Report: UTM Campus Council - April 21, 2020

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Via Virtual Meeting Room

REPORT NUMBER 41 OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA CAMPUS COUNCIL

To the Governing Council,
University of Toronto 

Your Council reports that it met on April 21, 2020 at 4:10 p.m. in a Virtual Meeting Room. 

Present:
Mohan Matthen (Chair), Samra Zafar (Vice-Chair), Ian Orchard (Acting Vice-President & Principal), Sultan Akif, Hassaan Basit, Mitchell Bonney, Dario Di Censo, Ivana Di Millo, Imre Gams, Robert Gerlai, Shelley Hawrychuk, Joseph Leydon, Cesar Lozano, Jay Nirula, Lisa Petrelli, Steven Short, Kayla Sousa, Laura Taylor, Ziyaad Vahed 

Non-Voting Assessors:
Amrita Daniere (Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean), Saher Fazilat (Chief Administrative Officer) 

Regrets: 
Miguel Cabral, Teresa Lobalsamo, Xing Wei 

Attendance:
Mark Overton (Dean of Student Affairs), Christine Capewell (Executive Director, UTM Budget, Planning & Finance), John Flynn (Assistant Director, Planning, Financial and Budget Services), Shashi Kant (Director, Master of Science in Sustainability Management), Heather Miller (Vice- Dean, Teaching & Learning) and Lorretta Neebar (Registrar and Director of Enrolment Management) 

Secretariat:
Cindy Ferencz Hammond (Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council), Anwar Kazimi (Deputy Secretary of the Governing Council), Patrick McNeill (Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council), Alexandra Waters (Governance Coordinator, UTM) 


1. Chair’s Remarks 
The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. 

2. Report of the Acting Vice-President and Principal 
Professor Orchard began his report by thanking members of the UTM Community for their tireless efforts to ensure academic and business continuity during the shift towards online learning and remote work amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that summer courses would be offered remotely, recruitment of students for the coming academic year continued, and remote interviews to recruit new faculty were underway.

Professor Orchard stated that since early March, the University had focused on a pandemic response, and an Incident Leadership Team had been created to address tri-campus planning and preparedness, government relations, and communications. Five additional working groups were created that focused on students and residences, academic continuity, business continuity and logistics, research, and human resources. The Incident Leadership Team met daily to manage time-sensitive issues amidst the rapidly changing public health landscape and changing orders from the Provincial Government, and the UTM Executive Committee met daily to discuss matters raised by the Incident Leadership Team. 

While the University continued to monitor orders from the Government, planning for the next academic year continued. The University would prepare for the next phase, when restrictions would slowly begin to lift and functions of the University would gradually be restored to their normal operations. 

Lastly, Professor Orchard stated that a virtual convocation would take place in the spring and parchments would be couriered to graduates. Academic divisions would plan to hold physical celebrations for graduates when it was safe to gather in large groups, and projected dates in late fall 2020 or early spring 2021. 

A member inquired if any substantial difficulties were anticipated for the prospective reopening of the University. Professor Orchard stated that a slow re-opening was expected and the rate of re-opening would adhere to the regulations set by the Provincial Government and public health officials. It was expected that restrictions would gradually lift on the number of people permitted to gather, and it was therefore likely that laboratories and small classes would resume earlier in the restart phase, as long as physical distancing standards could be met. 

In response to a member’s question, Professor Orchard stated that while the University could not violate restrictions mandated by the Province, it had the autonomy to impose additional restrictions, if it felt them to be necessary to maintain safety. 

3. Establishment of an Extra-Departmental Unit A (EDU:A): Institute for Management & Innovation (IMI) 
The Chair invited Professor Amrita Daniere, Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean, to present. Professor Daniere stated that there was a distinct need for change in the organizational structure of IMI to support its programs, creative mission, and its growth trajectory, as it had the potential to become a global leader in research that deals with real-world problems around innovations in human processes. The transition to an EDU:A would allow faculty to hold their primary appointments in IMI, which was an administrative factor required to support the advancement of the Unit. The change would have no major financial implications for the UTM campus. 

The Chair informed members that one speaking request was received, and invited Professor Kant, Director, Master of Science in Sustainability Management, to make his remarks. Professor Kant spoke in support of the proposal. He remarked on the complexity of IMI, and noted that its current standing as an EDU:B would not allow for the degree of success and innovation that would be afforded by the opportunities of an EDU:A. 

In response to a question about resource implications, Professor Daniere stated that the majority of graduate programs in IMI covered their own costs through tuition, and any additional revenue from tuition was invested in the unit. 

On motion duly moved, seconded and carried, YOUR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED, 

THAT the proposal to establish the Institute for Management & Innovation (IMI) (Extra- Departmental Unit B (EDU:B)), at the University of Toronto Mississauga, as an EDU: A, as described in the Proposal for the Establishment of an EDU:A, Institute for Management & Innovation (IMI), University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), dated March 24, 2020, be approved, effective July 1, 2020. 

