THE GOVERNING COUNCIL
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2025
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL
Thursday, November 6, 2025 in the Governing Council Chamber, Simcoe Hall
PRESENT: Anna Kennedy (Chair), Sandra Hanington (Vice-Chair), Melanie Woodin (President), Sharleen Ahmed, Donald Ainslie, Jay-Daniel Baghbanan, Amanda Bartley, Laurent Bozec, Vikram Chadalawada, Janet Cloud, Robert Cooper, Ann Curran, Samuel Elfassy, Ramy Elitzur, Susan Froom, Giovanni Grasselli, Thomas Hofmann, Paul Huyer, David Jacobs, Sarosh Jamal, Linda Johnston, Raed Kadri, Audrey Karlinsky, Kikelomo Lawal, Ron Levi, Kevin Li, Richard MacKendrick, Brian Madden, Rajiv Mathur, Eha Naylor, Albert Pan, Andrew Petersen, Angela Pyle, Dina Reiss, Danielle Skipp, Adam Stinchcombe, Paul Tenenbein, Jeffrey Wendling, Mary-Agnes Wilson, Geeta Yadav, Trevor Young
Sheree Drummond (Secretary of the Governing Council)
REGRETS: Aarthi Ashok, Evan Chan, Indi Gopinathan, David Gren, Maureen Harquail, Rishi Shah, Wes Hall, Grace Westcott
SECRETARIAT: Miranda Edwards (Recording Secretary), Cindy Ferencz Hammond, Samantha Frost, Amanda Grant, Tracey Gameiro, Timothy Harlick, Lauren Turner
IN ATTENDANCE: Dan Bowyer (Member, UTSC Campus Council and College of Electors), Audelyn Budihardjo (Assistant Director, Internal Audit), Elizabeth Church (Director, Communications & Strategic Projects), Meg Connell (Assistant Provost), Leah Cowen (Vice-President, Research & Innovation, and Strategic Partnerships), Elizabeth Cragg (Director, Office of the Vice-President, Operations), David Curtin (Director, Communications, Office of the President), Christina da Rocha-Feeley (Director, Operations, Office of the Governing Council), Jennifer Dolman (Chair, College of Electors), Kim Eija (Member, College of Electors), Alexandra Gillespie (Vice-President and Principal, UTM), Jen Gommerman (Professor, Department of Immunology), Joyce Hahn (Chief Administrative Officer), Kelly Hannah-Moffat (Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity and Culture), Lea Harrington (Professor, Department of Biochemistry), Alex Hernandez (Professor, Department of English), Charles Jia (Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry), Bruce Kidd (Former Ombudsperson), Bryn MacPherson (Chair, University Bicentennial), Daniella Mallinick (Executive Director, Digital Strategies), Joseph Marcus (Counsel, Office of the University Counsel), Alex Matos (Director, Internal Audit), Julie McAlpine-Jeffries (Associate University Counsel), Susan McCahan (Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, Digital Strategies) Faye Mishna (University Ombudsperson), Emily Ng (Legal Counsel, Office of the University Counsel), Emmanuel Nikiema (Professor, Language Studies, UTM), Eric Noble (Member, College of Electors), David Palmer (Vice-President, Advancement), Ann Perry (Senior Issues & Media Relations Strategist), Mariana Prado (Vice Provost), Catherine Riddell (Assistant Vice-President, Communications), Trevor Rodgers (Assistant Vice President, Institutional Strategy), Nick Rule (Vice-Provost, Academic Programs), Archana Sridhar (Assistant Vice-President, Institutional Affairs & Senior Advisor), Mark Surchin (Guest), Christine Szustaczek (Vice-President, Communications), Kristin Taylor (University Counsel), Daniela Trapani (Director of Operations, Office of the President), Angela Treglia (Executive Director, Sexual Violence Strategy, Prevention, & Support Response), Sandy Welsh (Vice-Provost, Students), Joe Wong (Vice-President, International)
OPEN SESSION
- Chair’s Remarks
The Chair welcomed members and guests to the first Governing Council meeting of the year. She also welcomed President Melanie Woodin to her first Governing Council meeting as President and noted that the Council was looking forward to embarking on a new era for the University.
The Chair congratulated governors David Jacobs, Sandra Hanington, and Chancellor Wes Hall on receiving the King Charles III Coronation Medal. She also congratulated governor Amanda Bartley on being named to the Women’s Executive Network’s 2025 List of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner.
