Student Experience

The ��Ƶ has redesigned its largest need-based financial aid program to offer support that’s more accessible, transparent and better aligned with the cost of living in the Greater Toronto Area.

��Ƶ Advanced Planning for Students (UTAPS) is a program that provides eligible students with grants to help bridge the financial gap between the cost of their total education needs and the amount covered by government student aid programs – particularly, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

A recent review of UTAPS concluded that the program can provide a way for the university to better determine and assist in meeting the costs of attending university in the GTA – for all U of T campuses and programs. The resulting redesign, implemented this year, will also streamline the process for U of T students to be considered for need-based supports.

“Our goal was to get more money into students’ hands, particularly given how the price of everything is just so much more expensive,” says Director of Financial Aid and Awards Donna Wall. “It’s about trying to help students so that they’re not as worried about finances and can focus on their studies.”

There are also important changes to the application process – namely that all domestic students who want to be considered for UTAPS must complete an application through U of T’s Need Navigator tool. The information will be validated before grants are disbursed.

U of T provided $94.6 million in need-based supports to U of T students in 2021-2022, including $36.8 million in UTAPS grants. The grants supported more than 15,500 students – the vast majority of them undergraduates.

UTAPS was originally established to fulfil U of T’s guarantee that “no student offered admission to a program at the ��Ƶ should be unable to enter or complete the program due to lack of financial means,” as set out in Governing Council’s 1998 policy.

Wall says the UTAPS redesign upholds this commitment.

“This allows us to be more agile, thoughtful and responsive to the needs of our students.”

Previously, UTAPS grants were based on the OSAP need assessment, which could be influenced by external factors such as changes in government policy. Relying on OSAP assessments also posed challenges for UTAPS planning, Wall says, because they often underestimated the amount of money U of T students needed.

For example, the OSAP need assessment applies the same living allowances across Ontario, even though necessities such as housing, food and transportation are much more expensive in Toronto than other parts of the province, says Wall.

As part of the redesign, UTAPS has developed its own need assessment measure while increasing transparency about how resources are allocated.

The Need Navigator will also streamline the financial aid process by allowing students to be considered simultaneously for UTAPS and supports from faculties and academic divisions, which totalled $57.8 million in 2021-2022.

Wall says more updates to UTAPS can be expected in the years ahead, including tools to aid financial planning for students and their families.

U of T students who have benefited from the existing program were excited to hear the support will better account for rising costs in the GTA.

Maya Povhe, who is in her fourth year of studying business administration at U of T Scarborough, says one of the biggest benefits of UTAPS is how it’s tailored to each student’s individual needs, rather than providing a flat amount.

“It’s been a great aid to my financial planning,” she says. “It meant I didn’t need to worry about how I was going to pay for basic things like rent or food.”

Iqra Sadiq, a third-year student in the Rotman Commerce program, says programs like UTAPS allow students to make the most of the time they spend in university.

“I would definitely say it’s a really big help – not just financially, but also as a motivation to keep pursuing my studies," Sadiq says. “The price of education should never outweigh its value, and UTAPS gave me that boost to stay focused on school and not worry too much about the financials.”

‘Welcome home’: U of T’s on-campus housing offers more than a place to live

lanthierj — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 14:11:10 +0000

‘Welcome home’: U of T’s on-campus housing offers more than a place to live

lanthierj Thu, 10/05/2023 - 10:11

Cutline

Harmony Commons, a new, 746-bed student residence at U of T Scarborough, is part of U of T’s broader plan to meet the growing need for student housing across its three campuses (photo by Don Campbell)

Topic

Subheadline

The university expects to add 1,450 more spaces across its three campuses over the next several years

Zupaash Naveed arrived at ��Ƶ just a few weeks ago, but she already feels right at home.

The first-year computer science co-op student is part of the first cohort to live at Harmony Commons, a new, 746-bed student residence at U of T Scarborough that opened at the beginning of September.

The residence is part of U of T’s broader plan to meet the growing need for student housing across its three campuses, with 1,450 more spaces expected to be added over the next three years.

“It’s amazing. There’s so much more here than I expected,” says Naveed, a National Scholar from Oshawa, Ont. “The technology is great, the layout is modern and clean, and it gives me the opportunity to be fully immersed among my first-year peers.”

Zupaash Naveed is one of more than 10,300 students living in university housing this year across U of T’s three campuses (photos by Racquel Russell)

Reserved for first-year students, Harmony Commons has doubled the number of residence spaces at U of T Scarborough as part of the university’s broader strategy to provide more housing options for students. It is also one of the largest buildings in North America built to highly energy-efficient passive house standards.

Then there is the food.

“I love it,” says Naveed, pointing to the breakfast pastries and variety of international cuisines on the menu. She also appreciates the halal options and praises food services staff for being attentive to diverse dietary requirements. “They really take care of me.”

Naveed is one of more than 10,300 students living in university housing this year across U of T’s three campuses. Many are new undergraduate students – both domestic and international – who, like Naveed, qualified for the university’s first-year residence guarantee. Spaces are also available for upper-year and graduate students, as well as students with families.

