REPORT NUMBER 73 OF THE UTM CAMPUS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2025
To the UTM Campus Council,
University of Toronto Mississauga,
Your UTM Campus Affairs Committee reports that it held a meeting in the Council Chamber, Room 3130, W. G. Davis building on October 16, 2025, with the following members present:
PRESENT: Robert Gerlai (in the Chair), Claudiu Gradinaru (Vice-Chair), Alexandra Gillespie (Vice-President &Principal), William Gough (Interim Vice-Principal Academic & Dean), Deborah Brown (Chief Administrative Officer), Tim Fricker (Interim Dean of Student Experience & Wellbeing), Heather Anderson, Emily Atkinson, Charleson Cao, Alice Chan, Mairi Cowan, April Forbes, Adriana Grimaldi, Rosa Hong, Samuel Kamalendran, Carolyn Loos, Rosalind Murray, Ottavia Paluch, Haze Schepmyer, Joanna Szurmak,
REGRETS: Chad Nuttall (Assistant Dean of Students and International Initiatives), Shakhriyor Bakhtiyorov, Melissa Gniadek, Christina Kakaflikas, Marc Laflamme, Peter Landry, Aisha Mirzada, Harleen Kaur, Mai Lu, Jada Thomas, Kathleen Yu
NON-VOTING ASSESSORS: Luke Barber (Executive Director, Digital and Physical Infrastructure), Christine Esteban (Executive Director, Budget, Planning & Finance),
SECRETARIAT: Cindy Ferencz-Hammond, Samantha Frost
IN ATTENDANCE: Vivienne Luk (Interim Associate Dean, Academic Experience, OVPAD), Vesela Angelova (Budget, Planning & Finance), Chiara Dango (student, Health Counseling Centre), Megan Evans (Assistant Director, Hospitality & Ancillary Services), Adam Fraser (Assistant Dean, OVPAD), Renu Kanga Fonseca (Registrar and Assistant Dean, Enrolment Management), Winnie Hui (Budget, Planning & Finance), Brian Kennedy (Student Housing & Residence Life), Erin Kraftcheck (Health Counseling Centre), Antonia Lo (Budget, Planning & Finance), Felicity Morgan (Director, Career Centre), Peter Mumford (Recreation, Athletics & Wellness Centre), Sean Park (Centre for Student Engagement, CSE), Jessica Silver (CSE), Sara Al-Shrouf (The Medium), Melissa Theodore (UTMSU), Veronica Vasquez (International Education Centre)
OPEN SESSION
- Chair’s Remarks
The Chair welcomed members to the Committee’s second meeting and welcomed April Forbes, recently elected administrative staff member to her first committee meeting. - Experiential Education at UTM
Professor Vivienne Luk, Interim Associate Dean, Academic Experience, delivered a comprehensive presentation on Experiential Learning (EL) at UTM. She described EL as learning beyond the classroom and emphasized the university’s commitment to creating meaningful, applied learning opportunities through close collaboration among academic units and the Experiential Education Unit.
Professor Luk explained that UTM offered three primary types of curricular experiential learning opportunities for students:- Research Opportunity Program (ROP) – Students worked closely with faculty members on research projects, developing foundational research and analytical skills. This program particularly supported students interested in graduate studies or research careers.
- Academic Internships – These placements integrated academic theory with practical work experience in external organizations. Students applied their classroom learning in real-world contexts while developing professional skills through reflection and practice.
- Co-op Internship Program (UTMCIP) – This structured program offered paid, full-time work terms in industry settings, enhancing career readiness, networking, and employability.
Research Opportunity Program (ROP)
Professor Luk explained that ROPs dated back to the 1990s, evolving from informal arrangements made for high-achieving students in their third year who wanted to participate in research. As interest grew, these opportunities were formalized across academic units. Faculty mentors played a central role, guiding students through the research process and helping them build critical thinking and technical research skills. ROPs benefited both students—who gained hands-on research experience and faculty connections—and faculty members—who could identify promising future researchers. In 2024–25, there were 427 students enrolled in 231 ROP projects across UTM. ROPs were offered in summer, fall, winter, and full-year formats to provide scheduling flexibility.
