To the U of T Engineering community
I have seen the pain, anguish and frustration of protesters and demonstrators across the U.S., Canada and around the world. Though this past week’s action against anti-Black racism was sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody, and by the circumstances surrounding the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet here in Toronto, I acknowledge that it reflects grief and anger propagated by centuries of systemic and institutionalized racism and oppression.
I empathize with the pain, both acute and accumulated over generations, felt by Black communities right now. At the bottom of this message I am sharing some resources that are providing Black-specific supports, both with the University and off campus, along with upcoming events for those who seek to learn more about anti-Black racism and how to operate in solidarity.
You have heard me say before that discrimination and anti-Black racism has no place in our Faculty. Equity, diversity and inclusivity are core values here in U of T Engineering, and critical to the engineering enterprise. These words are genuine — but they remain words until they are actions.
We can take action as individuals — especially those of us who identify as White, non-Black or non-Indigenous. You also received a message from our Faculty’s Engineering Equity Diversity & Inclusivity Action Group that outlines three specific actions each of us can take right away: attend an upcoming session from U of T’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (ARCDO); join the next Open Conversation event on addressing anti-Black racism & unpacking active allyship on June 18; and following the recommendations of the Black Students Association, advocate for change and help the Black community during this time with actions including signing petitions and making donations.
It is also our responsibility to take action as a Faculty, and the Black Inclusion Steering Committee identified many areas of need in its final report. These are a few examples of concrete changes we are working towards in the short term:
- Opening more effective channels, through the office of the Assistant Dean & Director, Diversity, Inclusion and Professionalism, to allow the U of T Engineering community to bring forward equity concerns and incidences of racism they experience or witness. Once an incident is disclosed, the Faculty will ensure that next steps are acted upon as guided by institutional polices such as the Code of Student Conduct and the guidelines to raise concerns on Prohibited Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment for students and employees of the University.
- Collecting more demographic data and race-based data in particular, giving us a benchmark understanding of the composition of the U of T Engineering prospective and current community, and a starting point to identify strategies for improved access and inclusion going forward.
- Broadly sharing our experiences and strategies University-wide to foster more collaborative efforts that further inclusive policies and processes.
- Including more Black speakers in existing Faculty and Department speaker series or launch a dedicated Faculty-run series to elevate the voices of Black engineers and academics within engineering and engineering education.
- Following through with our commitment to deliver an academic enrichment initiative this summer for Black secondary school students, pivoting the Blueprint program to an online and accessible format.
Our work is ongoing to address barriers to access, success and inclusion for current and prospective Black students, staff and faculty. More actions will be need to stop anti-Black racism and to improve Black representation within U of T Engineering. We must continue to act quickly, and persistently — we must continue to hold ourselves accountable.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto
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If you are a Black student, staff or faculty member seeking additional supports, these may be helpful resources:
Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office
Provides support to students, staff and faculty across the three campuses. The Office engages collaboratively with stakeholders on campus to enable the University’s academic mission through the integration of its commitment to equity, diversity and inclusivity.
Race & Healing: Black lives. Black Grief. Black Healing.
Friday, June 5 (10:00am – 12:00pm)
Open to persons who identify as being members of the Black community only
Last Wednesday of each month, 12:15pm – 1:15pm
Open to U of T staff who identify as being members of racialized communities
National Society of Black Engineers U of T Chapter
A safe space for students
Across Boundaries
Across Boundaries provides equitable, inclusive and holistic mental health and addiction services for racialized communities within an anti-racism, anti-Black racism and anti-oppression frameworks.
Black Counsellors, Social Workers and Therapists in Ontario listed by Psychology Today
Black Therapists Directory compiled by Therapy For Black Girls — Toronto Grassroots Edition
BlackLine 24/7 Hotline (1 (800) 604-5841)
BlackLine provides a space for peer support and counseling, reporting of mistreatment, and affirming the lived experiences to folxs who are most impacted by systematic oppression with an LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens.
Black Legal Action Centre
A non-profit community legal clinic that provides free legal services for low or no income Black residents of Ontario
Black Lives Matter Toronto Legal Resource List
Caribbean African Canadian Social Services
CAFCAN is a not-for-profit agency whose primary focus is on building and strengthening the service framework for African Canadians through the use of psycho-social Interventional approaches.
TAIBU Community Health Centre (CHC) is a multidisciplinary, non-for-profit, community led organization established to serve the Black Community across the Greater Toronto Area as its priority population.
The Black Health Alliance is a community-led registered charity working to improve the health and well-being of Black communities in Canada.
Women’s Health in Women’ Hands Community Health Centre
Provides primary healthcare to racialized women from the African, Black, Caribbean, Latin American and South Asian communities in Toronto and surrounding municipalities.
