University of Calgary campus

Senate

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Meet our current senators Read the senate bylaws

About the UCalgary Senate

The University of Calgary Senate creates a bridge between the University and the wider community. Its purpose is to represent the public interest; promote the university on local, national and international levels; foster student engagement; and promote and recognize excellence. It does this through regular meetings, standing committee work, holding special events, and by providing a contact point for all stakeholders to communicate with the university.

To ensure inclusion and representation of Indigenous peoples on senate, the UCalgary Senate is committed to transformation and creating ethical space and parallel paths, as expressed in UCalgary’s Indigenous Strategy. Read more about Transforming Ways of Being and the ii' taa'poh'to'p recommendations here.

The Senate is comprised of 62 diverse members including representatives of the general public, alumni, students, educators and academics. The University of Calgary Chancellor chairs the senate.

Photo of people at convocation

The University of Calgary Senate creates a bridge between the University and the wider community. Its purpose is to represent the public interest, promote the university on local, national and international levels, influence decision makers, foster student interests and promote and recognize excellence. It achieves these objectives through its regular meetings, ongoing standing committee work, special events held throughout the year and by providing a continued and highly visible contact point for all stakeholders to communicate with the University.

The UCalgary Senate is comprised of 62 members as identified in the Post-Secondary Learning Act, including representatives of the general public, alumni, students and several groups of educators and academics employed by the University.

The chancellor chairs the UCalgary Senate and the president is the vice-chancellor. In addition to senators, the senate depends on a number of non-voting faculty representatives who assist communications with various faculties.  Under the Act, the senate consists of:

  • Chancellor, who chairs the Senate
  • Vice-chancellor
  • Vice-president designated by the board
  • Chief Academic Officer for Student Affairs
  • Director of Extension, or if none, the officer performing comparable functions
  • 30 elected representative members
  • President and Vice-president of the Alumni Association
  • The following appointed members:
    • Deans, appointed by the Deans' Council,
    • Members of the Board, appointed by the University Board of Governors
    • Members of the General Faculties Council, appointed by the General Faculties Council
    • Two members of the Alumni Association, appointed by the Alumni Association
    • Two non-academic staff members, appointed by the non-academic staff association
    • Members of the Students Association, appointed by the Council of the Students Association
    • One member of the Students Graduate Association, appointed by the Council of the Association
    • Nine members of the public appointed by the Minister

The UCalgary Senate consists of: Senate Executive Committee, Community Engagement Committee, Honours Committee, Recruitment and Membership Committee, and Governance Committee.