Academic Internships
She described academic internships as a long-standing and highly valued component of UTM’s EL programming. These internships allowed senior-level students to dedicate one day per week, typically over four or eight months, to a placement aligned with their field of study. The Experiential Education Unit supported faculty leads by facilitating administrative processes, coordinating placements, and ensuring alignment between coursework and work experience. Internships spanned a wide range of disciplines, including Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences, with departments such as Visual Studies, Language Studies, Biology, Forensic Science, and Economics offering active internship courses.
In addition to local placements, UTM also supported international experiential learning opportunities - both in-person and remote - where students worked with global partners in countries such as France, Brazil, China, and Taiwan.
University of Toronto Mississauga Co-op Internship Program (UTMCIP)
The UTMCIP represented UTM’s newest experiential learning initiative. It was a five-year structured program integrating academic study with paid work experience. Students applied after their first year and completed asynchronous work-readiness modules in their second and third years, followed by a 12- to 16-month work term in their fourth year before returning for their final year of study. The program officially launched in Fall 2024 as a two-year pilot. It initially involved students from the Departments of Biology, Chemical and Physical Sciences (CPS), Economics, Management and Communication, Culture, and Information Technology (MCS), and ICCIT.
The creation of UTMCIP was driven by strong student demand and modeled after successful co-op programs at the St. George (Arts & Science) and Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (PEY Co-op) campuses. During the pilot year, the program enrolled 215 students from MCS, 10 each from CPS, Economics, and ICCIT, and 2 from Biology. UTM planned to gradually expand participation, with the Department of Management joining in Fall 2025.
With respect to future growth, it was highlighted that UTMCIP was designed for strategic, sustainable growth. The program aimed to add 50 new students per year, tripling the entering cohort from 247 in 2024-25 to 770 by 2034-35. To support this expansion, UTM planned to invest in infrastructure and staffing to maintain program quality and ensure strong partnerships with employers. Special acknowledgments were given to Vice-President & Principal Gillespie, Dean Gough, the CAO, Deborah Brown, and their teams for their ongoing advocacy and support of work-integrated learning.
Following the presentation, a member asked about expanding co-op opportunities to recent alumni in the 10-year strategy. Professor Luk praised the Career Centre's alumni support but noted the program was currently limited to UTM undergraduates. Another member inquired about ROP dynamics: growth trends, saturation due to faculty demands, and departmental distribution. Professor Luk observed even spread across units with equitable funding. Professor Gough added that ROP projects had increased while funding per project decreased and that demand exceeded supply. The member requested future updates on departmental distribution and faculty participation. Another member suggested strengthening ties with SpinUp startups in the new science building for internships. Professor Luk confirmed ongoing conversations with the Office of the VP Research and Innovation regarding such partnerships and committed to growing the local employer network. A member commented that declining work-study funding might shift reliance to ROPs in labs, warranting tracking.
The Chair closed the discussion by praising ROP's popularity and impact, with hundreds of student applications per position, which was life-changing for successful student participants. He commented on the importance of the ROP for providing a pathway for students to graduate, but also acknowledged the time demands for faculty. He asked how departments applied for co-op eligibility. Professor Luk explained an annual February/March expression of interest process, followed by consultations on partnerships, labor trends, and placement viability.
- Health Promotion Initiatives
The Chair welcomed Interim Dean of Student Experience and Well-Being, Dr. Tim Fricker, and Dr. Erin Kraftcheck, Medical Director of the Health and Counseling Centre (HCC), to present an overview of student health and wellness services at UTM. Dr. Fricker opened by highlighting the scope of the presentation, which included an overview of the HCC’s services, student health promotion initiatives, and a testimonial from a recent student leader, Chiara Dango. He acknowledged key team members for their leadership and contributions, dispelled common myths about wait times and graduate student access, and expressed appreciation for the Biomedical Communications program, which supported the design of the presentation.