Executive Committee – Motion for Reconsideration
The Chair invited the Vice-Chair to provide a summary of the deliberations that took place at the Cycle 1 Executive Committee meeting on October 27, 2025 regarding a Notice of Motion for Reconsideration. The Vice-Chair had chaired that meeting.
The Vice-Chair told governors that, at its October 27th meeting, the Executive Committee had received a motion to reconsider a previous motion that had failed to pass at a meeting on December 3, 2024. The previous motion had called on the Governing Council to make a public statement condemning antisemitism.
The Vice-Chair noted that a motion for reconsideration was rare in the University’s governance. She referred to By-law Number 2, which stated that, when a matter had been decided at a meeting within the last 12 months, it would not be considered again without a Motion for Reconsideration carried by a two-thirds majority.
Following debate, the motion for reconsideration failed to pass. The Vice-Chair emphasized that the Committee was deeply empathetic towards members of the University community who were concerned about safety; however, it remained committed to its view that the Governing Council should not make statements on its own behalf; but rather, should focus on the key functions of governance through oversight and monitoring. -
President’s Report
President Woodin began by thanking governors for their warm welcome over her first four months in office. She expressed thanks for their good advice and feedback. The President remarked on her joy at seeing the return to campus life this fall, especially the World Series watch parties that had taken place on King’s College Circle, which had been widely covered by local press.
Meeting the Moment
Since her installation address on October 17, 2025, the President had heard from many in the university community who were inspired by her call to “meet the moment”. She told governors that she would be leading a broadly consultative strategic planning process in the coming months. More information was to follow.
Return to Office
The President noted that, following discussions with academic and administrative leaders, she had announced plans to have a critical mass of administrative staff on campus five days a week, while honoring the institutional commitment to considering alternative work arrangements. She explained that it was an institutional priority to ensure that students and research were well supported. She further noted that this shift was similar to recent announcements made by other organizations in both the public and private sectors – including the Ontario government’s goal for the public service to return to the office full-time.
Federal Government
The President told governors that the recent federal budget had been well received by the University. The budget indicated a clear recognition of the importance of Canada’s research-intensive universities in a time of significant budget pressures.
She highlighted two particular budget priorities, talent attraction and infrastructure, and noted that the University was well positioned to serve a role in both. The government allocated $1.65 billion to a talent attraction package that included accelerated research chairs, recruitment of doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows, and investment in research infrastructure. The University was encouraged by the opportunity to recruit top-tier international researchers to strengthen the Canadian research ecosystem. Universities would also be eligible to participate in the government’s Build Community Strong Fund of $51 billion over 10 years to support infrastructure. This could provide an opportunity to access funding for high priority projects such as the Temerty Building renovation and the construction of the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus Phase II. The President was pleased to see that tri-agency research funding would not be subject to the overall 15% program spending reduction that was reported extensively in the lead up to the federal budget.
Regarding the federal government’s international student policies, the President noted that the government had confirmed it would exempt graduate students from the Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) requirements, which the University had strongly advocated for over the past year. She noted that the University was confident it had been assigned an appropriate number of PALs for its requirements. She thanked Leah Cowen, Vice-President, Research and Innovation and Joseph Wong, Vice-President, International for their leadership on these issues.
Provincial Government
President stated she was grateful to the province for leading a funding formula review. She noted that productive conversations had taken place between the province and the University and that the University was now awaiting further response. The President stated she was focused on finding ways that the University could further support the province, including the skills and talent produced through education to meet shifts in the economy. She noted that conversations with the province were ongoing regarding how best to capitalize on the University’s Innovation Corridor. Regarding Bill 33, the President updated governors that the province had not yet initiated formal consultations. Further updates would be shared when available.
Research Funding
President Woodin reported that, in the wake of cuts and cancellations to U.S. research funding, the University had stepped in with emergency funding for researchers who had lost critical funds midway through their projects. Funds were provided as a one-year bridging program, intended as a temporary stop-gap measure while researchers found alternative funding sources.
University Budget
The President reported that the University enrolled approximately 17,000 new undergraduate students this Fall – about 12,000 domestic and 5,000 international. The total number was similar to the prior year, but the balance between domestic and international students had shifted. She noted increasingly strong domestic demand and declining international demand, including in professional master’s programs such as management and education. She further noted increasing competition to recruit international students globally, particularly from schools in the U.K., Australia, and U.S. Recent federal policy decisions on student visas had had a dramatic impact on the attractiveness of Canada as a study destination and the University of Toronto had fared relatively well compared to many peers.
