The Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union (TMSU) formerly known as the Ryerson Students' Union (RSU) is the current students' union that represents full-time

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

students at

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

, (known until 2022 as Ryerson University). All full-time students are required to be members and pay a levy. The money is used to fund student groups, events for students and campaigning.

Board

The board of directors set the direction and the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

manage the day-to-day operations of the

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

. Students elect 2 to 5 members from each faculty, depending on the size of the faculty, to the board, in addition to having ex-officio student representatives from the university's senate, student groups, course unions and residence.

Equity Service Centres

The TMSU has eight Equity Service Centres: The Centre for Women & Trans People, The Good Food Centre, BIPOC Students' Collective, Access TMU, The Queer Space, Centre for Safer Sex & Sexual Violence Support, SHIFT Centre and the Trans Collective. These centres serve as a space for students from different marginalized backgrounds to come together and organize equity and social justice initiatives, events, and campaigns. In 2010, the board of directors voted to change the name from "Community Service Groups" to "Equity Service Centres".

Controversy

The RSU has been extensively criticized for its equity centre policies and for banning a men's issues student group on campus. In 2015, former RSU vice-president education Jesse Root was accused of deleting emails in violation of Ontario's privacy laws.

Ram Ganesh misuse of funds controversy

On January 24, 2019, photos of credit card statements belonging to RSU President Ramganesh Ragupathy (Ram Ganesh) were obtained and published on Facebook by university political group Rhinoceros Party. The statements alleged frivolous spending by Ganesh of over $250,000, including transactions for alcohol, a casino, various bars and nightclubs, hotel rooms, and at a sporting goods store. In response to ongoing turmoil at the union involving both the above scandal and an inability to renegotiate a new operating agreement, Toronto Metropolitan University terminated its 1986 operating agreement with the union and declared that it would no longer recognize the union as the official student government for full-time undergraduate and graduate students on campus. The courts ordered an injunction preventing the university from severing the agreement.

References

External links