Dr. Kraftcheck provided an overview of the HCC as a full-service primary care clinic offering medical and mental health care to all registered UTM and U of T students. The centre was funded through student incidental fees and physician billings and employed a diverse team of medical professionals, counselors, and health promotion staff. She emphasized that students could access same-day appointments and that the HCC’s services were tailored to the developmental and academic needs of university students. Last year, the HCC supported nearly 16,000 appointments, with 60% related to mental health, which was a significant increase since before the pandemic. The tri-campus counseling model used a “one-at-a-time” therapy approach, which was shown to significantly reduce student distress. Surveys also revealed high satisfaction rates, with 90% of students satisfied with appointment timing.
Dr. Kraftcheck described the centre’s outreach efforts, which included major events such as Be Well UTM and UTM Skates, attended by thousands of students. Programs like Ask the Nurse and Peer Supporting Peers created accessible, student-centered health education and mentoring opportunities. Chiara Dango, a recent alumna, then shared her testimonial, describing how her volunteer roles with the HCC helped her develop leadership, communication, and advocacy skills and inspired her to pursue a Master of Public Health.
Dr. Fricker concluded by outlining new initiatives for the coming year, including two new grants to enhance programming. One, funded by the International Student Experience Fund, aimed to expand peer support for international students through culturally aware mentorship. The other, supported by Peel Public Health, focused on promoting digital wellness and responsible technology use, including AI. The HCC was also working to improve accessibility through virtual booking systems and check-in kiosks and developing a partnership with Trillium Health Partners to establish an acute care pathway for students transitioning between hospital and campus care.
During the discussion, a member asked whether counselors at the Health and Counseling Centre (HCC) were able to refer students to other healthcare professionals. Dr. Kraftcheck explained that counselors could make referrals within the clinic’s interdisciplinary team, which included physicians, the mental health coordinator, and the navigator, to ensure coordinated care. She added that the HCC also maintained partnerships with community organizations, allowing counselors to recommend longer-term external supports when appropriate.
Another member asked about the use of the term “meaningful” in describing nurse interactions on one of the slides and whether it had a specific operational definition. Dr. Kraftcheck clarified that the term was meant to emphasize the depth of engagement typical in the Ask the Nurse program, where students often have longer, more substantive conversations with healthcare professionals. - Status Report on Campus Strategic Priorities
The Chair reminded members that starting in December, UTM would be discussing its budget plans with the Vice-President & Provost and would receive approval of its enrollment plans in the budget early in 2026. The University’s institutional budget would then proceed for governance consideration and it, along with the UTM campus operating budget, would be presented for information to UTM governance bodies in cycles 3 and 4.
The Chair invited Professors Alexandra Gillespie, Vice-President and Principal to present the item for information and feedback. The presentation provided an update on UTM’s strategic objectives for 2025–26, focusing on enrollment, academic programs, research, equity initiatives, financial management, sustainability, and community partnerships.
Institutional Performance and Reputation
UTM’s success was closely aligned with U of T’s global standing. Times Higher Education ranked the University of Toronto first in Canada and 21st globally. U of T distinct strength, excellence at scale, was highlighted: i.e., exceptional research and teaching across every field shared with many more students, from all cultures and backgrounds, than any of its global peers.
Academic Programs and Student Success
UTM continued to prioritize student success through academic innovation and growth. New program proposals included the PhD in Media, Communication, and Technology, the MFA in Creative Theatre Practice, and a specialist in Accounting and Finance. New domestic undergraduate enrollment surpassed 3,000 new students for the third consecutive year, a 30% increase from six years ago, while graduation rates also improved. International enrollment remained steady year-over-year, though below UTM’s budgeted target; UTM planned to adjust its intake targets to maintain stability going forward. Infrastructure investments such as the new 400-bed residence opening in 2026, the Student Services Hub, and the revitalized Health and Counselling Centre further supported the student experience.
