Your Impact

The colleagues you nominate in the 2018 Council election — 23 positions are now open — will be responsible for helping to shape the future of Ontario education in the public interest.

The College is accepting nominations from September 1 until December 1, 2017.

Nominees are people just like you. They share the same professional dedication and commitment to providing quality learning experiences for students. And, like you, they care about professionalism in teaching.

If you haven’t considered running for Council before, think about it now. You can:

• bring your classroom and school-based experience to bear on the policy decisions Council makes to continuously improve the teaching profession;
• share your knowledge, insights and the benefits of the relationships you’ve developed to expand your horizons in the interest of the profession.

As a member of Council, you — or a colleague you nominate and help to elect — might serve on the Accreditation Committee. You could directly influence the classroom readiness of new teachers who will work alongside you for years to come via decisions that affect the preparation they receive in pre-service programs.

Or you might serve on an Investigation, Discipline or Fitness to Practise committee and be a key figure in how the College responds to complaints about individual members.

The Investigation Committee determines how the College responds to the 150-plus complaints it receives annually. Discipline Committee or Fitness to Practise Committee panels hear allegations about 80 to100 members per year and determine if they will be allowed to continue in the profession.

Council members serving on the Standards of Practice and Education Committee are responsible for ensuring that ethical and practice standards influence the quality of teaching in Ontario.

When Professionally Speaking drops into your mailbox, you are receiving an award-winning magazine whose overall editorial policy and content have been reviewed and approved by the Editorial Board, which comprises Council members. The board reviews all material gathered for each issue and determines what is published.

As a Council member you will play an active role in reviewing the content of Additional Qualification courses and a vast range of issues concerning teachers’ qualifications. You will also participate in decisions on issues such as the transparency of the College’s processes.

You can expect to discuss the role the College has in advancing the teaching profession. Each year, you will also — either as a member of the Finance Committee or as a member of Council — decide on the annual budget and the membership fee that supports the College’s work.

These are important topics for every College member. You already debate many of these issues regularly with your colleagues. At least one might give you pause to consider actively participating.

It’s your College. Run, nominate, vote. You owe it to yourself as a professional, to your colleagues and to the teaching profession to play your part.