REPORT NUMBER 255 OF THE ACADEMIC BOARD
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2025
To the Governing Council,
University of Toronto,
Your Board reports that it held a meeting on March 6, 2025 at 3:10 p.m. with the following members present:
PRESENT: Douglas McDougall (Chair), Donald Ainslie (Vice Chair), Meric Gertler (President), Trevor Young (Vice President and Provost), Scott Mabury (Vice President, Operations & Real Estate Partnerships), Nicholas Rule (Vice-Provost, Academic Programs), Leah Cowen (Vice-President, Research and Innovation), Professor Heather Boon (Vice President, Faculty & Academic Life), Professor Kelly Hanah-Moffat (Vice President, People Strategy, Equity and Culture), Ramona Alaggia*, Larry Alford, Catherine Amara, Robert Austin*, Sheila Batacharya*, Jordan Bear, Zoraida Beekhoo*, Susan Bondy, Daniel Bowyer, Laurent Bozec, Gabriella Brasileiro Santos, Pier Bryden, Carol Chin, Dinesh Christendat, Shai Cohen, Lorne Costello*, Lisa Dolovich, Annabelle Dravid, Liam Dravid, Jessica Eylon, Monique Flaccavento*, Robert Gazzale, Zachary Hawes, Sarosh Jamal, Ehab James, Rita Kandel, Audrey Karlinsky, Elaine Khoo, Tys Klumpenhouwer, Lisa Kramer, Robert Kyle, Jeff Lennon, Libbie Mills, Eha Naylor, John Oesch*, James Orbinski, Jesse Pasternak, Matt Ratto, Lisa Robinson, Suresh Sivanandam*, Adam Stinchcombe, Sali Tagliamonte, Kevin Temple, Morgaine van Beers, William Verreault, Charmaine Williams, Suzanne Wood*, Colleen Zimmerman
*remote participation
REGRETS: Tala Alsaid Suliman, Kayra Balikci, Glen Bandiera, Joshua Barker, Bensiyon Benhabib, Adalsteinn Brown, Jutta Brunee, Christian Caron, Catherine Chandler-Crichlow, Albert Cheng, Susan Christofferson, Robert Cooper, Ryan Cortez, Tarun Dewan, Paul Downes, Markus Dubber, Joseph Flessa, Alexandra Gillespie, William Gough, Ankita Goyat, Jason Harlow, Alex Hernandez, Walid Houry, Charles Jia, Linda Johnston, Shone Joos, Charlie Keil, Gretchen Kerr, Jeannie Kim, Marcus Law, Robert Levit, Yee Fun Lo, Amy Mann, Ryan McClelland, Joanne McNamara, Irene Morra, Javed Mostafa, Maya Povhe, Anuradha Prakki, Karen Reid, Karin Ruhlandt, Rosa Saverino, Rob Simon, Laura Simone, Naomi Steenhof, Markus Stock, Robyn Stremler, Laura Tam, Sergio Tenenbaum, Edwin Thomas, Erica Walker, Melanie Woodin, Christopher Yip, David Zingg
SECRETARIAT: Miranda Edwards (Acting Secretary to the Academic Board), Timothy Harlick (Assistant Secretary to the Governing Council)
IN ATTENDANCE: Liz Church, Jelena Damjanovic, Ann Perry, Angelique Saweczko, Archana Sridhar
OPEN SESSION
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Chair’s Remarks
The Chair, Professor Douglas McDougall, welcomed members to the Cycle 4 meeting. He reported that elections for seats on the Governing Council, Academic Board, and the Campus Councils had now ended and announced the winners for seats on the 2025-26 Academic Board:
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering:
Charles Jia
Faculty of Arts and Science:
Paul Downes
Ania Harlick
Nazanin Khazra
Hang-Sun Kim
Rosa Saverino
Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education:
Luc Tremblay
Faculty of Music:
Aiyun Huang
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
Ramona Alaggia
Rotman Faculty of Management:
John Oesch
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education:
Henrjeta Mece
University of Toronto Mississauga:
Alison Syme
University of Toronto Scarborough:
Natalia Breuss
Elaine Khoo
The Chair noted that there were four vacant seats for the 2025-26 Board membership as no faculty members had put their names forward to represent the Temerty Faculty of Medicine or the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. The Governing Council Elections teams planned to reach out to those faculties to encourage future participation in Academic Board.