Research and Innovation
UTM achieved record levels of research activity in 2024-25, reaching $22.3 million in external funding, which was a 70% increase, as compared to the three-year average from 2017 to 2019. The new Science Building, alongside the pre-engineered building for robotics and forensic science, strengthened research capacity, while the SpinUp life sciences accelerator hosted 22 startups, creating strong links between research, innovation, and experiential learning. The number of Canada Research Chairs at UTM grew by 60% over eight years, reflecting the campus’s expanding leadership in research and innovation.
Equity, Inclusion, and Well-Being
The campus advanced its Well-being and Belonging Plan following extensive consultations. These efforts aligned with U of T’s anti-racism reports and the Black at UTM framework. Initiatives such as Connect and Refresh fostered inclusion and dialogue across the community, strengthening the sense of belonging among students, faculty, and staff.
Financial Sustainability
UTM maintained a balanced budget for five consecutive years, despite the financial challenges affecting the postsecondary sector. Since 2019-20, academic investment increased by 49% and campus student financial aid rose by 58% Future budgets were expected to be more difficult to balance due to declining international enrollments and tuition freezes, but the Vice-President & Principal reaffirmed UTM’s commitment to maintaining core academic and student-focused investments. Efficiency measures were designed to protect people, streamline administrative processes, and improve workplace effectiveness rather than to reduce staffing. Since 2022-23, UTM’s administrative spending had declined by 18% with no budget-related layoffs.
Sustainability and Campus Development
UTM achieved 70% of its 10-year sustainability goals within five years, completing significant energy retrofits and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% compared to levels in 1990. The campus remained committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2043.
Community Partnerships and Engagement
The campus strengthened community relationships through several initiatives. UTM worked with the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing to launch a joint nursing program in 2026, supported by $500,000 in provincial funding and 30 funded seats. Collaborations with Trillium Health Partners expanded clinical placements and community engagement. UTM also advanced Indigenous engagement through plans for a new Indigenous building, the development of an Indigenous Studies program, and the implementation of the calls to action of Weheechetowin. Public art, murals, and cultural events such as powwows further celebrated Indigenous identity and learning.
During the question-and-answer period, a member asked for clarification on what was meant by a “decrease in administrative costs,” expressing concern that it might imply staff cuts. The Vice-President & Principal acknowledged that while budget deficits across UTM and the wider institution needed to be addressed, the priority remained protecting people and the core academic mission. The goal was to find efficiencies that preserved faculty and student support, emphasizing transparency and community values throughout decision-making. It was noted that, since 2022-23, UTM had created more than $250M in budget and cost-avoidance savings with no budget-related staff layoffs, as all other options had been explored first. A follow-up question asked when more concrete decisions on this topic would be made and communicated. It was explained that early discussions with the provost’s office, who was the institution’s chief budget officer, would take place in December, with feedback expected early in the new year. Any resulting changes would be accompanied by clear and timely communication to the community after that.
The CAO provided additional details about measures already taken to reduce costs, such as lowering discretionary spending, leaving certain vacant or forecasted positions unfilled, and reviewing capital and deferred maintenance budgets. - Reports of the Presidential Assessors
- Update on Service Ancillaries
At the invitation of the Chair, the CAO, Ms Deborah Brown provided an update on the development and consultation process for UTM’s ancillary budgets, including hospitality services, parking, and student housing and residence life. It was noted that these departments operated independently of university funding, relying entirely on self-generated revenue and reserves. All ancillary units were projected to end the fiscal year with a surplus, which was the first time since the pandemic that parking was expected to do so.
