Human Resources &amp; Equity

Coronavirus

UTogether

Kelly Hannah-Moffat

The University of Toronto’s plans for a safe and gradual return to on-campus operations this fall will see most employees continuing to work remotely, the university says.

Faculty, librarians, staff and students at �鶹��Ƶ have shown great courage, creativity and generosity in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity, Kelly Hannah-Moffat said in an update to the community on July 20.

“The health and safety of the �鶹��Ƶ community and broader public is our highest priority,” said Hannah-Moffat. “As we gradually resume on-campus operations this fall, we will be guided by the advice of public health authorities.”

The statement followed an announcement by the province on Monday that Toronto and Peel Region will remain in stage two of the reopening process. The Ontario government said it will reassess the situation next week to determine if those areas can move to stage three of its reopening process July 31.

The university’s decision to continue limiting the number of people working on campus is in line with �鶹��Ƶ’s commitment to the City of Toronto to ease the burden on public transit and other city infrastructure. It allows Facilities & Services and Health & Wellness staff to focus their resources on supporting those who will be working on-site to sustain the university’s core research and teaching mission or deliver necessary on-site services to students and members of the community. And it helps preserve critical supplies where they are most needed.

In the fall, approximately 90 per cent of undergraduate courses have an online option, and most of these courses will be online only. Those courses that have an in-person element, such as teaching labs, will be conducted using necessary health and safety precautions and following public health guidelines.

As the university looks ahead to the next stage in its recovery, �鶹��Ƶ leaders are designing long-term flexible work arrangements to meet the needs of individual employees and operations. The university expects many of these arrangements will enable employees to work remotely wherever possible.

The three overarching principles guiding �鶹��Ƶ’s reopening plan are to promote health and safety, advance academic excellence and meet the needs of the community. These principles are outlined in UTogether2020: A Roadmap for the University of Toronto.

The university will be taking measures to distribute two non-medical masks to every student, faculty member, librarian and staff person. Everyone in an indoor space on �鶹��Ƶ campuses that is normally publicly accessible is required to wear a mask, unless they have a medical condition – in keeping with the city by-law on masking.

Teams across the university have collaborated to develop tools and assessments to evaluate workspaces so employees can work safely while physical distancing. The University of Toronto’s Guide to a Safe Return to Work, released July 20, outlines how managers will be scheduling tasks and organizing workflows in such a way as to reduce traffic – and makes it clear that rules may change as the situation unfolds.

Steps have also been taken to increase the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting, up to five times per week for libraries and classrooms. High-touch surfaces, such as elevator buttons and doorknobs, will be cleaned twice daily. The university is also in the process of installing additional sanitizing stations across the three campuses.

Meanwhile, the university is developing wellness tools that prioritize physical and mental well-being as part of its reopening plan. Throughout the summer, �鶹��Ƶ plans to carry out surveys to gather feedback from the university community to better guide its reopening efforts.

“We are incredibly grateful to the whole �鶹��Ƶ community for their patience, adaptability and resilience during this challenging time,” said Hannah-Moffat. “We will continue to prioritize the safety of the community and adhere closely to safety protocols and public health guidelines in all our planning.

“We look forward to welcoming back students, staff and faculty and carrying on �鶹��Ƶ’s tradition of providing a rich, vibrant and stimulating academic and working environment.”

Canadian universities and colleges come together to take action on anti-Black racism

lanthierj — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 18:21:38 +0000

Canadian universities and colleges come together to take action on anti-Black racism

lanthierj Thu, 07/16/2020 - 14:21

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Vice-President and Principal, University of Toronto Scarborough Wisdom Tettey is coordinating a national forum with universities and colleges across Canada to address anti-Black racism in higher education (photo by Dylan Toombs)

Topic

President Meric Gertler

The University of Toronto is leading a first-of-its-kind national dialogue focused on tackling anti-Black racism in Canadian post-secondary education.

The gathering is the first in a series called National Dialogues and Action for Inclusive Higher Education and Communities. Coordinated by Professor Wisdom Tettey, �鶹��Ƶ vice-president and principal of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and Karima Hashmani, �鶹��Ƶ’s executive director, equity, diversity and inclusion, it is a partnership with universities and colleges across Canada.

