REPORT NUMBER 58 OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA CAMPUS COUNCIL
MARCH 7, 2023
To the Governing Council,
University of Toronto
Your Council reports that it met on March 7, 2023 at 4:10 p.m. in a Virtual Meeting Room.
Present:
Shashi Kant (in the Chair), Ann Curran (Vice-Chair), Alexandra Gillespie (Vice-President & Principal), Hassaan Basit, Laura Cocuzzi, Crystal Cheng, Rafael Chiuzi, Jenny Cui, Ivana Di Millo, Robert Gerlai, Sanja Hinic-Frlog, Karen Kwan Anderson, Asif Mohammed, Eha Naylor, Laura Taylor, Ryan Teschner, Ziyaad Vahed, Ron Wener, Kathleen Yu
Non-Voting Assessors:
Deborah Brown (Chief Administrative Officer), Amrita Daniere (Interim Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean), Mark Overton (Assistant Principal, Student Services & Dean of Student Affairs)
Regrets: Shelley Hawrychuk, Uday Dhingra, Rayan Hobeika, Hana Tariq
In Attendance:
Scott Mabury (Vice-President, Operations & Real Estate Partnerships), Jeff Lennon (Assistant Vice-President Planning & Budget), Hans van Monsjou (CAC member), Brian Cunha (Director, Student Housing & Residence Life), Megan Evans (Assistant Director, Hospitality Operations), Brian Hoppie (Operations Manager, Parking & Transportation), Lorretta Neebar (Registrar), Andrea Urie (Assistant Dean, Student Wellness, Support & Success)
Secretariat:
Cindy Ferencz Hammond (Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council)
- Chair’s Remarks
The Chair welcomed members and extended a welcome to members of the Campus Affairs Committee who had been invited to attend the meeting to participate in Item #3, the Institutional Budget presentation. He also congratulated the recently announced winners of the elections to the bodies of the UTM Campus Council and thanked all who participated in the governance elections. He noted that the announcement of election results for all student seats would occur on April 3, 2023. Finally, he reminded members that there were three seats available on the UTM Campus Council and two on the Campus Affairs Committee in the Community / Alumni constituency and that the application period would close on Friday, March 10, 2023.
- Report of the Vice-President and Principal
Professor Gillespie began her report with the news that UTM had a new interim Chief Librarian, Paula Hannaford, who accepted the position for a one-year term, through the end of February 2024. She stepped in for Shelley Hawrychuk who was on leave, and who announced that she would not renew her appointment as UTM’s Chief Librarian. Professor Gillespie expressed her thanks to both as champions for the power of Library learning at UTM since UTM was Erindale College.
She provided some highlights of Ms Hawrychuk’s almost thirty years of service, including more than six years as UTM’s Chief Librarian. These included driving the library’s growth in electronic titles to broaden the range of UTM’s research and teaching resources; being a leader in the development of the first of its kind Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians; and leading UTM’s implementation of one of Canada’s first academic models of library liaison service. Much of Ms Hawrychuk’s work connected to themes in UTM’s Strategic Framework about the importance of broad collaboration in translating research discovery into student learning and success. UTM would continue to strengthen these connections going forward.
Professor Gillespie also highlighted Paula Hannaford’s work in the Library for the past twenty-five years, with major contributions towards supporting students to grow as global citizens and lifelong learners, and expanding Library programs for high school and community outreach. Ms Hannaford was also a leader in curriculum development for the Library’s student engagement and transition program, which linked partners in UTM’s Career Centre, Registrar’s Office, Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre, and elsewhere.
Professor Gillespie noted that such important work intersected with a campus-wide focus on the transition into university as an opportunity to help students flourish, including in UTM’s Eagle Connect, which drew incoming students into communities as well as connecting to UTM’s long-term project for the future of student advising. The Library played a crucial part in student success, both as a physical space for student community, which welcomed more than 1.5 million visits a year, and a home for peer-to-peer support, including in the Library’s Student Ambassador Wellness Program that Ms Hannaford coordinated. The Library also served as an important hub for research and teaching in UTM’s special collections: these collections have been significantly expanded over the past years, including through acquisitions of the Waez Abualy Alibhai Collection of rare Ismaili manuscripts, the papers of the United Fruit Company, and the Syd Bolton Game Collection, all of which lean into UTM’s research strengths. Ms Hannaford also played an important role in partnering with the Indigenous Centre and Blackwood Gallery on welcome artwork for the Library in Indigenous languages.