4. Compulsory Non-Academic Incidental Fees – Student Society Fees: UTM Student Society Proposals for Fee Increases 
The Chair invited Mr. Mark Overton, Dean of Student Affairs, to present the item. Mr. Overton stated that the last increase sought by The Medium was in 2003. He stated that the University did not have concerns regarding the requested increase. 

On motion duly moved, seconded and carried, YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED, 

THAT beginning in the Fall 2020 session, the fee for The Medium be increased as follows: (a) an increase of $2.00 per Fall and Winter sessions (full-time and part-time) in the society fee. 

If approved, the total Fall/Winter fee for The Medium will be $5.63 per session ($3.21 part- time), charged to all UTM undergraduate students. 

5. Overview of the UTM Campus Operating Budget: 2020-21 
The Chair invited Ms Christine Capewell, Executive Director, UTM Budget, Planning & Finance, to present. Ms Capewell noted that the budget had been developed on the assumption of no change in enrolment numbers. She noted that the 2020-21 budget would be a balanced budget of $340 million. Key budget priorities included students, diversity, research excellence and the Academic Plan. During the presentation, the following points were made: 

  • UTM’s 14% contribution to the University Fund (UF) totalled $56 million; UTM received an allocation of $26 million from the UF; 

  • There would be no changes to international and domestic intake targets for 2020-21; 

  • The International Scholarship Award would be introduced as a means to diversity international student recruitment, and would be funded through the set aside of 1.5% of revenue from international tuition; 

  • Faculty complement growth for 2020-21 reflected 34.0 FTE searches that are being conducted in 2019-20; 

  • UTM would continue to invest in new buildings, renovations, maintenance, and student mental health initiatives; and 

  • Factors that impacted revenue growth included the Provincial Government’s domestic tuition freeze, international tuition increases, and the funding structure of SMA3. 

Ms Capewell stated that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak could not be calculated at this time, but noted that the campus was in a good financial position and there was flexibility within the budget to adjust to the ever-changing economic climate. 

In response to a question about how the Graduate Employment metric was calculated for SMA3, Ms Capewell stated that the data was from a survey administered by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. The metric calculated the proportion of graduates who were employed in full-time positions two years after graduation in what the graduate considered somewhat or closely related to the skills learned during their university studies. 

A member inquired about the cap imposed on domestic undergraduate enrolment. Ms Capewell stated that there was a period of increasing domestic student demand from 1999-2014, and from 2015-2018, domestic student demand decreased at post-secondary institutions across Ontario. 

The campus was not currently in a period of significantly increasing demand. Professor Orchard stated that the Provincial Government capped funding of domestic enrolment to provide for some consistency in enrolment across the province. Enrolment targets were implemented using a corridor system, such that if domestic enrolment numbers exceeded the corridor, the University would not receive government funding for the additional students. He clarified that international students were not displacing domestic students since domestic enrolment numbers were capped by the Provincial Government. 

In response to a question about the effects of the pandemic on the international student population in the coming academic year, Professor Amrita Daniere, Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean, stated that the campus would prepare to extend remote learning into the fall semester and would also prepare to hold in-person classes for smaller groups should government restrictions allow. 

A member asked when the impact of COVID-19 on enrolment would become clear. Professor Orchard indicated that the admissions cycle moved forward as usual. The University continued to closely monitor the situation, and data was being collected to show various scenarios of how COVID-19 could impact the budget. 

A member inquired if there were contingency plans in place should the University experience a decrease in enrolment. Ms Capewell stated that the impact on revenues and expenses was not yet known, and indicated that there was a significant amount of contingency in the budget, and plans could be delayed if necessary. 

CONSENT AGENDA

6. Report on UTM Capital Projects – as at February 29, 2020 

7. Reports for Information 

  1. Report 41 of the Agenda Committee (April 6, 2020) 

  2. Report 40 of the Campus Affairs Committee (March 25, 2020) 

8. Report of the Previous Meeting 
Report number 40, dated March 9, 2020, was approved. 

9. Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting 

10. Date of the Next Meeting – Monday, May 25 at 4:10 p.m. 

11. Question Period 
There were no questions. 

12. Other Business 
There was no other business. 

The Council moved in camera

13. Appointments: 2020-21 Community Members of the University of Toronto Mississauga Campus Council and Campus Affairs Committee 

YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED, 

THAT the recommended appointments in the alumni/community estate to the UTM Campus Council and the UTM Campus Affairs Committee, as recommended by the Nominating Committee, and as specified in the Memorandum dated April 14, 2020, be approved, for terms of three years, effective July 1, 2020. 

The meeting adjourned at 5:33 p.m.