How University of Toronto’s ’secret sauce’ governance model set it up for five decades of success

Clockwise from top left: Richard Nunn, Mary Anne Chambers, Annamarie Castrilli, Judy Goldring, Brian Lawson, Tom Simpson, Claire Kennedy, Anna Kennedy, Rose Patten, Janet Ecker, Wendy Cecil, Alice Dong and Jane Pepino - Along with its partner hospitals, the University of Toronto is world renowned for its many well-publicized innovations and achievements, from insulin , stem cells and deep learning to revelations about Stalinist Russia and medieval poets. Yet, the most important innovation in its 195-year-old history may well be one the public rarely sees: an unusual - and unusually effective - system of governance. The university adopted a unicameral model 50 years ago in a bid to ensure business decisions supported its academic mission and vice versa. The mutually reinforcing system, known as Governing Council, has gone on to play a key role in enabling University of Toronto to attract top scholars and researchers, as well as the necessary funding to support their work - all of which has contributed to the university's consistently high international ranking and enviable credit rating. University of Toronto was the first - and, for many years, the only - Canadian university to use this model. "I think it is fair to say that our unicameral system of governance deserves a good deal of credit for the University of Toronto's extraordinary success," University of Toronto President Meric Gertler said at a recent event celebrating Governing Council's 50 year in operation. University of Toronto President Meric Gertler The final oversight body in University of Toronto's governance system - supported by a number of boards, councils and committees - Governing Council has the last word on literally thousands of critical decisions at the university.