“Our hope is to facilitate a national conversation that goes beyond talk and actually promotes concrete actions to address anti-Black racism within our institutions and across our sector,” said Tettey.

“The goal is to come up with feasible, effective, and sustainable ideas and actions that meaningfully respond to calls for change by members of our higher education community.”

Scheduled to take place in early October, the forum will enable participants to share experiences of anti-Black racism in academia, learn from best practices currently being pursued by post-secondary institutions, and come up with concrete actions to enhance them.

Karima Hashmani is �鶹��Ƶ’s executive director, equity, diversity and inclusion (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

“We must confront and eradicate anti-Black racism on our campuses and in the world around us,” said President Meric Gertler. “I am grateful to Professor Tettey and Karima Hashmani for leading this national dialogue. It is an opportunity for all of us to work together for lasting change.”

Sessions will address and make recommendations regarding specific topics, such as access and success for Black students, staff and faculty; inclusive teaching, learning and curricula; representation within decision-making structures; enabling community and belonging; responsibilities and obligations of non-Black peers as partners; and how best to collect and use race-based data.

Tettey said the conversation will be as inclusive as possible, with faculty, staff, students and senior administrators from across Canada invited to participate.

A national coordinating committee will also distil the conversations and recommendations into a charter of principles and feasible actions that participating institutions can commit to drawing upon as they address Black inclusion and anti-Black racism in their own contexts.

“I’m proud �鶹��Ƶ is leading this unique opportunity to discuss strategies for systemic change,” said Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice-president, human resources & equity at �鶹��Ƶ.

“Bringing people together to talk about their experiences and to share best practices will allow us to build on ongoing initiatives within our own institutions and across the educational sector.”

Hashmani said developing a national charter of principles on confronting anti-Black racism within the higher education sector is not only important but critical to push the sector forward.

“More than ever, many are acknowledging the need to address anti-Black racism, but this is not about one solution. The real work is to listen, learn, and partner with Black staff, faculty and students, examine the barriers in our structures and practices, and then create long-term strategies for systemic change,” she said.

“The national dialogue and action series is an opportunity for the post-secondary sector in Canada to create meaningful change.”

Hashmani and Tettey said the ultimate goal is for this to be the first in a series of regular dialogues on equity and inclusion in the higher education sector that �鶹��Ƶ plans to facilitate, together with other Canadian universities and colleges. Future gatherings will cover topics such as Indigeneity, mental health, disability, as well as the role of institutions in shaping inclusive socio-economic development in their regions and beyond.

�鶹��Ƶ’s new executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion seeks a culture shift

sungjimi — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 14:40:29 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ’s new executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion seeks a culture shift sungjimi Tue, 02/04/2020 - 09:40

Karima Hashmani wants everyone to be accountable for inclusion at the University of Toronto.

The recently appointed executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is a passionate advocate for transformational change to advance the culture of inclusion on all three campuses.

“Being intentional is really the act of doing things deliberately to positively disrupt our systems,” Hashmani says. “We do this by making changes within the university to increase access and pathways for under-represented students, creating a sense of belonging for the community and engaging in a rewiring of our systems. It’s all part of the plan.”

Hashmani comes to this newly created role with decades of experience, most recently as the director of equity, diversity and inclusion at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough. There, her focus was building EDI into processes and practices such as strengthening the recruitment process, designing a model for inclusion coaching and building a three-year strategy for the campus.

“The beauty of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough is that I didn’t do all of this alone,” she says. “The reason we could make an impact is because we have faculty, staff, students and affinity groups that believed it was a shared responsibility, and we were working together to make it happen.”

Kelly Hannah-Moffat, �鶹��Ƶ’s vice-president of human resources and equity, says that Hashmani has extensive experience in addressing complex equity, diversity and human rights issues within �鶹��Ƶ as well as the social housing and non-profit sectors, which equips her to take on this role. “Her commitment to these values reflects the university’s commitment, and she will add to the hard work that is already being done to reflect the diverse and inclusive community at �鶹��Ƶ,” Hannah-Moffat says.

Hashmani has begun her tenure by encouraging systemic change at �鶹��Ƶ. Her strategic initiatives are rooted in three priorities: foster an inclusive community, invest in people and shift our institutional culture. She believes these are the ingredients to becoming an institutional leader in inclusive excellence.