The current revenue forecast was expected to be approximately $60 million (1.6%) below plan. The President assured governors that this was manageable for the current year through contingencies and reserves but that future enrolment targets would need to be recalibrated, under the Provost’s leadership. Work was also underway to improve operational efficiencies through the Operational Excellence initiative, under the leadership of Trevor Rodgers who was recently appointed as Assistant Vice-President for Institutional Strategy.
The President reported that the University was now over the halfway mark of the $4 billion Defy Gravity campaign – the largest advancement campaign in Canadian history. She acknowledged recent generous gifts of $80 million from the Jackman family to name the Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, and $2 million from Eva and Allen Lau to create the Commercialization Catalyst Prize for Computing & Engineering Innovation.
Complaints of Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment
The first Annual Report on Complaints of Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment would be brought to governance this year. Early data showed the number of complaints to be stable over the past three years. The University was following both its own internal processes and meeting the requirements of Bill 166 in handling complaints. The President noted that the Provost and the Vice-President, People, Strategy, Equity and Culture had received the final report from the co-chairs of the Working Group for the Review of the Statement on Prohibited Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment. The report was currently being studied.
UTM
The President reported to governors that senior leadership became aware of an event planned by UTMSU (University of Toronto Mississauga Student Union) for October 7, 2025, titled “Honouring Our Martyrs.” The title and date of this event caused deep concern and outrage from many in the University community and was perceived by some to be a celebration of the violence that occurred in Israel on October 7, 2023. The University leadership engaged in dialogue with the UTMSU student organizers and communicated these concerns to them. The student organizers were encouraged to change either the event title, date, or both. UTMSU was also reminded of its policy obligations both verbally and in writing. Multiple meetings took place in the lead-up to the event. UTMSU chose not to change the title or date of the event, but rather to post a statement of the organization’s intentions on their social media channels. Despite the release of the statement, the President noted that she and the Administration remained deeply concerned.
She noted that students who were concerned about the event could submit complaints through the UTMSU complaints process. Failure by UTMSU to follow their complaints processes could result in the University withholding fees allocated for UTMSU.
The President also noted reports of an incident that took place on the same day affecting members of the UTM Jewish Student Association during their tabling event to commemorate the victims of October 7. She had heard how deeply impacted students, faculty, and staff were by this incident and noted that an investigation by UTM Campus Safety was nearing completion.
The President invited Professor Alexandra Gillespie, Vice-President and Principal, UTM to address the Council.
Principal Gillespie told governors it was regrettable that UTMSU had decided to go ahead with the event as planned, especially after having been informed by the University about the suffering and pain that it would cause to members of the University community.
In response to a governor’s question as to why the University could not have told UTMSU to hold their event off campus, Principal Gillespie stated that there was no credible security threat or policy justification for such a request. She further noted that UTMSU was independent and the space where the event was held was under UTMSU’s management under a contract with the University.
Principal Gillespie stated that the event did not rise to the violation of law or policy that would have justified cancellation and that doing so, would, in fact, have violated the University’s own values of freedom of speech and academic freedom.
The President noted that she had reviewed this issue with the Executive Committee and appreciated members’ feedback. She further noted that she and the Provost would continue to examine how best to address antisemitism, and ways of engaging governance and the broader University community to ensure the campus was free from discrimination. She confirmed that she would continue to report on this topic, and discussions would take place, at future Governing Council meetings.
The President concluded her report by announcing the appointment of Ms Bryn McPherson as Chair, University Bicentennial. Ms McPherson was in the process of establishing a team and would be undertaking a consultation process on how best to celebrate the beginning of the University’s third century. The President said that governors would be included in those consultations.
Questions
Governors discussed the UTMSU event. A governor commended the University leadership for their commitment to upholding the autonomy of student unions and freedom of speech even when challenging, offensive, and uncomfortable. A suggestion was made to offer training to student leaders on responding to such controversies. Another governor shared their opinion that they found UTMSU’s public statement to be credible, which indicated the Union had wanted to be inclusive and honour all victims of the Hamas-Israel war and noted the United Nations had declared a genocide in the region. Other governors expressed disagreement and disappointment with the University’s decision to allow the event to proceed. Some governors stated they had been offended by the event and took the position that the event had violated University principles and that safeguards should be put in place to manage similar situations in the future.
In response to a governor's question regarding the return to campus, President Woodin confirmed that, for some divisions with space restrictions, a phased-in approach would be implemented, working closely with Human Resources.
