York University Graduate Students' Association - YUGSA

Unity in our voice

Departmental GSAs

Every September, for each academic year, YUGSA registers Departmental Graduate Students’ Associations (DGSAs) to which it provides a variety of services, most importantly an Operating Grant Fund (OGF). DGSAs offer services back to their own department’s members, such as support for funding and social events. Executives of DGSAs are elected by the graduate students of their own department, and they appoint representatives to take their voting seats at the YUGSA Council. Each DGSA has a minimum of two voting seats at the YUGSA Council (with an additional representative for every two hundred members).

Registering Your DGSA

Every year, each DGSA must register with the YUGSA.  This is done by filling out the registration form (see below for the link). In order to determine the number of councillor appointments allowed for your department, please refer to “Graduate Headcount” page on York’s website (see below for the link).

Registration gives a DGSA voting positions at the YUGSA council, and allows the DGSA to apply for the OGF.  A DGSA can register with the YUGSA at any time; yet, in order to be eligible for the OGF, it must register before October 11th (to ensure elected YUGSA councillors can be given notice of mandatory orientation and anti-oppression training sessions in October).

Please refer to the “List of Registered DGSAs” (see below for the link) to identify whether or not your department has already registered a DGSA.

Applying for the OGF

​The OGF is a sum of money given in two installments which allows registered DGSAs to fund various projects, be it graduate conferences, need-based support funds, or social events. The OGF application form can be found below.

In order to receive the full OGF, certain guidelines must be met:

  • For the 2018-19 academic year, each DGSA must register with the YUGSA before October 11th, 2018.
  • Each DGSA operates in line with its constitution. In the case that a DGSA does not have a constitution, it must submit one before November 15th, 2018. See below for the list of DGSA constitutions, as well as a template constitution.
  • YUGSA councilors must attend the council orientation on October 18th, 2018.
  • YUGSA councilors must attend an anti-oppression training session organized by YUGSA in the month of October (dates TBA, likely the last week of October 2018).
  • OGF application form must be submitted before November 15th, 2018, along with any necessary financial records.
  • Each DGSA must submit its updated financial records in 2019, no later than February 15th, 2019.
  • The YUGSA councilors (or their alternatives/proxies) must attend three out of six council meetings held before March 1st, 2018.

Failure to follow these guidelines will result in the OGF amount be reduced to base level (60%) or withheld.

For inquiries about DGSA registration, constitution, or council attendance, please contact internal@yugsa.ca.
For inquiries about OGF or financial documents, please contact finance@yugsa.ca.

Last updated August 17, 2018 (the page is still under review for the upcoming 2018-19 academic year)