“I feel privileged to have the opportunity to provide strategy and oversight to the institution on EDI,” she says.

Hashmani comes from humble beginnings – much like many other immigrant families – in Thorncliffe Park and later Scarborough. Her passion and commitment for access and inclusion comes from her family’s personal and lived experiences.

Going forward, Hashmani hopes that strategic initiatives focusing on transformational change will create a space for EDI to be deeply embedded in the culture at �鶹��Ƶ. As an advocate for EDI, she says that education and training is only one part of the equation and there is a real opportunity to be more holistic.

“We need to focus on building inclusive leadership throughout our community and campuses, be more data driven, develop priorities for further systemic change and engage authentically as all of our divisions and campuses feel and look differently,” Hashmani says. “We need to start thinking about EDI as part of everybody’s shared responsibility for it to make a dent and a shift in culture.

“Culture change doesn't happen overnight. We're making the steps that need to be put in place. We still have a long way to go.”

�鶹��Ƶ’s new executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion seeks a culture shift

Karima Hashmani is the executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion at �鶹��Ƶ (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

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�鶹��Ƶ named among Canada’s 10 best employers by Forbes magazine

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 16:45:38 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ named among Canada’s 10 best employers by Forbes magazine

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 01/29/2020 - 11:45

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Staff members chat at the reception desk outside The Bridge at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

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The University of Toronto is once again listed as one of Canada's top employers according to Forbes magazine.

The global media company's annual list of Canada's Best Employers ranks �鶹��Ƶ 10th on its 2020 list – the highest of any university employer in Canada.

"We invest in our people so they can be their best at �鶹��Ƶ,” said Erin Jackson, �鶹��Ƶ's chief human resources officer in the division of Human Resources & Equity. "We have over 10,000 employees and a two per cent turnover rate, which is quite remarkable compared to other higher education institutions."

�鶹��Ƶ attracts, retains and engages its workforce through a number of intentionally inclusive, diverse and equitable initiatives that support employees over various life and career stages. This year, HR & Equity introduced the role of Executive Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) to develop, enhance, and support the EDI work already being done across �鶹��Ƶ's three campuses.

"The university has a longstanding and fundamental commitment to developing and advancing an intentionally inclusive working and learning environment," said Jackson. "From taking steps to close the gender pay gap to creating pathways for under-represented students and offering unconscious bias training for faculty and staff, we work hard to ensure our community investments are sustainable and tailored to meet the diverse needs of all members."

�鶹��Ƶ offers eligible employees a comprehensive, competitive suite of benefits. For example, equitable compensation, generous parental leave and child care benefits, tuition waivers, phased retirement and a defined benefit pension plan are available for many faculty, librarians and staff. A True Blue Recognition Platform provides an online space to house many of the annual awards that make up �鶹��Ƶ's formal recognition strategy and offers peer-to-peer functionality so that colleagues can informally recognize each other for small victories and day-to-day accomplishments.

The Forbes list of Canada's Best Employers surveys 8,000 Canadians working for businesses with at least 500 employees. Respondents are asked to rate how likely they would be to recommend their employer to others, and to nominate organizations other than their own. The final list ranks the 300 employers that receive the most recommendations.

New Centre for Learning, Leadership & Culture to empower �鶹��Ƶ employees

sungjimi — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 14:37:56 +0000

New Centre for Learning, Leadership & Culture to empower �鶹��Ƶ employees sungjimi Tue, 01/21/2020 - 09:37

The University of Toronto, recognized as a top Canadian employer for more than a decade, supports its employees through various stages of their careers and boasts a two per cent staff turnover rate – around five per cent less than other higher education institutions.

In an interview with Forbes magazine earlier this year, Kelly Hannah-Moffat, �鶹��Ƶ’s vice-president, human resources and equity, described the university’s approach as one that makes a “lifetime investment in people.”

Now, with the launch of the new Centre for Learning, Leadership & Culture (LLC), �鶹��Ƶ is further strengthening its commitment to workplace culture by offering enhanced learning and development programs across its three campuses.

Linda Hills, director of learning and leadership development, says she’s planning to “shoot for the moon” with a refreshed strategy for the office, which was previously known as the Organizational Development & Learning Centre.

