To our U of T Engineering community
I hope everyone is well — it has been just over a month since we all left campus, and so I thought I would do a quick update and also provide some info on upcoming plans.
It’s been quite a busy few weeks and I again want to give a shout-out and thanks to everyone — students, staff, faculty — for all your work, effort, and most importantly, patience. Hearing from folks has been great, to get input, feedback and ideas on ways that Engineering can work together right now as we start into finals, and as we move to planning for the summer and into the fall.
It’s important to know that all the decisions that we’ve made, and all the plans we’re developing, are being made in an environment that is constantly evolving. U of T Engineering, and the whole University, have to take direction from the public health authorities and governments — they are going to be the ones to decide when groups can gather again, and how big those groups can be. Right now, we just don’t know when and what that’s going to look like. As we can see in the news, the situation is quite different province-to-province, and country-to-country, so there are many unknowns in this complex equation that we’re trying to solve.
Right now we’re looking at lots of different scenarios and strategies.
Here’s where we are today:
Summer
- All U of T Engineering summer-term courses will be offered with remote delivery. Visit the 2020 Summer Registration and Enrolment Guide for information on what courses are available and important dates. Undergraduate FAQ.
- Summer research opportunities will continue but we’ll have to be quite flexible on the nature of the research projects because of restrictions on on-campus activities.
- Stay tuned for an announcement about a new Faculty-wide program set to pilot this summer that will augment our existing summer research opportunities.
Professional Experience Year (PEY) Co-op
- All the ECC and PEY Co-op programs are up and running with all services running remotely and online.
- While these are challenging times, ECC and PEY Co-op are working with all employer partners to consider things like virtual onboarding and remote work arrangements as employers are making adjustments to their business continuity plans.
- Please refer to the ECC website for detailed information and updates.
Convocation
- The University will host a Convocation ceremony via webcast on or before June 2. The Chancellor, who is the Chair of Convocation, will confer all degrees in absentia, and diploma parchments will be couriered to graduates on a rolling basis following the virtual ceremony. Convocation FAQ.
- U of T Engineering will host an in-person celebration as soon as we’re able to gather together again in 2020 or 2021. We won’t know when or where until the restrictions around COVID-19 are lifted, but stay tuned…details around venue and format to follow!
- Diplomas will be couriered to all graduates on a rolling basis starting June 2 through June 19.
Recruitment & Admissions
- We’re excited to welcome our incoming undergraduate and grad students this September — our recruitment and admissions cycles are on track and on schedule, with online and virtual recruitment events reaching prospective students all around the world.
Fall
- As we look to the Fall term and beyond, several groups led by the Vice Deans will lead the scenario planning for our various programs:
- 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
- These team leads will work with the relevant Associate Chairs in our Departments and Institutes, as well as our partners in other Faculties (Arts & Science, Medicine, etc.) to lay out plans for all our initiatives.
I certainly know that the adjustment to physical distancing has been a tough one — the demands of school, work, and for many of us, child, family, and elder care, and now homeschooling can be overwhelming.
I’m attaching our U of T Engineering Identify-Assist-Refer resource (PDF) on how we can support each other’s’ mental health during COVID-19, that includes guidelines for faculty and staff, as well as resources for students.
While there’s still a lot of work to be done for the fall, I see an enormous opportunity for new, innovative ways to deliver engineering education and research. As with any experiment, while some won’t work, everything is a learning experience and I remain ever optimistic that we will come up with some great Skule™ solutions.
I’ll keep you all up to date as details firm up.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto
To our U of T Engineering community
I hope everyone is doing well, taking time for breaks and staying in touch with friends, family, and colleagues. I know I’ve had a few hiccups in figuring out this new learning and working from home plan so I hope everyone has been coming up with some good strategies – do feel free to share.
As promised – I said I would keep you up to date with our plans for Convocation, since the University’s announcement that unfortunately we can’t host the big event in person in June.
Our graduating students received a message this afternoon from President Gertler, and I want to share some more details about how we’ll be celebrating:
- The University will host a ceremony via webcast in early June — stay tuned for the exact date and time. The Chancellor, who is the Chair of Convocation, will confer all degrees in absentia, and diploma parchments will be couriered to graduates on a rolling basis following the virtual ceremony.
- The University has also posted answers to some frequently asked questions around Convocation
- When the situation normalizes and it is possible to gather safely, Engineering will host its own in-person graduation ceremonies to celebrate this important milestone. These will not happen before September 1, 2020, and will take place over the course of 2020-21 as scheduling and space permits.
- Our in-person graduation ceremonies will have many of the core elements of the traditional Convocation ceremony – from the academic procession of all the graduates, to congratulatory remarks, a convocation speaker, and individual presentation of the graduates.
Convocation is perhaps THE highlight of the year for all of our faculty and staff, and a once-in-a-lifetime moment for all our graduating students. I know that we all want to be there with you to celebrate. I can’t wait to join you all in person – so stay tuned and I will keep you posted as we start to finalize the details.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto
To our U of T Engineering community
Hi everyone, today we all received the message from President Gertler about the cancellation of the in-person Convocation ceremonies for June 2020. I know that this is very disappointing news for all of us in Engineering, and particularly for our friends, family and extended community. I know how much this means to everyone, especially the class of 2T0 and 1T9+PEY, who were looking forward to walking across that stage, waving to friends and family — I was especially looking forward to the opportunity of shaking everyone’s hand and hearing what your plans are. It is a very special moment and one I remember from my own Convocation experience. This is also such an important day for faculty and staff who are so proud of all your accomplishments.
It is really important to know that the University made this decision based on the input and perspective of key public health experts, many of whom are drawn from right here at U of T.
I want you to know that I too am disappointed in this news — believe me, I want to be on that stage with you as well! We will find a way to celebrate your tremendous accomplishments and I’ll share those plans with you as soon as I can. I am proud of all that you have accomplished and look forward to celebrating this with you in person soon.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto