McMaster University - Administration

Administration

The governance of the university is conducted through the Board of Governors and the Senate, both of which were established in the Act to unite Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College in 1887. The Board is responsible for the university's conduct, management, and control of the university and of its property, revenues, business, and affairs. Ex officio governors of the Board include the university's chancellor, president, and the chairman of the board-senate committee on long-range planning. The Board also consists of 34 other governors, either appointed or elected by the various members of the university's community, including elected representatives from the student body. While The McMaster University Act, 1976 outlines that the board be only composed of 37 members, the Board also includes 12 honorary members, bringing the total number of governors to 51.

The Senate is responsible for the university's academics, including standards for admission into the university and qualifications for degrees, diplomas, and certificates. The Senate consists of 15 ex officio positions granted to the chancellor, the president, the vice-presidents of the university, the senior dean of each faculty, the dean of graduate studies, the dean of adult education, the principal of McMaster Divinity College, and the Chairman of the Undergraduate Council. The Senate also consists of 51 other members, appointed or elected by the various communities of the university including elected representatives of the student body. Meetings of the Board of Governors and the Senate are open to the public.

The president acts as the chief executive officer of the university under the authority of the Board and the Senate, and supervises and directs the academic and administrative work of the university and of its teaching and non-teaching staff. Patrick Deane is the seventh president of the university, serving the post since 1 July 2010. The office was created in 1949, with George Gilmour serving as the university's first president. The office of the vice-chancellor, created at the same time as the office of president, has always been held by the incumbent president of the university.

Programs, departments, and schools at McMaster are divided among six faculties. By enrolment, the three largest programs are engineering, with 3,662 full-time and part-time students, followed by the social sciences, with 5,014 full-time and part-time undergraduates and graduate students. The School of Graduate Studies serves as the central administrative unit of graduate education at the university. The School of Graduate Studies is not considered its own faculty. The Arts and Science program is taught jointly by the other faculties at McMaster. Created in 1981, the program aims to provide a broad-based, liberal education, providing substantial work in both the arts and sciences.