Hills recently sat down with the Bulletin Brief to talk about the LLC’s new identity, offerings and approach to learning.

Can you speak to the big-picture vision of what the LLC hopes to achieve?

One of the key things we’re trying to implement across all three �鶹��Ƶ campuses is a development- and talent-focused culture. The LLC ‘s approach will focus on building the skills, behaviours and mindsets to ensure we foster employee progress at all levels so they are prepared to meet the challenges of the future. When considering the demographics of the workforce, many Gen Y and Z-ers have different career expectations than their predecessors and learning is their number one priority when they’re looking for a job. They want to know how their employer is going to deliver continuous learning to support their career success. So we need to provide them with easy to understand information, tools, options and opportunities to grow their careers. This is a very positive shift in perspective, but it also means we have to up our game. Because what we were doing before is not going to satisfy the next groups of employees that are joining the university community.

The whole talent cycle needs to be looked at. We need to be responsive to the needs of a changing workforce. There are a lot of folks who have served this university brilliantly for 30, 40 and sometimes even 50 years. They’re going to start to retire and we need to have people who are ready to move into those positions. We recently hired a director of talent management who will oversee talent acquisition, onboarding, succession planning and off-boarding. The middle part, which is development – getting employees to meet their career aspirations – will be a partnership between employees and their managers, with the tools provided by the LLC both in and outside of the classroom. We’ll be offering multiple delivery methods to ensure that staff have the opportunity to learn in the way that best suits them on all three campuses.

What kind of learning will the LLC be offering to employees?

We’ve created a set of organizational competencies – the “how” of our jobs. The organizational competencies are designed to set the benchmark behaviours for working here – they are about how we show up and connect with our colleagues every day. It’s really about making sure that everyone is contributing to �鶹��Ƶ’s excellence.

The competencies are leadership, equity, diversity and inclusion, collaboration, innovation and excellence, and stewardship, meaning we’re all responsible to the university by protecting the brand and using our resources effectively.

We will continue to offer courses to match these competencies so that our talent can find the right development opportunities that they need and want.

How is the LLC helping to develop leaders?

There are four different components of leadership that we’ll be focusing on at the LLC: self, people, management, and strategic. Leadership starts with the self – being accountable and self-aware.

It’s important to note that leading people is not the same as managing them. It’s about setting up your employees so they can find solutions and come up with new approaches rather than telling them what to do. It’s more about inspiring and engaging them so that they can get to the end result themselves. Management leadership is about the business side of leading a team, such as the processes managers have to follow (e.g. how to recruit, how conduct performance appraisals). Finally, strategic leadership is about thinking big picture, creating multi-year plans for the university.

Let’s talk about the culture component of the LLC. What will that entail?

When we talk about culture, we’re talking about day-to-day workplace culture. We want to create an inclusive culture that prepares individuals for the next step in their careers. I often think back to a book called Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink, which outlines three things that an employee needs to feel motivated – autonomy, purpose and mastery. We want to foster a culture that will make employees feel like they’re trusted to do their work, are working toward a clear purpose that matters to them and the university, and that expands their skillset. Our job is to provide leaders with tools and techniques to develop our employees’ strengths and prepare them for a diverse range of opportunities.

To that end, a major focus for the LLC in the next two years will be creating leadership development programs to provide leaders with the skills they need to do this. Traditionally, promotions in the workplace – any workplace – have been based on technical expertise. Consequently technical excellence led to management and leadership opportunities but often without the professional development required to learn how to support and lead other people. The former ODLC introduced the Manager’s Academy, which was focused on the tasks and processes of leading a team. We need to build on that to create programs that focus on people leadership, which is based on the human skills leaders need to get things done through people. One key shift will be to a “manager as coach” approach. Coaching is often confused with feedback. True coaching is about asking the right questions so that employees discover solutions and development opportunities themselves. Building coaching skills will also enable our People Leaders to have rich development conversations with their employees and contribute in meaningful ways to their career growth.

At the heart of this cultural change is recognizing that we need to provide our leaders with the skills, behaviours and mindsets they need so they can set their employees up for both in-role success and career growth. Leaders are key to creating a learning and development culture, so they are a priority for us in 2020 and 2021.

What is SuccessFactors and how will it enhance the employee experience?

SuccessFactors is a suite of talent management tools, one of which is a learning management system. It will allow each employee to look at their learning history in one place. It’s designed so that managers can easily identify what professional development options are available to support their employees in getting to the next stage of their career. Our goal is to have a development plan for every employee that is drafted in collaboration with their manager.

Now that the LLC has launched, what’s next?

We have a lot more development to do. The next three to five years will be a lot of building up of our programs to reach the first level of what we want to achieve. Then, we’ll re-test and recalibrate. We are really excited to introduce this new learning platform to our community and to introduce them to best practices in people leadership, building inclusive cultures and new learning opportunities, while continuing to expand our programs.

New Centre for Learning, Leadership & Culture to empower �鶹��Ƶ employees

Linda Hills is the director of the Centre for Learning, Leadership & Culture. (supplied photo)

Jenny Rodrigues

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�鶹��Ƶ recognized as one of Canada’s top employers for 13th consecutive year

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 13:49:47 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ recognized as one of Canada’s top employers for 13th consecutive year

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 11/22/2019 - 08:49

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(photo by Ken Jones)

Topic

Top 100 Employers

The University of Toronto has been recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers – the 13th consecutive year that the university has received the award in the national competition.

“At �鶹��Ƶ we are committed to investing in our employees and the university to achieve excellence in all areas, and remain a world-class institution and top employer of choice,” said Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice-president of human resources and equity.

“We continuously strive to improve employee experiences at �鶹��Ƶ by fostering an inclusive work environment and a sense of belonging for our diverse workforce. I am very grateful to our employees for their efforts and their commitment to our institution’s mission.”

Managed by Mediacorp Canada Inc., the nation’s largest publisher of employment periodicals, the competition grades employers on criteria that range from health, financial and family benefits to training, skills development and community involvement.

Some of the reasons for �鶹��Ƶ’s selection in the 2020 competition include its support to families through generous parental leave provisions and multiple on-site daycare options, the new True Blue platform for peer-to-peer employee recognition, contributions to employees’ defined benefit pension plan, the institution’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, and health benefits coverage that extends to retirees.

�鶹��Ƶ is also building an intentionally inclusive work environment, investing in its diverse community and providing development opportunities to ensure all its members succeed. Each year, the Human Resources & Equity division strengthens supports for employees and prospective applicants, including the recent development of a set of hiring guidelines to ensure practical equity, diversity and inclusion questions are embedded in all recruitment processes.

In 2019, the Centre for Learning, Leadership & Culture was created to develop the university’s employees, via professional development tools and training, to transform the ways in which the �鶹��Ƶ community perceives and engages with learning, leadership and culture. In addition to the centre, a new talent management unit was introduced to leverage the university’s excellence for the strategic recruitment of faculty, staff and librarians, create pipelines for hard-to-fill-positions and build talent pools of diverse and qualified candidates. The talent management unit ensures best practices inform the development and implementation of inclusive and evidence-based approaches to talent management across all three campuses.

“These competition results continue to underscore the University of Toronto’s position as an employer of choice,” said Erin Jackson, �鶹��Ƶ’s chief human resources officer. “We place a high priority on delivering innovative and equitable employment practices that attract, recognize and retain the talented individuals who make �鶹��Ƶ the best university in Canada.”

�鶹��Ƶ employs more than 20,000 appointed and casual faculty and staff across its three campuses in the Greater Toronto Area.

�鶹��Ƶ introduces service animals guideline to support people with disabilities on campus

Romi Levine — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 15:47:36 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ introduces service animals guideline to support people with disabilities on campus

Romi Levine Thu, 09/05/2019 - 11:47

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Emma, a two-year-old yellow lab, is a hearing ear dog guide for �鶹��Ƶ student Peter Stelmacovich (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Topic

Environmental Health and Safety

Kelly Hannah-Moffat

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Accessibility

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Graduate Students

Mental Health

Faculty of Arts & Science

The University of Toronto is working to ensure it’s a welcoming place for people with disabilities and their service animals.

A new service animals guideline has been created by �鶹��Ƶ in compliance with the provincial government’s Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act (AODA) to help the university community gain a better understanding of how best to support and accommodate people with service animals.