In response to a governor’s question regarding the University’s emergency research funding, President Woodin noted that the University continued to have strong relationships with U.S. peer institutions and that she did not expect U.S. government research funding to be restored in the near future. -
Presentation: Industry Partnerships
Leah Cowen, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives and Joseph Wong, Vice-President, International provided an overview of the University’s industry partnerships. They noted that researchers collaborated broadly and partnered with many individuals and organizations beyond the academic sector, in line with the strategic plans of both the International and the Research and Innovation portfolios.
The University currently had approximately 300 active partnerships, with a range of individual partnerships and consortia over short-term and decades-long periods. Industry partnerships were important, both for driving discovery and providing funding, as well as providing experiential learning opportunities and potential connections with employers for students. Partnerships provided researchers with opportunities to test their findings in real-world settings, as well as obtain revenue-generating licensing and patents. Professor Wong noted that the CEO of Siemens had recently submitted an op-ed to the Globe and Mail, praising Siemens’ partnership with the University.
The University was working aggressively to increase its industry partnerships and had seen steady growth over recent years, with partnerships currently accounting for 7.34% of research funding. A crucial cause of this growth was the Blue Door initiative – a website designed to be a “one-stop shop” with concierge services for organizations interested in partnering with the University. In the four years since its launch, the website had received over 10,000 visits and over 350 engagements. Business development teams across all three campuses were meeting regularly to strategize and support Blue Door initiatives, while taking advice from the Research Security team to help researchers navigate sensitive technology. This team also worked hand in glove with trade commissioners around the world.
Current challenges included increased competition for research partnerships and the need for greater regional diversification. The University also aimed to increase the number of framework agreements in place with partners, as such agreements were particularly beneficial to the University.
In response to a governor’s question, Professor Cowen noted that the University was thoughtful about its agreement negotiations to ensure that terms were favourable for the University and for researchers in terms of revenue generation and intellectual property.
In response to a governor’s question, Professor Wong noted that the undergraduate student experience was enriched by industry partnerships. - Presentation: Update on the AI Task Force Recommendations
Professor Susan McCahan, Associate Vice-President & Vice-Provost, Digital Strategies, and Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education, delivered a report on the AI Task Force Recommendations. She noted that the Task Force’s final report was available online.
The Task Force was made up of six working groups with approximately 80 individuals from across the institution. The Co-chairs consulted widely throughout the University community and strived to take a balanced approach to the integration of AI technologies. The Task Force heard that the community was very interested in technological opportunities but deeply concerned about potential negative implications. The Task Force was dedicated to the University’s core mission of the development of human potential. Its goal was not to promote the use of AI; but rather, to anticipate its social, institutional, and environmental impacts. The Task Force’s final report was praised by external reviewers as being well aligned with University values and for its human-centric lens.
The report recommended that members of the University community be given opportunities to learn about AI in secure spaces and become AI literate, be equipped with secure and specialized AI tools, and that the University ensure its data systems were AI-ready. The University was currently implementing these recommendations.
This Fall, Professor McCahan’s team provided open educational resources for faculty to use in their courses. There had been over 500 downloads of these resources. Her office also provided a monthly news round-up on AI topics for the University community. Her office also collaborated on the creation of resources for libraries, the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation, the School of Graduate Studies, and informal communities of practice. This year, over 90 courses offered AI tutors through an AI system called Cogniti. Hundreds of licenses for AI tools in protected formats were currently being distributed to faculty, staff, and students. She concluded by sharing that in the near future, the AI Adoption Table – a recommendation of the AI Task Force – would begin to oversee and advise on AI adoption at the University.
In response to a governor’s question, Professor McCahan confirmed that her team was receiving legal advice on an ongoing basis, including on copyright issues in generative AI. Legal advisors were keeping the Task Force abreast of the latest court cases from around the world.
Some governors commended the work of the Task Force and the scope of the report. A governor stated their hope that the University would find methods of sharing its expertise on this topic with other institutions. Professor McCahan noted that she had helped draft the recently released “Navigating AI in Teaching and Learning: Values, Principles and Leading Practices” document released by the U15 and confirmed that the University was leading in this field on a national level. -
Report of the University Ombudsperson for the period July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 and Administrative Response
Bruce Kidd, Professor Emeritus and former Ombudsperson of the University, delivered the report. The Chair noted for members that, although Professor Faye Mishna had been appointed as the University’s Ombudsperson effective July 1, 2025, the report covered the period under Professor Emeritus Kidd’s tenure.
