Notice of Regular Senate Elections - Faculty and Graduate Students
Elections for faculty and graduate student vacancies on Senate will be held in February 2026, and all eligible faculty and graduate students are encouraged to consider nomination. To appear on the ballot, nominees must provide a brief statement (100 words maximum) along with a completed nomination form. Those interested in becoming a Senator can find more information at nomination/elections. If you are interested, please email elections@uwaterloo.ca to request the nomination form.
Faculty Senators
Faculty members to be elected by/from the members of faculty of each Faculty of the University. Six vacant seats will be available as follows: two in Arts, one in Engineering, one in health, one in Mathematics, and one in Science with a term of September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2029. There are no vacancies in Environment for the 2026 Elections.
Faculty-at-Large Senators
Eight faculty members to be elected by/from the members of faculty of the University, term September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2029.
Graduate Student Senators
One graduate student to be elected for the term of September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2028.
Undergraduate Student Senators
Undergraduate Senators Election is coordinated by the Waterloo Undergraduate Students Association. For more information on their elections, please visit: Elections – Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association
The nomination period will open January 7, 2026 at 9:00am and remain open until January 28 at 4:30pm.
Voting will begin at 9:00am on Tuesday, February 3 and will close on February 10 at 4:30pm.
If you have any questions, please be in touch with the Secretariat.
Elections
- The election of faculty and student members to Senate shall be completed by the regular March meeting of Senate each year. Undergraduate student elections shall be held in conjunction with the annual elections conducted by the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association in February. Faculty and graduate student elections are conducted by the Secretariat.
- The nomination period for faculty constituencies and graduate students is at least twenty-one (21) days. For undergraduate student constituencies, the nomination period is determined in consultation with the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association. The chief returning officer shall call for nominations from those faculty and student constituencies that have members whose terms are expiring by placing a suitable notice in such places and ways as may be designated from time to time by Senate, with copies to the appropriate faculties and constituency presidents. Nomination forms shall be made available by the Secretariat. Nominations shall be submitted in writing to the chief returning officer. Each nomination shall be signed by the required number of members of the constituency from which the member is to be elected and shall include a signed statement from the nominee agreeing to serve if elected. For faculty and graduate students, the required number of members is five; for undergraduate students elected from a single faculty, the required number is twenty-five; for undergraduate students elected at large, the required number is one hundred.
- Undergraduate student nominees, or their representatives, shall attend an all candidates’ mandatory meeting held by the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association. The chief returning officer, or designate, shall also be present.
- For faculty and graduate student elections, the chief returning officer shall publish the candidates’ statements in such places and ways as may be designated from time to time by Senate.
Campaigning/Voter Eligibility
- Public campaigning shall not take place before the close of nominations. For faculty and graduate student elections, nominees are to provide a brief statement (100 words maximum) to appear with the ballot.
- The Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association election rules as described in the Association's Elections and Referenda Procedure regulating campaigning for undergraduate student elections, including spending limits, shall be followed. The Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association Election Committee decisions may be appealed to the university secretary, who shall act as chief returning officer, and whose decision is final.
- In a faculty constituency, all faculty members who hold a regular faculty appointment in that constituency are eligible to vote. In a graduate student constituency, all full-time and part-time graduate students registered in a degree program in that constituency are eligible to vote. In an undergraduate student constituency, all full-time students registered in a degree program in that constituency are eligible to vote; this includes students whose academic programs require a prolonged absence from campus such as a co-op work term or an approved study term abroad.