The guideline put the AODA requirements regarding service animals in the context of the university environment. It answers questions people may have about what qualifies as a service animal, where service animals are allowed on the three campuses, including in residences, and how to create an environment where service animals and their owners feel included.

“The University of Toronto strives to create a safe, inclusive and supportive environment for students, staff and faculty with disabilities,” says Vice-President of Human Resources & Equity Kelly Hannah-Moffat.

For Peter Stelmacovich, an inclusive learning environment has been vital to his academic success.

Stelmacovich has a cochlear implant, which helps him to hear, but when the device is turned off overnight, Emma, a spritely two-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, is there to alert him to important sounds.

“The main thing for me at night is having a reliable way to wake up and the peace of mind knowing that I've got somebody listening for me,” says Stelmacovich, who will be graduating in November with a Master of Health Science from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

During the day, Emma helps Stelmacovich discern the location of a sound, particularly if someone is calling his name.

“She will first figure out where the sound is coming from and then she'll jump up at me and take me to where somebody is,” he says.

Emma can recognize and alert Stelmacovich to a number of other sounds, including smoke detectors, door bells, alarm clocks – and his son knocking on the front door at 3 a.m. when he forgets his keys.

Stelmacovich and Emma, his service dog. "If something happens, I know I've got a dog watching over me," he says (photo by Romi Levine)

�鶹��Ƶ, Stelmacovich says, has “been very accommodating to all of my needs.”

He adds that the new service animals guideline will help increase awareness on campus about the animals who can accompany people with disabilities.

�鶹��Ƶ collaborated with members of the university community when creating the guideline, including Stelmacovich and other students.

Under the new guideline, members of the �鶹��Ƶ community can choose to register their service animal with the university. This is an optional process offered to students by the accessibility service office on each campus, and to staff and faculty through Health & Well-being Programs and Services. Owners of the service animal will receive an updated TCard with a symbol confirming the registration.

Service animals like Emma are easy to spot because they are wearing a special harness or vest, but not all animals in support roles are as identifiable. For an animal to be considered a service animal, the handler must have documentation from one of the regulated health professionals outlined in the guideline. But the guideline states this documentation should only be requested by staff and faculty when absolutely necessary, particularly for health and safety or operational reasons.

As the university works to address student mental health on all three campuses, the service animals guideline also raises awareness about the use of animals for emotional support, recognizing that students may have service animals for invisible disabilities.

While service animals are allowed most places on campus, including residences, there are locations where they may not be permitted, including spaces where food is prepared, packaged or handled, although service animals are permitted in places such as cafeterias where food is served and sold.

Other locations where service animals could raise safety concerns include some labs and medical clinics. The guideline says the AODA Office and the Office of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) should be consulted on whether to restrict service animals from certain locations.

In general, Hannah-Moffat says the university is committed to creating an atmosphere of inclusion for �鶹��Ƶ community members and their service animals, and will strive to make sure individuals’ needs are met.

“The service animals guideline is an important part of our commitment to treat every member of the �鶹��Ƶ community with dignity and respect,” she says.

Design, drones and drumming: �鶹��Ƶ hosts 26th annual Bring Our Children to Work Day

noreen.rasbach — Fri, 03 May 2019 17:24:54 +0000

Design, drones and drumming: �鶹��Ƶ hosts 26th annual Bring Our Children to Work Day

noreen.rasbach Fri, 05/03/2019 - 13:24

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Professor Edward Banning of the department of anthropology exhibits a series of Jordanian pottery and stone tools from the Bronze Age to the Neolithic period (photo by Luke Ng).

Topic

Faculty, librarians and staff collectively brought more than 450 kids to the University of Toronto’s 26^th annual Bring Our Children to Work Day on Thursday.

The event welcomed those who work at �鶹��Ƶ to bring children in Grades 4 to 7 to learn about their careers and participate in a day of activities hosted by departments across all three campuses.

Professor Heather Boon, �鶹��Ƶ’s vice-provost of faculty and academic life, kicked off this year’s events on the downtown Toronto campus with a special message directed at the younger participants.

“The University of Toronto is your home too,” said Boon. “Every day, your parent or other important person comes to work at �鶹��Ƶ. Because you share your family with us, that means you are a part of our family too.”

Boon’s welcome remarks were followed by a talk from Professor Marcel Danesi. The expert on semiotics and linguistic anthropology gave a captivating address about riddles. The talk provided examples from childhood literature, and what they tell us about language, the mind and the origin of human cultures.

After the talk, Camp �鶹��Ƶ staff led participants to one of their pre-selected tours and activities in one of 16 departments.

For Jennifer Sheehan, the opportunity to bring her child to experience �鶹��Ƶ for a day meant a lot for both of them.

“[My son] has always been curious about where I work and the campus in general so this is a great opportunity to bring him down here with me,” said Sheehan, a LAN administrator for the Information Commons in Robarts Library. “We live in Whitby so we don’t get to spend a lot of time here. I’m glad that �鶹��Ƶ does this because it shows that they really care about faculty and staff.”

One of the activities this year included “Drones in the City.” This exercise, facilitated by the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, explored the disruptive technology’s potential and how city designs might respond to this budding element. This demonstration also served as a preview into some of the faculty’s new summer programs, which will include a more in-depth look at how drone technology might affect design.

“I don’t work for this faculty [Daniels] but my child is interested in architecture, so this is a really cool thing for him to be able to experience,” added Sheehan.

�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough Elder Wendy Phillips (right) and Juanita Muise, Indigenous engagement co-ordinator (left), led a sharing circle with participants. The children in attendance also took part in a drumming activity after the session (photo by Tina Adamopoulos).

This year’s Bring Our Children to Work Day also served as an opportunity to travel down memory lane for another member of the �鶹��Ƶ community. Tricia Kenderdine, manager of communications projects in the Division of Student Life, got her kids to agree to sign up for a tour that was tied to her own history with the university.

“I studied archeology at �鶹��Ƶ,” said Kenderdine, who took her children on a tour in the department of anthropology where Professor Edward Banning exhibited a series of Jordanian pottery and stone tools from the Bronze Age to the Neolithic period. “I had classes with Professor Banning so I thought it would be interesting for them to see what I studied when I was a student here.”

Over at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough, faculty, staff and children spent their day participating in activities that included making slime and bath bombs in chemistry sessions, taking part in a sharing circle on Indigenous ways of being, and interactive presentations on safety and culture. At lunch, participants were treated to a cold treat as they watched liquid nitrogen being used to make ice cream.

�鶹��Ƶ Mississauga’s Marc Johnson, an associate professor of biology, took kids on a trek along the UTM Trail to discover local wildlife and nature (photo by Blake Eligh).

And at the opposite end of the city, participants at �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga trekked along the UTM Trail to search for wildlife with Associate Professor Marc Johnson and students from the department of biology.

Attendees were also treated to activities in the department of geography with Assistant Professor Trevor Porter and laboratory technician Philip Rudz where they examined a fallen pine tree in the forest, counted its rings and took several core samples to learn more about the tree.

Lunch activities included a virtual fire-extinguishing exercise where participating children got a chance to use the same digital training equipment used by campus fire marshals to put out computer-simulated flames.

In the afternoon, kids got their hearts pumping with leadership games organized by assistant camp directors Sarah Tracz and Graham Childs of Camp �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga.

“Our goal is to encourage the kids to think about their health and wellness with activities to support a healthy lifestyle,” says Cameron Walker, community outreach officer for the Recreation Athletics & Wellness Centre.

The annual tri-campus �鶹��Ƶ Bring Our Children to Work Day is hosted by �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga and �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough, and in partnership with the Office of the Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity, the Office of the Vice-President & Provost, Family Programs & Services, the Organizational Development & Learning Centre and Camp �鶹��Ƶ.

With files from Alexa Battler, Maeve Doyle and Blake Eligh

Progress report on Indigenous initiatives shows �鶹��Ƶ 'moving in the right direction'

geoff.vendeville — Fri, 03 May 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Progress report on Indigenous initiatives shows �鶹��Ƶ 'moving in the right direction'

geoff.vendeville Fri, 05/03/2019 - 00:00

Cutline

Elder Andrew Wesley presents the final report of �鶹��Ƶ's Truth and Reconciliation Steering Committee to Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr and President Meric Gertler in 2017 (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health

Indigenous Initiatives

Cheryl Regehr

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty & Staff

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Arts & Science

Faculty of Law

Indigenous

Truth and Reconciliation