Council Meetings

At its meeting December 1–2, 2016, College Council:

• approved the College’s 2017 budget of $40,922,748 with an unchanged annual membership fee of $150 by offsetting operating budget pressures with a restricted cash reserve draw of $1,892,601. This includes spending an additional $30,650 in 2017 to promote greater member participation in the 2018 election;
• welcomed Minister of Education Mitzie Hunter, who engaged in a dialogue with Council. The Minister lauded the College’s work to develop Bill 37, Protecting Students Act, and the implementation of the new enhanced teacher education program;
• requested that the Minister of Education amend the Ontario College of Teachers Act to provide the Investigation Committee with the authority to order a medical assessment of a member’s fitness to practise to support the committee’s role of investigating and referring complaints;
• received the Registrar’s quarterly report to Council;
• recognized excellence in teacher education by awarding scholarships to assist in the education of future teachers. Krista Bradshaw, a teacher candidate in the concurrent education program at Queen’s University, received the Joseph W. Atkinson Scholarship for Excellence in Teacher Education. Maria Sinclair, a teacher candidate in the consecutive education program at Western University, received the Ontario College of Teachers Scholarship — Primary/ Junior or Junior/Intermediate. Patrick Vaillancourt, a teacher candidate in the consecutive education program at Laurentian University, received the Ontario College of Teachers Scholarship — Intermediate/Senior;
• received a quarterly report from the Chair;
• approved a policy for Council Member Application for Employment with the College, which would enable former Council members who have been out of office for more than a year to apply for College jobs;
• approved a College Employees’ Nomination to Council policy, which would enable former College employees to seek nomination to Council if they have been out of the employ of the College for at least a year;
• asked the Minister of Education to amend the College’s election regulations to enable former employees to be nominated in Council provided that they have not been employed by the College for at least 12 months;
• withdrew a motion to request the Minister of Education to amend the Election of Council Members Regulation (O. Reg. 293/00) to merge the northeast and northwest regions into one northern region with one part-time/full-time and two fulltime elected positions; create a new French-language public board — elementary position; and rename the existing French-language public board — elementary or secondary position to reflect secondary only;
• amended bylaws so that the public register shall contain any undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate degree granted to a member, with the name of the post-secondary educational institution authorized to grant the degree, and the date the member completed the degree;
• asked the Minister of Education to amend the College’s regulations to include an interim suspension process for complaints against Council members regarding failure to disclose conflicts of interest and breaches of the oath/affirmation as well as for conduct inconsistent with the College’s duty to serve and protect the public interest;
• approved a change in date for the June 2018 Council meeting to May 29–30, 2018;
• recommended that the Minister of Education amend the Teachers’ Qualifications Regulation to add two First Nations Schools Leaders Additional Qualification courses to Schedule C, and that there be a course name change from Teaching Students who are Blind to Teaching Students who are Blind/LOW Vision in Schedule D; and
• appointed Ravi Vethamany, OCT, chair of the Standards of Practice and Education Committee and to the Executive Committee.