Professor Emeritus Kidd began by noting that the Office of the Ombudsperson had recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Its founding was one of the earliest decisions of the new Governing Council and occurred at a time of great social and institutional change, when the University moved from a discretionary to a policy-based decision-making model. The establishment of the Office gave every member of the University the right to a confidential and unbiased review when they felt a decision had been unfair. Professor Emeritus Kidd noted that the University's commitment to procedural fairness and equity was integral to its academic mission.
From July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, the Office of the Ombudsperson received 357 cases - an increase of 9% over the previous year. There was an increase in the number of cases regarding international student visas. There was a decrease in the number of cases regarding incivility – down to 27 cases this year, compared with 46 cases in 2023-24 and 56 cases in 2022-23. This significant decrease was likely due to the University’s efforts to lower the temperature in campus discourse and to model skills of effective civil discourse and disagreement. Professor Emeritus Kidd stated that he had welcomed the release of the Report of the Working Group on Civil Discourse, led by Professor Randy Boyagoda. He was encouraged to see that the Administration has accepted all of that report’s recommendations.
Over the past couple of years, the Office had observed a marked improvement in the navigability and currency of University websites. There were fewer dead links and orphaned sites, and the ability to find key information and contact information had improved. Professor Emeritus Kidd commended the leadership of Provost Trevor Young and his predecessor, Provost Cheryl Regehr, in affirming and implementing the importance of effective and functioning websites. Professor Emeritus Kidd also commended the University Secretariat for agreeing to consistently include hyperlinks in its policies and documents so that relevant references would be easy to find. He noted this was a significant step towards accessibility of information and transparency.
Professor Emeritus Kidd noted that three major policies had come up for review in the past year and noted the participation of the Office in all three. He was encouraged that this confirmed a standard practice of consulting with the Office of the Ombudsperson on all major policy reviews and on individual cases of the Supportive Leaves Policy. While independent of Administration, the Office was effective at collaborating with the Administration as colleagues in the interest of safeguarding transparent and fair practices.
Professor Emeritus Kidd concluded by noting how pleased he was to have started and ended his career at the University. He assured governors that the Office of the Ombudsperson was in good hands with Professor Faye Mishna going forwards.
The Chair thanked Professor Emeritus Kidd for his many decades of outstanding service to the University. Professor Emeritus Kidd received a standing ovation from governors. - Proposed Revisions to the Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment
The Chair introduced this item by reminding governors that, last Spring, the Governing Council heard a presentation about the results of the consultation process that was carried out as the first step of the Policy review and that the revisions that were now being proposed reflected the feedback heard.. She reminded governors that the document they received was in draft form and that the final proposed Policy would come forward for their approval in December 2025.
Professor Sandy Welsh, Vice-Provost, Students, reported that extensive community consultations took place between January and March 2025, led by Professor Faye Mishna. The consultations team heard from over 200 students, faculty members, and librarians. The findings of those consultations were presented to Governing Council in June 2025. The Policy was also subject to an external legal review by Ms. Gillian Hnatiw, a preeminent legal expert in sexual violence. Professor Welsh outlined key feedback themes and noted that the findings of both the external legal expert as well as the community consultations were well aligned.
Professor Welsh listed highlights of the proposed Policy revisions, which included new and updated definitions, emphasis on a trauma-informed approach, the enshrining of current administrative practices into policy, and new provisions regarding process timelines. She told the Council that the proposed revised Policy had been available on a public webpage for community feedback from September 3 – October 8, 2025.
Governors commended Professor Welsh on the work of her team and remarked that the proposed revised Policy was markedly improved from the previous version. A governor particularly commended the improved transparency regarding process timelines.
CONSENT AGENDA
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED
THAT the consent agenda be adopted and that Item 7, the Minutes of the Previous Governing Council Meeting, be approved.
- Minutes of the Previous Meeting of the Governing Council – June 24, 2025
The Minutes of the Governing Council meeting of June 24, 2025 were approved. - Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting
There was no business arising from the Report of the previous meeting. -
Reports for Information
Members received the following reports for information.- Report on Approvals Under Summer Executive Authority
- Report Number 258 of the Academic Board (October 9, 2025)
- Report Number 286 of the Business Board (September 25, 2025)
- Report Number 248 of the University Affairs Board (October 23, 2025)
- Report Number 73 of the UTM Campus Council (October 6, 2025)
- Report Number 70 of the UTSC Campus Council (October 6, 2025)
- Report Number 562 of the Executive Committee (October 27, 2025)
- Date of Next Meeting – Thursday, December 11, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
The Chair advised that the next meeting of the Governing Council would take place on December 11, 2025. - Question Period
Members had no questions. - Other Business
There were no items of other business.
The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.
November 24, 2025