Building on this earlier work, Professor Gillespie concluded her report by referring to UTM’s responsibility to become a more deserving home for Indigenous communities. One collaboration to that end was an all Nations Powwow on March 25, 2023, that UTM was co-hosting on campus with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The Powwow was a chance to dance, celebrate, and come together in community, all while building new relationships and supporting local Indigenous businesses. Professor Gillespie invited all Council members to the event.
- Institutional Budget Report 2022-23 and Long Range Budget Guidelines 2023-24 to 2027-28
The Chair invited Professor Scott Mabury, Vice-President Operations & Real Estate Partnerships and Mr. Jeff Lennon, Assistant Vice-President Planning & Budget to discuss the institutional budget report.
As part of his introductory remarks, Professor Mabury reported that the University continued to be in strong financial shape and that a balanced operating budget of $3.36 was projected for 2023-24. Future planning would, however, be constrained by slowing revenue growth and rising inflationary pressures.
The following matters were highlighted during the presentation:
Highlights of the presentation included:
- the University continued to be in strong financial shape, but was entering a period of slowing revenue growth which would put pressure on expense plans;
- demand for programs continued to be strong both domestically and internationally;
- consultations with student groups identified key priorities in areas of student mental health, financial support and student advising;
- the Long Range Budget Guidelines planned for a balanced budget in each of the five years;
- the total budgeted operating revenue for 2023-24 of $3.36 billion was an increase of $124 million over the previous year;
- the continued downward shift in operating grant funding was down to 20% and anticipated to further reduce to 18% of the budget by the end of the five-year plan;
- the proportion of the budget supported by the Ontario government continued to be significantly less than peer institutions across the country;
- an estimated $2.09 billion was projected for faculty and staff compensation in 2023-24;
- enrolment-related revenues from student fees and operating grants were projected to increase by 3.3%, primarily driven by tuition revenue as a result of modest changes to domestic enrolment within the fixed Provincial funding envelope, a small increase in international enrolment, as well as a 2.3% increase in international tuition fees;
- the budget assumed that the freeze on domestic tuition would continue for 2023-24, with the result that domestic tuition fees continued to be less than they were five years ago;
- in preparation for the possibility that some flexibility on domestic tuition would be allowed, two tuition schedules would be submitted for approval – one with a 0% increase to domestic Ontario resident fees and the other with a proposed 3% increase to these fees;
- a 3% tuition increase would provide approximately $15 million in additional revenue which would be allocated across the divisions to help meet inflationary pressures;
- non-Ontario resident domestic fees were differentiated starting in 2022-2023 with a 3% increase versus the freeze on resident fees for undergraduate programs, this policy would be continued with a 5% increase for 2023-2024, consistent with the current provincial framework;
- in addition, there may be a possibility from the Government for a special adjustment to domestic tuition in programs where the University’s fees are materially lower than a comparator group and the University is awaiting details on this;
- international tuition fees made up 43% of the operating budget with a projected increase to 45% over the next five years;
- the province’s performance based funding framework which had been delayed because of potential Covid impacts would be phased in in 2023-2024, tying 10% of funding to performance metrics;
- in 2023-2024, 55% of the operating funding would be received through the Differentiated Envelope;
- total undergraduate enrolment in Fall 2022 increased slightly;
- combined intake across all direct entry programs was lower than projected, with the majority of the variance being in international intakes, in part due to delays in student permit processing times;
- domestic enrolment was slightly below planned but still within the enrolment corridor and did not pose a risk to operating grant funding;
- the University planned to add approximately 3,700 domestic students across undergraduate programs;
- international undergraduate enrolment was projected to increase from 30.9% to 31.5% by the end of the five-year planning period;
- the UTAPS bursary program was under review to make it more responsive to student financial needs and less connected to the OSAP system;
- total spending for student aid was projected at $365 million for 2023-24, with the greatest portion being derived from operating funds;
- budget priorities included additional investments in information security, student advising systems, research staffing to support scholars, faculty recruitment and services, funding to sustain library services and collections, and increased funding to address deferred maintenance and utilities infrastructure renewal;
- planned investments in 24 academic capital projects (with a total spend $4.0 billion) and 4 Four Corners capital projects ($1.2 billion) were projected over the five-year planning period;
- budgetary risks included inflationary pressures, potential compensation uncertainties as a result of Bill 124 having been ruled unconstitutional, deferred maintenance, operating reserves, and continued diversification of the student population;
In response to members’ questions, Professor Mabury noted the following: -
The “Other income” envelope included endowments, indirect cost of research, and investment income.