Contact 211 for other supports for Black communities
Everyone is welcome at the following upcoming events and to take action:
Let’s Talk Allyship and Solidarity
June 9, 10.00am-11.30am
Open to UofT students, staff, faculty, librarians, chaplains, and community
June 11, 10.00am-11.30am
Open to UofT students, staff, faculty, librarians, chaplains, and community
EEDIAG Open Conversation: Addressing anti-Black Racism & Unpacking Active Allyship
June 18 12.00pm-2.00pm
Open to UofT Engineering students, staff, faculty, librarians, and community
U of T Black Students’ Association
List of actions you can take
To our U of T Engineering community
Our virtual Convocation ceremony is right around the corner on June 2, and I look forward to celebrating this important milestone with our graduating students!
As I’ve shared in my updates, staff and faculty have been working to deliver excellent remote-learning summer courses. We have also begun preparations for the Fall Term, and several key principles are guiding these plans:
- We continue to take direction from our public health authorities, as well as local, provincial and national governments.
- We are, first and foremost, dedicated to protecting the health and safety of our whole community, including students, staff, faculty, alumni, industry partners, friends and family.
- We are driven to deliver an excellent learning experience for everyone — from first-year undergraduates to our professional and research-stream graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows.
- We will continue to prioritize access to support services for both academic success and health and wellness.
- In keeping with our core values of equity and inclusivity, we will ensure that all students can progress with their academic programs this Fall, regardless of their location or circumstances.
Currently, we are planning for multiple scenarios for September and beyond. With the information we have right now, we hope to have a Fall Term that mixes smaller, in-person seminars, tutorials, labs, and experiential learning opportunities with larger online and remote classes and lectures. Hybrid course models, combining both virtual and in-person components wherever possible, will provide the necessary flexibility and the exceptional education our faculty and students expect.
At the same time, we understand that not everyone in our community will be able to be back in Toronto starting in September. To enable every one of our students to carry out their Fall semester with stability and safety, we are promising a remote access guarantee. This means we will ensure that all academic requirements can be met remotely, including final exams.
We know the U of T Engineering experience extends beyond labs and classes, and will work to offer as many on-campus activities as governmental and public health guidelines permit, along with an array of online and remote co-curricular and extra-curricular programming.
We also expect to gradually ramp up our research activities to resume full function by the Fall, with work being carried out either on-campus or remotely, where possible or necessary. The University will be adapting on-campus laboratory and library spaces to accommodate physical distancing.
Watching other countries around the world, we are learning that the restart process may not be linear — that’s why flexibility is key. Our plans must strike a balance that lets us safely welcome our global community back to campus when possible, and ensures that each and every student can progress with their programs whether they are in Toronto or joining remotely.
I will continue to keep our community up to date with our plans and look forward to the day when we will see each other on campus again.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto
To our U of T Engineering community
First, a huge congrats to all our students for wrapping up final assessments — way to stay focused and motivated through this wild semester, you made it! Big congratulations and thanks to every one of our faculty members and staff. You have been so creative and tireless in your efforts to support our students and each other, and ensuring that we all successfully wrapped up the term. So — everyone, please take a moment to celebrate this accomplishment.
As we continue to plan for the summer and into September, the University is taking its direction from government and public health agencies. And while every day seems to give us more information and insight, much remains unclear. One thing for sure – we know that restarting Engineering will be much more complex and certainly more drawn-out than our pivot was a month or so ago.
At this point, and after discussions with all the vice-deans, department chairs and institute directors, we’re asking all instructors and staff to start preparing to launch the Fall semester online. While we still hope to be returning to campus in-person at some point in the Fall, without timelines for when we might start a gradual return, it’s important that we plan for and consider all scenarios and options — up to and including the possibility of carrying out the whole term remotely. This is truly a complex multi-variable problem with lots of unknowns.
Our plans have implications for every facet of our operations, from admissions and curriculum design, to research, facilities and residences. Leading our Faculty’s primary working groups are:
- Undergraduate programs: Tom Coyle, Vice-Dean, Undergrad and Micah Stickel, Vice-Dean, First-Year
- Graduate programs: Julie Audet, Vice-Dean, Graduate Studies
- Research: Ramin Farnood, Vice-Dean, Research
To support our incoming first-year class, this week we announced the creation of the University of Toronto Engineering Academy, a new program built by our Outreach team. The U of T Engineering Academy will give admitted students who accept our offers access to a suite of established online materials to help them get up to speed on core pieces of the math and physics curriculum. Our First-Year curriculum leads, members of ILead, and high school teachers are contributing to its development, with the goal of helping ensure our incoming students have a smooth transition into first year.
So far, we’ve pivoted about three weeks of class and final assessments online — mapping out a whole semester poses a completely different set of complex challenges, and indeed opportunities. I encourage everyone to work together, to share ideas and plans, as we move into the next phase of our response to the pandemic. I’m proud of all that we, the Skule™ community, have accomplished together, and look forward to working with everyone over the summer.
There will be lots on the go — so stay in touch, stay well, and I’ll keep everyone up to date as things develop.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto