Report Number 62 Of The UTM Academic Affairs Committee
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
To the UTM Campus Council,
University of Toronto Mississauga,
Your UTM Academic Affairs Committee reports that it held a meeting in the Council Chamber, Room 3130, W. G. Davis building on March 11, 2026 with the following members present:
PRESENT: Rosa Hong (in the Chair), Alexandra Gillespie (Vice-President & Principal), William Gough (Interim Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean), Ron Buliung (Interim Vice-Dean Graduate & Postdoctoral Affairs), Margarida Duarte (Vice-Dean Undergraduate), Renu Kanga Fonseca (Registrar and Assistant Dean, Enrolment Management), Randy Besco, Andreas Bendlin, Steven Bernstein, Kiara Blaic, Shauna Brail, Brett Beston, Liza Blake, Ron Buliung, Aryaman Chopra, Boris Chrubasik, Pierre Desrochers, Hamza Faiyaz-Ul-Haque, Jacob Gallagher-Ross,Tanjim Hossain, Yeshoda Harry-Paul, Saad Hussain, Arsalan Kahnemuyipour, Robert McMillan, Michelle Kraus, Catherine MacGregor, Andrew Miles, Michael Nixon, David Pettinicchio, Andrew Petersen, Steven Short, Jaimal Thind, Christopher Thompson, Tara Vinodrai, Anil Wasif, Ron Wener, Liye Xie, Jack Zhang.
REGRETS: France Gagnon (VPRI), Sheliza Ibrahim (Vice-Chair), Shakhriyor Bakhtiyorov, Barend Beekhuizen, Ilia Binder, Laura Brown, Brett Caraway, Craig Chambers, Michael DeBraga, Sarah Hillewaert, Josh Milstein, Andreas Park, Gary Lee Pelletier, Ananth Prasad, Brian Price, Nasha Sethna, Jumi Shin, Gurpreet Rattan, Dany Savard, Adriano Senatore, Andrew Sepielli, Meghan Sutherland, Ronald Wolthoff, Otto Yung
NON-VOTING ASSESSORS: Bryan Stewart (Vice-Dean, Academic Programs), Martha Harris (Director of Academic Operations, Office of the VPA&D), Tim Fricker (Interim Dean of Student Experience and Wellbeing.
SECRETARIAT: Cindy Ferencz-Hammond (Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council), Samantha Frost (Governance and Projects Coordinator)
IN ATTENDANCE: Dan Bowyer (COE member, UTSC CC member), Adam Fraser (Assistant Dean, Office of the Vice-Principal Academic & Dean), Tatevik Nersisyan (Academic Change Specialist, OVPAD), Ferzeen Sammy (Manager, Academic Programs, OVPAD)\
OPEN SESSION
- Chair’s Remarks
The Chair welcomed members and guests to the Cycle 4 meeting and announced recent Academic Affairs Committee election results. Congratulations were extended to newly elected and re-elected teaching staff members: Mary Cheng (Biology) and Anna Thomas (English and Drama) for their first terms; Pierre Desrochers (Geography, Geomatics and Environment) for his second term; and Jaimal Thind (Mathematical and Computational Sciences) for his third term. The Chair noted that student election results would be available on April 7. -
Program Closure: Minor in Francophone Studies, UTM
The Chair invited Bryan Stewart, Vice-Dean, Academic Programs, to present the item. Professor Stewart explained the program had been launched in 2003, but admissions were administratively suspended on September 1, 2017, due to persistently low enrolment. Enrolment had peaked at 18 students in 2008 but had steadily declined, with only two students remaining in 2017. Students interested in francophone culture and language had since pursued the Functional French minor, which integrates both language acquisition and cultural study and had proven to be a stronger and more sustainable pathway. The 2023–24 University of Toronto Quality Assurance
Process (UTQAP) external review of the Department of Language Studies had recommended that the program not be reinstated. There were no current students enrolled, and there were no faculty, course, staffing, or resource implications.
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE RESOLVED
THAT the closure of the Minor in Francophone Studies, UTM, as detailed in the proposal dated January 20, 2026, to which admissions were administratively suspended on September 1, 2017, be approved with an anticipated program closure date of April 30, 2026. -
Program Closure: Specialist in Italian and French, UTM
Professor Stewart presented the item. He noted that admissions to this program had been suspended on November 23, 2016, due to low enrolment. Historical enrolment data showed eight students in 2013, five students in 2014 and 2015, and zero students by 2016. Students had preferred to pursue separate majors in French and Italian, both of which remained available. The 2023–24 external review had also supported the program’s discontinuation. There were no active students and no resource implications.
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED
THAT the closure of the Specialist in Italian and French, University of Toronto Mississauga, as detailed in the proposal dated February 4, 2026, to which admissions were administratively suspended on November 23, 2016, be approved with an anticipated program closure date of April 30, 2026. -
Major Modification: New Streams in UTM Co-op Internship Program (UTMCIP), UTM
Professor Stewart reported on the proposed introduction of nine new streams within the UTM Co-op Internship Program (UTMCIP). These new streams spanned Biology, Management, Mathematical and Computational Sciences, and the Institute of Forensic Sciences, including areas such as biotechnology, commerce, applied statistics, and forensic specializations.
UTMCIP, introduced in 2024, provided structured work-integrated learning that included four preparatory modules, a 12- or 16-month paid work placement, and a reflective module, typically extending degree completion to five years and resulting in transcript notation. Student consultation conducted in 2023 showed that approximately 70% of students identified co-op as their preferred experiential learning option. Professor Stewart also noted that the proposal required no additional faculty hires or changes to academic requirements.
During discussion, members asked whether expanding CIP would displace existing internship courses. It was clarified that co-op and internships served different learning outcomes: co-op involved a full-year paid placement with specific GPA and time-commitment requirements, whereas internships occurred during the academic year, within a course curriculum, and were accessible to a broader pool of students. Members also raised questions about tracking program effectiveness and return on investment. It was noted that UTMCIP was integrated into the larger tri-campus U of T co-op ecosystem and used the Simplicity platform to track work-term success rates, retention, and employer engagement. As the first UTM cohort was expected to begin placements in May 2026, local outcome data would become available in the coming year. A report back to Committee next year was suggested to provide more detailed evidence on outcomes and program impact.
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED
THAT new streams in the University of Toronto Mississauga Co-op Internship Program (UTMCIP), as described in the proposal dated February 10, 2026, be approved, effective September 1, 2026. -
Minor Modification: New Focus in Business Data Analytics, Department of Management, UTM
Professor Stewart began by explaining that a focus consisted of a structured three-credit grouping of courses linked to a parent specialist program and resulted in a transcript notation but was not required for graduation. The prosed focus in business data analytics required 1.5 credits of core courses, which included Introduction to Data Analysis, Applied Econometrics, and either Data Analytics for Management or Financial Modeling in Data Analytics, and 1.5 elective credits at the 300-level or above drawn from Management and Economics. A survey conducted in October 2025 with 87 responses showed that 91% of students believed the focus would enhance their education and 90% expressed moderate or strong interest in enrolling. The proposal used existing courses and required no new resources, though modest increased enrolment in Economics courses was anticipated.
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED
THAT the proposed Focus in Business Data Analytics, Department of Management, UTM, as described in the proposal dated February 6, 2026, be approved, effective September 1, 2026. -
Minor Modification: Graduate Curriculum Changes, UTM
The Chair invited Professor Ronald Buliung, Interim Vice-Dean Graduate & Postdoctoral Affairs, to present the graduate minor curriculum modifications in the Institute for Management and Innovation. In the Master of Biotechnology (Digital Health Technology stream), a new required course, BTC1843H: Relational Database Access for Cybersecurity and Health, was introduced to reflect evolving industry demands, particularly in healthcare data systems and electronic medical records. One course, BTC1842H: Medical Device Reimbursement, was retired due to limited internship interest from industry partners. Additionally, nine Master of Forensic Accounting courses were updated to correct delivery mode information in the 2025–26 School of Graduate Studies calendar, ensuring accurate reflection of the program’s hybrid format. There were no net resource implications for these proposed changes.
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED
THAT the proposed graduate curriculum changes in the Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI), as detailed in the proposal dated February 4, 2026, be approved effective September 1, 2026. - Bachelor of Computer Science
The Chair explained that the establishment of the new degree was under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Academic Policy & Programs and that following the introduction of the new Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) degree, a separate major modification proposal to re-point the existing UTM Specialist and Major programs in Computer Science, and Specialist in Information Security, would be brought forward to the UTM Academic Affairs Committee meeting for approval at the next meeting.
Professor Stewart then provided for information, a presentation on the introduction of a new BCS degree across the three campuses. The new four-year degree would take effect September 1, 2027, with first graduates anticipated in June 2028. The curriculum, admissions criteria, tuition, learning outcomes, and program requirements would remain unchanged; only the degree title would change.
Professor Stewart noted that the rationale for the proposal was that Computer Science has evolved into a distinct discipline and that a BCS designation more clearly signaled specialization to employers and graduate schools. Surveys across campuses indicated strong student preference for the new degree, and comparator institutions such as Waterloo, Queen’s, Concordia, ETH Zurich, and the National University of Singapore already offered similar degrees.
Students admitted prior to September 2027 would have the option to graduate with either the Honours Bachelor of Science or the new Bachelor of Computer Science designation. Students admitted after that date would default to the BCS if enrolled in designated programs but would retain flexibility in double-major situations.
Discussion focused on degree naming, particularly the decision to remove the word “Honours,” which had been debated but ultimately not retained to align with the University’s broader degree structure. Members also asked about retroactive designation for alumni, and it was clarified that only currently enrolled students could opt into the new degree. Additional questions addressed how the new degree would be represented in job or graduate applications and whether switching into Computer Science would become more difficult; it was confirmed that the degree change did not alter program entry processes.
CONSENT AGENDA
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED
THAT the consent agenda be adopted and that Items 8 and 9, be approved.
- Minor Modification: Undergraduate Curriculum Changes, UTM* (for approval)
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED
THAT the proposed undergraduate curriculum changes at UTM, as detailed in the respective curriculum reports, be approved, effective September 1, 2026. - Report of the Previous Meeting: Report Number 61 – January 27, 2026
- Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting
- Date of the Next Meeting – April 28, 2026, at 3:10 p.m.
- Other Business
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
March 12, 2026