Updates were shared on several major initiatives. Construction continued on the new 400-bed residence, scheduled to open in September 2026, expanding total housing capacity to nearly 2,000 beds. Phase one of the McGrath Valley townhouse renovations had been completed, with additional phases planned in the coming years, and upgrades to Oscar Peterson Hall’s lobby and service desk were expected to finish by spring 2026. In hospitality, the new Spigel kitchen opened with modern, energy-efficient equipment and increased capacity for catering. Friendlier reusable dining ware was introduced at Colman Commons, and a new commerce management system was launched ahead of an expected 400 new meal plans tied to the residence expansion. Parking improvements included garage restorations, new waterproofing, and additional permit and payment options.
Consultations on residence, parking, and meal plan rates were scheduled for later in the fall, with input from faculty, staff, and student representatives through advisory committees. Results from these consultations were to be presented in January as part of the next cycle of budget discussions.
During the question-and-answer period, a member asked whether UTM benefited from hosting pop-up or fair-trade vendors on campus. It was explained that while there was no financial gain, such events supported student engagement and education around sustainability and fair-trade values. These initiatives, including the annual Fair Trade Open House, drew strong student participation and contributed to UTM’s goal of achieving Fair Trade Gold designation.
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Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE)
The committee received a presentation on the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) from Jonathan Davis, Analyst for Student Experience Research and Assessment in Student Affairs at UTM. The report provided an overview of the survey findings, key demographic data, and how the results informed institutional practices to support student transition and engagement.
BCSSE, administered annually to incoming students before the start of fall classes, captured data on students’ academic and co-curricular experiences prior to university and their expectations for engagement during their first year. UTM remained the only Canadian institution to participate in this survey on a consistent basis.
Mr. Davis explained that student engagement encompassed both what students do (e.g., how they spent time, interacted, and learned) and what institutions did to encourage meaningful educational practices. The survey data provided insight into preparedness, expectations, and potential challenges facing new students.
Key findings included:
- Approximately one-third of incoming students identified as first-generation students.
- Seventy percent reported that UTM was their first-choice institution.
- Half of respondents indicated that they had no friends at UTM prior to beginning their studies, highlighting the importance of fostering early connections.
- A majority relied on family financial support, while nearly half used personal savings to fund their education.
- Most first-year students lived off campus, often commuting more than one hour each way, a factor influencing participation in on-campus activities.
- A small but notable proportion of students identified as homeless or in housing transition, though this number had decreased compared to previous years.
- Update on Service Ancillaries
The data also revealed that 93% of students reported receiving mostly A grades in high school, while 56% expected to maintain A averages in university, an indicator of realistic but high academic expectations. Students rated academic support, learning services, and social engagement as highly important to their university experience, emphasizing the need for balanced academic and social programming.
BCSSE results were used in several practical ways:
- To track trends over time in areas such as financial aid utilization.
- To generate individualized advising reports that supported personalized student guidance.
- To inform student communications, programming design, and triage into support services based on identified needs.
- To compare pre-arrival expectations (BCSSE) with end-of-year experiences (NSSE) for a comprehensive understanding of the first-year transition.
For example, while many students expected to work part-time during university, the data showed that a majority ultimately did not work during their first year, differing from their high school experience.
During the question-and-answer period, members inquired about survey participation and representativeness. Mr. Davis reported that 1,798 students participated, representing a 43% response rate, one of the highest among institutional surveys. He confirmed that demographic distributions were consistent with institutional data, suggesting a reasonably representative sample. However, he acknowledged that students facing greater transition challenges might be underrepresented, as they were less likely to complete surveys.
CONSENT AGENDA
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED
THAT the consent agenda be adopted and that Item 6, report of the previous meeting, be approved.
- Report of the Previous Meeting: Report Number 72 – September 11, 2025
- Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting
- Date of Next Meeting – Monday, January 26, 2026
- Other Business
There was no other business.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:49 p.m.
October 21, 2025