The Chair additionally announced that applications for co-opted members of the Academic Board (non-faculty positions for students, administrative staff, and alumni) had now opened and would close on March 17, 2025. The Chair asked members to encourage qualified candidates within their networks to apply.
Finally, the Chair reminded members to submit their 2025-26 Committee Preferences form by the deadline of March 21, 2025. He noted that the Board’s Striking Committee would meet on April 29, 2025 to review submissions and make its recommendations to the Board. The Board planned to vote on the recommended appointments at its meeting on May 29, 2025.
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Report of the Vice President and Provost
The Provost began by congratulating Professor Faye Mishna on her appointment as the new University Ombudsperson. Professor Mishna would begin her three-year term on July 1, 2025. The Provost stated that he looked forward to working with Professor Mishna and thanked Professor Bruce Kidd for his wonderful service as Ombudsperson for the last four years.
The Provost continued his report with an overview of the political situation. He noted that Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party had recently won a majority government and had run on a platform of granting $75 million to extend training capacity in publicly funded colleges and universities; $450 million of which was earmarked to fund 20,000 additional student seats in STEM programs. The Provost observed that talent recruitment and retention appeared to be part of Premier Ford’s strategic response to counter the ongoing trade war. The University was well placed to participate in and benefit from a prioritization of higher education and research investment as well as an expansion of STEM education.
The Provost then turned to federal politics, noting that Parliament was prorogued until March 24th and that a spring election was expected. The University continued to lobby all political parties for increased funding of research and innovation, emphasizing that such investments would bolster the economy. Regarding the trade war, the Provost observed that tariffs were an ongoing uncertainty. He stated that funding from U.S. federal agencies such as the National Institute of Health and National Science Foundation was at risk of being frozen or revoked. The University received $21.3 million in funding from these agencies via about 90 different active grants. Approximately $41.9 million was also received by the University’s hospitals. He acknowledged that there was a serious risk to some research initiatives. The Provost then invited Professor Leah Cowen, Vice President, Research, Innovation and Strategic Initiatives, to provide an update.
Professor Cowen informed the Board that her office was monitoring the situation closely as incoming information continued to evolve. A formal communication from her office was forthcoming that would provide updates and guidance for faculty members on mitigating risk and navigating the current funding landscape. Professor Cowen encouraged members of the University’s research community to reach out to her office.
The Provost concluded by stating that there was a great deal at stake amid much political and economic uncertainty. Despite constantly changing information, the University administration was closely monitoring all issues and gauging potential risks and opportunities for the University.
In response to a member’s question, the Provost stated that he did not anticipate that the college sector’s financial difficulties would pose a risk to the University or have an impact on its enrolment. The Provost also confirmed that there were no plans or discussions underway to acquire or merge with any colleges. -
Enrolment Report, 2024-2025
and -
Institutional Operating Budget Report, 2025-26 and the Long Range Budget Guidelines, 2025-26 to 2029-30
The Chair invited Professor Trevor Young, Provost; Professor Scott Mabury, Vice President Operations and Real Estate Partnerships; and Mr. Jeff Lennon, Assistant Vice President, Planning and Budget to deliver the presentation.
The Provost presented to the Board for its approval, a 5-year balanced budget with significant operating reserves and a strong credit rating. The budget was $3.62 billion – an increase of $98 million over the previous year - with two-thirds of operating revenue from student tuition and fees and the remaining third from the provincial government. Revenue growth was expected to slow to 2-3% for the next five years due to political and economic uncertainty, restrictions on international student study permits, the provincial tuition freeze in place until 2026-27, and inflation. Staff and faculty compensation continued to be the largest area of expense, accounting for 66% of the total budget. Indirect costs of research had increased over the past few years as a major budget expense. Investments were a strong source of additional revenue with the use of endowment funds largely used for student financial aid. Student financial aid continued to be a key priority with 11% of revenue set aside for this purpose. Overall, the Provost reported that the University of Toronto remained in a strong financial position to maintain its academic and operational excellence.
Tuition and Operating Grants
The University benefited from increased operating grants from the provincial government and the new Financial Sustainability Grant. Domestic tuition revenue had grown due to higher enrolment levels and increases to out of province tuition fees. The University planned to increase out of province domestic tuition by approximately 5% next year, which would generate additional revenue of approximately $5 million. Nevertheless, the University generated less revenue from domestic enrollment than it did in 2018-19 in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation. International tuition growth remained relatively flat due to restrictions on international study visas.
Compensation and Faculty Hiring
Compensation costs were now approximately $2.3 billion and were expected to increase by $85 million next year due to salary and benefits increases. The University planned to hire 15 new faculty positions next year which was significantly less than the typical annual number of approximately 50 new faculty hires.
Enrolment
In 2025-26, the University planned to admit approximately 17,000 new students into its direct entry undergraduate programs, including about 11,200 domestic students and 5,800 international students.
Last year, the University enrolled 20,811 graduate students. In recent years, most graduate program enrolment growth was seen in professional Master’s programs, with declining demand in research-stream Master’s degrees. In 2024, the University committed to a base funding increase for doctoral students from $30,000 to $40,000 per year. The funding for this initiative largely came from the University Fund and was a key priority for the University in recognition of the fact that PhD students are the lifeblood of research programs and teaching supports.
The Government signaled that it may fund domestic enrolment growth in STEM related programs in the future. In response, the University proposed adding 4,850 undergraduate spaces and 565 Master’s spaces. This potential growth was not yet included in the long-range budget plan.
International Students
The 2025-26 enrolment target for international students was just over 5,800. Last year, there was a 6% decline in international student enrolment – far better the sector’s average decline. Approximately $90 million was budgeted for international student scholarships, which were to be fully funded from international student tuition revenues.
Professor Mabury noted that the University has undertaken a strategic approach to diversify international student recruitment in local markets and to improve retention. A key component of this strategy was to have more housing in place for international students. The opening of new residence buildings under construction would support this goal.
Student Aid
The 2025-26 budget included planned spending of $405 million on student financial support programs. Approximately $1.6 billion of the University’s endowment fund was earmarked for student aid with an annual payout of approximately $69 million. Last year, about 10,000 students received about $40 million in support through UTAPS – the University’s primary needs-based undergraduate bursary program. Next year, the UTAPS budget would be increased to about $45 million.
Mr. Lennon noted that the University prided itself on having the national gold standard of financial aid programs. The University spent far more on financial aid than was required by provincial policy, and far more than the average across Ontario universities. Furthermore, the delivery of student aid programs was fully integrated into the budget model and was a combined effort between institution-wide programs such as UTAPS, and various smaller programs run by individual divisions.
Shared Service Investments and Operational Excellence
Investments in shared services included a new identity management system that was crucial for the University’s information security, an expansion of the Library’s electronic acquisitions, a new expense reimbursement system, and a new centralized employee HR system. The latter two initiatives were expected to result in financial savings and save a significant amount of employees’ time.
As a result of cost increases due largely to inflation and compensation increases and slowing revenue growth, Professor Mabury reported that the University decided to prioritize operational efficiencies to save both time and money. The University has allocated approximately $1 million for an Operational Excellence Fund. Portions of this Fund would also be provided to divisions to support them in aligning with these strategies.
