. Students are encouraged to nominate other students whose efforts they want recognized. Nominations will be considered and recipients will be selected by the Awards Sub-Committee of the SLS.
The First-Year Community Builder Award will recognize up to two 1Ls who have made significant efforts to bring their peers together and build a supportive community at the law school. Nominations for this award can only be submitted by 1L students.
The Upper-Year Mentorship Award will recognize up to three upper-year students for their outstanding mentorship to students in years below them, both in official and unofficial capacities. All students who are not in their graduating year may nominate students in the years above them.
Additionally, the SLS has resurrected the Friend of the SLS Award, which will be selected internally and awarded to a faculty or staff member who has been an ally to students and has taken concrete actions to address student concerns.
Graduation Awards: Ranked Ballots
After hearing from students about wanting ranked ballots for Graduation Awards, the SLS is running those awards via a different voting platform which allows for ranked ballots. The Chief Returning Officer (CRO) will provide more information with the elections announcement.
Learn More
If you’ve made it this far in this article and you still want to learn more, the SLS website has been updated to reflect the changes which are underway. The nomination period for the Spring General Election and for the new awards, graduation awards, and the Truth & Reconciliation Teaching Award opens this Friday, March 5. Full details about nominations and voting processes for elections and all SLS awards can be found under the Elections menu on the SLS website.
If you have any questions, you are always welcome to email us at [email protected] or the CRO at [email protected]. Consider running or nominating someone, and thanks for reading.