- The uncertainties with respect to inflation and compensation has meant less additional funding put aside in the budget for deferred maintenance and possibly reduced capacity for capital projects.
- Significant risk, aside from inflation, was focused on compensation and information security.
- Operating Plans and Fees: UTM Student Affairs and Services for 2023-2024
Mr. Overton summarized the three fee categories and showed the current 2022-23 fees, the proposed 2023-24 fees, and a reference point, which was the maximum the services could have sought based on the Protocol’s rules. He referred members to the detailed operating plans and rationales for the proposed fees in Health Services, Athletics & Recreation as well as the Student Services Fee category based on student feedback and consultation. Mr. Overton noted that the Child Care support line proposed a fee decrease this year. This was due to the new Canada-Wide Early Learning & Child Care System (CWELCCS), which allowed UTM to halve the financial support from each UTM student toward the ELC’s operation from $7.65 to $3.35, and more impactfully, reduce user-fees of student-families and others using the centre by half. He hoped that these significantly lower user rates would boost the enrolment of student-families (first priority population), U of T-employee-families (second priority population), as well as, community families without U of T connections. Mr. Overton added that the childcare related portion of the student services fee also supported UTM student-families who used other childcare centres; UTM paid out almost $5000 to nine student families in the fall term.
Regarding QSS feedback, Mr. Overton explained that student leaders of QSS were in a difficult position; on one hand, they were pushing for delivery of the highest quality services, and on the other hand, they were advocating for lower fees and greater student affordability. He noted that the student members had been quite supportive of the services offered, and that they understood the challenges of longer-term planning when budgets were considered individually year by year.
Mr. Overton thanked the directors of the various Student Services areas and their teams for the work they do to support the student experience and student learning. He noted that the administration was seeking an increase that was lower than the maximum allowed for Health Services, Athletics & Recreation, and the student services fee bundle.
The Chair of the Campus Affairs Committee, Professor Gerlai, reported that at that Committee’s recent meeting, members received a similar presentation from Mr. Overton, discussed QSS feedback and details about student service fees were funded and supported the recommendations in the proposal.
In response to a member’s concern that childcare funding through fees paid by all students was high in contrast to the low number of student-families using UTM’s Early Learning Centre (ELC) each year, Mr. Overton explained that student governments continued to be aware of the fee committed to subsidize ELC operations and its limited use by student-families, and remained committed to supporting it, and that CWELCCS was anticipated to boost use by student-families due to the dramatic impact on affordability.
In response to member’s question about the World University Service Canada’s Student Refugee Program (WUSC), Mr. Overton explained that the program involved welcoming one new UTM student each year from a UN refugee camp. In each student’s first year, UTMSU members provided living expenses and critical peer mentorship, Student Housing & Residence Life funded residence, Hospitality & Retail Services funded a meal-plan, the International Education Centre provided specialized transition support, the Office of the Registrar provided enrolment support, and U of T Admissions & Awards funded tuition and a work-study opportunity. This support is tapered off in each student’s subsequent terms.
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COUNCIL APPROVED
THAT SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
THAT the 2023-24 operating plans and budgets for the UTM Health & Counselling Centre; the UTM Department of Recreation, Athletics & Wellness; and the UTM Student Services under the Student Services Fee, recommended by the Dean of Student Affairs, Mark Overton, and described in the attached proposals, be approved; and
THAT the sessional Health Services Fee for a UTM-registered or UTM-affiliated full-time student be increased from $60.15 per session ($12.03 for a part-time student) to $62.16 ($12.43 for a part-time student) or 3.3% (resulting from a permanent increase of 3.2% and a temporary increase of 0.1%), and
THAT the sessional Recreation & Athletics Fee for a UTM-registered or UTM-affiliated full-time student be increased from $205.88 per session ($41.18 for a part-time student) to $211.68 ($42.34 for a part-time student) or 2.8% (permanent increase), and
THAT the sessional Student Services Fee for a UTM-registered or UTM-affiliated full-time student be increased from $214.67 per session ($42.93 for a part-time student) to $245.96 ($49.19 for a part-time) student or 14.6% (resulting from a permanent increase of 3.2% and a temporary increase of 11.4%).
- Compulsory Non-Academic Incidental Fees - Student Society Fees: UTM Student Society Proposals for Fee Increases (UTMAGS & UTMSU)
The Chair noted that student society fees were subject to the terms and conditions of the Policy on Ancillary Fees and the Policy for Compulsory Non-Academic Incidental Fees. He invited Mr. Overton to speak to the matter. Mr. Overton advised members that the fee increases requested by student societies adhered to the appropriate processes. The Chair of the Campus Affairs Committee, reported that the Committee supported the recommendation presented in the item.
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COUNCIL APPROVED
THAT SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
THAT, subject to confirmation of approval of the following fee change proposals by the University of Toronto Mississauga Association of Graduate Students (UTMAGS) Executive Committee, beginning in the Fall 2023 session, the UTMAGS fee be increased as follows: (a) an increase of up to $14.72 per Fall and Winter sessions (full-time and part-time) in the Mississauga Transit U-Pass portion of the fee, and (b) an increase of up to $8.97 per session (full-time and part-time) in the Mississauga Transit Summer U-Pass portion of the fee.
If approved, the total Fall/Winter UTMAGS fee will be up to $260.58 per session, charged to all UTM-affiliated graduate students.
Be it also Resolved,
THAT subject to confirmation by the Executive Committee,
THAT, beginning in the Fall 2023 session, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU; legally, Erindale College Students’ Union) fee be modified as follows: (a) an increase of $2.25 per session ($0.07 part-time) in the society portion of the fee, (b) an increase of up to $10.21 per Fall and Winter sessions (full-time only) in the Health Plan portion of the fee, (c) an increase of up to $8.53 per Fall and Winter sessions (full-time only) in the Dental Plan portion of the fee, (d) an increase of $13.03 per Fall and Winter sessions (full-time and part-time) in the Mississauga Transit U-Pass portion of the fee, (e) an increase of $0.07 per session (full-time and part-time) in the Academic Societies portion of the fee, (f) an increase of $0.56 per session (full-time only) in the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) portion of the fee, (g) an increase of $0.07 per session (full-time only) in the Downtown Legal Services portion of the fee, (h) an increase of $0.04 per session (full-time and part-time) in the Food Bank portion of the fee, (i) an increase of $0.04 per session (full-time and part-time) in the On-Campus First Aid Emergency Response portion of the fee, and (j) an increase of $0.12 per Fall and Winter sessions ($0.08 part-time) and $0.05 per Summer session (full-time only) in the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Levy portion of the fee.
If approved, the total Fall/Winter UTMSU fee will be up to $441.76 per session (up to $171.27 part-time), charged to all UTM undergraduate students. The total Fall/Winter UTMSU fee for Mississauga Academy of Medicine (MAM) students will be up to $520.65 per fall session and up to $520.64 per winter session.
CONSENT AGENDA
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COUNCIL APPROVED
THAT the consent agenda be adopted and that Item 8 - Report of the Previous Meeting, be approved.
- Report on UTM Capital Projects – as at January 31, 2022
- Reports for Information
-
Report of the Previous Meeting: Report 57 – January 24, 2023
Report number 57 dated January 24, 2023 was approved.
- Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting
- Date of Next Meeting – Monday, April 24, 2023 at 4:10 p.m.
The Chair reminded members that the next meeting of the UTM Campus Council was scheduled for Monday, April 24, 2023 at 4:10 p.m.
- Question Period
There were no questions for the administration.
- Other Business
There was no other business.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:03 p.m.
March 13, 2023