UMGSA General Council
The UMGSA General Council is made up of representatives from over 40 departments at the University of Manitoba who vote on issues that affect graduate student life. Take a look at the list below and see if your department is represented. There are great reasons to make sure that your department is represented on council, including the department grant you receive twice a year for participation. If your department isn’t on the list below, follow our step-by-step guide on how to become a councillor. If you want to get to know your councillor, contact us and we will put you in touch with the representative from your department.
What does General Council do? Council meets monthly (the fourth Wednesday of the month) in the UMGSA Lounge or online via Zoom. The UMGSA Executives report to council about what their committees are working on, Executives relay updates about university administration, councillors share news from their departments, and council discusses and votes on issues that affect graduate student life. If you have an issue that you would like to have discussed at General Council contact us, or your departmental representative and they can advocate on your behalf. If you would like to learn more about the UMGSA Executives, you can read their profiles or familiarize yourself with their duties in the Executive & Officer Policy Manual.
If you want to know what goes on at a UMGSA General Council meeting, you can read the minutes of past meetings here.
Upcoming Meeting Dates:
January 29, 2025 @ 5:30 pm via Zoom
February 26, 2025 @ 5:30 pm via Zoom
March 26, 2025 @ 5:30 pm via Zoom
April 23, 2025 @ 5:30 pm via Zoom
May 28, 2025 @ 5:30 pm via Zoom
Departments and Representatives on UMGSA General Council
Faculty of Agricultural & Food Science
Animal Science: Janine Hansen
Biosystems Engineering: Isanka Gimhani & Thirukumaran Ramesh
Entomology: Madeleine Milne
Food & Human Nutritional Sciences: Susane Trevisan, Foluke Oyekale & Alexandra (Alli) Jack
Soil Science: Kingsford Amoah & Sweekriti Subedi
Faculty of Architecture
City Planning: Barak Al Dabous & Joseph Westfall
Interior Design: John Sorza
Faculty of Arts
Economics: Mohammad Hasan & Oluwafemi Awopegba
English, Film, Theatre, and Media: Sakshi Tyagi
Linguistics: Mohadeseh Rostami Samak
Political Studies: Michayla Carlson
Psychology: Nisali Muthumuni & Reegan McCheyne
Sociology & Criminology: Dorcas Frimpongmaah
Asper School of Business
Management – MBA/ MFin/ MSCM: Tapiwa Mushayakarara, Meysam (Sam) Paknia & Dharsan Kishore Babu Kishore
Faculty of Education
Education – PhD: Jeremy Roberts
Education – Curriculum, Teaching & Learning: Puvithira Balasubramaniam
Faculty of Engineering
Biomedical Engineering: Rashmita Chatterjee & Maria (Anabel) Uehara
Civil Engineering: Homa Motavallian Naeini
Electrical & Computer Engineering: Ali Nasr Esfahani & Bita Esmaeili Jamakani
Mechanical Engineering: Rasool Mokhtari Homami
Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources
Environment & Geography: Nicholas Decker & Paulo Victor Marchetto Silva
Earth Sciences: Jack Mulcahy
Natural Resources Institute: Oluwatimilehin Sanni & Kaitlyn Plastino
Faculty of Graduate Studies
Applied Health Sciences: Andrea Mandzuk & Saba M. A. Kolahdouz
Faculty of Health Sciences
Biochemistry & Medical Genetics: Paul Jerard Layug
Community Health Sciences: Sepideh Yousefiasl
Human Anatomy & Cell Sciences: Taylor Orchard
Immunology: Sina Taetehshokr
Medical Microbiology & Infectious Disease: Chibuzor Precious Emmanuel
Nursing: Olaide Fadare
Oral Biology: Shuanghong (Echo) Li
Pathology: Akaljot (Ross) Grewal
Pharmacy: Floriane Houenagnon
Pharmacology & Therapeutics: Khushali Trivedi
Physician Assistant Studies: Kaitlyn Macgrego
Physiology & Pathophysiology: Samuel Ogunsola
Rehabilitation Sciences: Mary Osunlusi
Faculty of Kinesiology & Recreation Management
Kinesiology & Recreation Management: Amy Abegglen & Faith Olarinde
Faculty of Science
Biological Sciences: Sandamini Y. Bandara Udage-Mudiyaselage
Chemistry: Rajat Arora
Mathematics: Homer Franz De Vera
Microbiology: Zhong Ling Yap
Physics & Astronomy: Charles Lee & Isabel Sander
Statistics: Sulalitha Bowala Mudiyanselage & Funmilola (Mary) Taiwo
If you would like contact information for any of the above councillors please e-mail UMGSA
You may also want to contact your department’s graduate student advisor or graduate chair for more information about getting involved at the department level.