In response to a member’s question, Professor Mabury remarked that the University’s approach was to let success beget success and that if any pilot programs implemented under the operational excellence program were successful in delivering value to the institution, it was likely that the program would be continued and expanded.
Deferred Maintenance
As approved by the Governing Council at its meeting on February 27, 2025, the University was to take $250 million in debt in order to finance urgent repair and renovation of University building infrastructure. Approximately 400 projects would be prioritized over the next two to three years.
Conclusions
The Provost concluded the budget presentation by informing he Board that the Administration planned to act cautiously over the next five years as revenues slowed and costs increased. The Provost emphasized that there were no plans to eliminate academic programs, reduce student services or student financial aid, or lay off staff.
The Chair informed the Board that the budget had previously been considered by the Planning & Budget Committee at its meeting on February 12, 2025. The Chair invited Professor Mark Lautens, Chair of the Planning & Budget Committee, to summarize the Committee’s discussions. Professor Lautens reported that Committee members had focused their discussion on 1) provincial funding constraints, 2) international enrolment constraints, and 3) market considerations. Professor Lautens said that Committee members had noted that the University continued to experience strong domestic demand with retention rates exceeding projections. This highlights the tensions between the institution’s growth potential and its funding constraints. Additionally, the broader question of institutional autonomy was raised by members, prompting reflections on the importance of a balance between the University’s operational efficiency and its public academic mission.
Questions
A member commented that the U.S. government’s trend towards “scientific denialism” and, particularly, its exit of the foreign aid field would have a significant impact on global health and may be both a risk for the University in terms of funding as well as an opportunity for the university to grow in this field. The Provost reiterated that about $62 million of the University’s and its hospital partner’s research funding was at risk and that the University would support faculty and research staff in the search for long-term alternate sources of funding. The Provost also commented that the University would continue its research in areas that had been disproportionately targeted for cuts and funding freezes by the U.S. government, such as climate science, public health, and EDI studies. He stated that research fields which would no longer be supported in the U.S. were areas of great strength at the University of Toronto.
A member asked if the University had considered allowing international research-stream graduate students to self-sponsor to come to the University as is done at undergraduate level. The President thanked the member for raising this question, noting that it was a good time to be thinking creatively about graduate education. He noted that the federal government’s recent inclusion of graduate students in its study permit allocations had been shortsighted, given these students are essential to driving the research agenda and that there are not enough Canadian graduate students to fill these positions. In addition, at a time when the future of the country is in question, research and innovation will need to play a critical role in reinventing the nature of the Canadian economy, and that the University will be participating in these national discussions.
A member expressed concern about the University’s lobbying for domestic tuition increases, noting that when the provincial government deregulated medical school tuition in the 2000s, the average family income of a medical school student changed from $60,000 a year to about $150,000 over a two-year period. This suggested that students from moderate-income families were deterred from enrolment. The member asked what steps the University would take to ensure a similar shift would not happen if the province were to end the tuition freeze. The Provost responded that one of the University’s core values was to uphold the Governing Council’s Access Guarantee that ensured all admitted students were able to attend irrespective of their ability to pay tuition. The University believed it was reasonable for tuition costs to match inflation, for example compounding at 3% per year. The Provost confirmed that the University has only advocated for such modest increases to bring the institution’s revenue in line with its expenses.
On motion duly moved, seconded and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED,
THAT the Budget Report 2025-26 be approved, and
THAT the Long Range Budget Guidelines 2025-2026 to 2029-30 be approved in principle. -
Tentative Agreement Between the University Administration and the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) on Articles 7 and 13 of the Memorandum of Agreement between The Governing Council of the University of Toronto and The University of Toronto Faculty Association
Professor Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Vice President, People Strategy, Equity, and Culture presented this item on behalf of her office and Professor Heather Boon, Vice Provost, Faculty & Academic Life.
Professor Hannah-Moffat informed the Board that, on October 3, 2024, the University and UTFA entered mediation to discuss revisions and amendments to the Memorandum of Agreement. On February 28, 2024, both parties made a joint announcement that the revised agreement and amendments had been ratified by UTFA Council.
One of the key revisions was the exclusion of certain academic administrators from UTFA membership so that those individuals could participate in academic labour relationship processes (such as negotiations and grievances) on behalf of the university without any real or perceived conflict of interest. This included the exclusion of Vice Deans and Associate Deans, Academic or equivalent.
The other key revision was to update the grievance process for faculty members and librarians to be more aligned with modern Labour Relations frameworks, which were commonly used elsewhere in the University. Going forward, both parties have agreed that the previous three-person grievance review panel, which had consisted of a professional arbitrator and two faculty members or librarian, would now be replaced by one professional arbitrator who would act as sole decision maker. This arbitrator was to be selected from a rotating list of mutually agreed-upon arbitrators. Going forward, Association grievances that would have a significant impact on academic employment matters were to be decided by a Chief Arbitrator or their Deputy. Both parties have agreed to a process to determine a Chief Arbitrator and/or a Chief Deputy Arbitrator by September 1, 2025. Faculty members and librarians would continue to choose whether they wish to have UTFA representation at individual or group grievance mediations.
The University and UTFA have agreed to a transition model for active grievances that were currently in the process of being heard under the prior agreement. Professor Hannah-Moffat noted that the University Administration initially had concerns about moving to a model where academic colleagues did not have a role in the adjudication of grievances given the important culture of collegial governance. However, the University was confident that the arbitrators selected for this process were sufficiently knowledgeable of the nature of academic employment and the University and were well-positioned to make informed and fair decisions.
Other notable changes included new timeline requirements for notices and decisions to ensure timely communications, the removal of references to outdated policies and procedures, the removal of obsolete terms, and a new provision to allow designates to engage in some negotiation processes.
The University consulted with Vice Presidents, Deans, Principals, and Academic HR leaders. All were welcoming of the changes as creating a more efficient process that was better aligned with the University’s best practices.
A member inquired if the negotiated changes to Article 13 had been contentious. Professor Hannah-Moffat said they were not. She noted that the negotiations had required extensive dialogue about workloads. For example, if Deans were to be the only designated person to hear disputes, it could take a significant amount of time and prove particularly challenging for single-department faculties. All parties came to the agreement that it made sense for faculty members or librarians whose roles concern academic activities to be the ones who attend negotiation.
In response to a member’s question, Professor Hannah-Moffat confirmed that the University and UTFA would share the costs of arbitration in the case of faculty grievances, if the faculty member chose to be represented by UTFA in the matter.
On motion duly moved, seconded and carried
YOUR BOARD RECOMMENDED,
THAT the amendments to Article 7 and Article 13 of the MOA, as agreed to by University of Toronto Administration and the University of Toronto Faculty, on February 20, 2025, and the related housekeeping changes to Articles 6 and 11 be approved, effective immediately.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Board proceeded with the Consent Agenda.
On a motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR BOARD APPROVED
THAT the consent agenda be adopted and that Item 6, the Report of the Previous Meeting, be approved.
- Report of the Previous Meeting: Report Number 254 – January 30, 2025
Report Number 254 from the Board’s meeting of January 30, 2025 was approved. -
Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting
There was no business arising from the report of the previous meeting. -
Items for Information
Members received the following items for information: -
Quarterly Report on Donations of $250,000 or more to the University of Toronto, November 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025
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Appointments: President’s Teaching Award Selection Committee
END OF CONSENT AGENDA
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Date of the Next Meeting: April 24, 2025, 3:10 - 5:10 p.m.
The Chair confirmed that the Board would next meet on April 24, 2025 at 3:10 p.m. -
Other Business
No items of other business were raised.
The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
March 18, 2025