Staff and volunteers greet new student residents at Harmony Commons on move-in day (photo by Don Campbell)

“Living in residence can be a transformational experience for our students, particularly in their first year as they navigate the transition from high school to university,” says Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students. “Being far from family and friends, adjusting to the demands of university studies, and, for our international students, adapting to life in a new country can be challenging.

“Our residences provide a ready community and support system that enhance our students’ well-being and academic success.”

Demand for university housing is growing amid rising rents and declining vacancy in the Greater Toronto Area. While surveys suggest more than 55 per cent of U of T students live with family and commute to one of the three campuses, many others, particularly in their upper years, seek off-campus rental options – with U of T providing resources, education and support – or on-campus alternatives.

U of T is already a major provider of student housing, with several new buildings under construction. These include Oak House, a 500-bed residence on the St. George campus near Spadina and Sussex Avenues that is scheduled to open in 2024, and a new, 350-bed residence at Trinity College that is expected to be ready in fall 2025. Two more projects – one at U of T Mississauga and the other on the St. George campus – are in development and will provide 600 additional residence spaces.

“We are working hard to build more residences faster because we know how important they are to our student experience, and we are engaging with governments around policy changes that will help us do this,” says Scott Mabury, vice-president, operations and real estate partnerships.

The university receives no government support for student housing. U of T is advocating for new financing or funding mechanisms to help universities respond to students’ demand for housing, as well as continuing to work with governments at all levels on appropriate zoning frameworks that can lower barriers to adding new spaces.

“Students bring a lot of life and business to the neighbourhoods surrounding our three campuses. Building more student residences makes for a better academic experience for them and for more dynamic neighbourhoods in this city,” Mabury said.

Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop tours Harmony Commons a few days before the residence opened to students (photo by Don Campbell)

For Ana Divarzak, an international student from Brazil, living in residence provided a strong foundation for life at university and in Canada. Now in her third year of a biotechnology specialist and chemistry major, she arrived at U of T Mississauga in 2021 three weeks into the fall term due to visa delays and the then-mandatory 14-day quarantine for travellers entering Canada due to COVID-19. When she finally reached her residence she found a “welcome home” sign with messages from all her floormates that was taped to the door of her room, surrounded by a rainbow of candy.

“The support and welcome I experienced from day one in residence have made a huge difference for me, especially as an international student,” says Divarzak, who now works as a community assistant at U of T Mississauga. In that role, she supports eight residence student staff in Living Learning Communities (LLC), which group together students who share similar interests and areas of study.

Ana Divarzak (supplied image)

Divarzak chose to live in the life sciences Living Learning Community in her first year and credits it with enhancing her overall university experience. “It helped me make friends a lot more easily because we were in the same courses and we saw each other all the time in class, and we also had weekly community gatherings hosted by our residence LLC program facilitators and don that offered opportunities for social interaction and reflection.”

Back at U of T Scarborough, residence adviser Joshua Cloete says that in addition to acting as a resource for students on his floor, one of his main goals is to build an engaged and supportive community.

He says he can already see the difference Harmony Commons is making to the first-year experience.

“In the past month, I’ve seen more social interactions and bonding and friendships form than in my whole first year,” says Cloete, a second-year paramedicine student. “Everyone on my floor already knows everyone else.”

Faces of Temerty Medicine: Gazelle Halajha

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 18:22:44 +0000

Faces of Temerty Medicine: Gazelle Halajha

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/12/2023 - 14:22

Cutline

"During my surgery rotation at Sunnybrook’s trauma centre, I got to see and do so much," Halajha says. "I never felt more useful." (supplied image)

Deanna Cheng

Topic

Our Community

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Student Experience

Women's College Hospital

Gazelle Halajha, now entering her fourth year of medical school at the ��Ƶ, believes it's important for doctors to recognize “when someone is struggling and needs more support.”

She witnessed those challenges first hand as her mother and “biggest role model” worked to give her children the best life possible, following the death of their father.

“I grew up in a single parent household and saw how often people in these situations can struggle to access care,” Halajha says. “I saw my mom’s health and well-being suffer as she worried about her next paycheque and how to provide for her children.”

The aspiring surgeon has conducted research in chemotherapy, quality improvement in trauma surgery and women’s health while working to help cover the cost of her education. Alongside the inspiration and support provided by her mother, Zena, she attributes her achievements and ability to balance her busy schedule to the support of multiple student awards.

She spoke with writer Deanna Cheng about what drew her to medicine and her dreams for the future.

Why did you decide to pursue medical school at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine?

I was born and raised in Toronto – my mom and my entire family lives here. When I was applying for medical school, I was looking at what was close to home and what fit my needs, as well as the kind of doctor I wanted to become. I wanted to be able to work in a place like Toronto, where there are people from all different walks of life coming into its hospitals who need help. Temerty Medicine trains you as a physician to recognize when someone is struggling and needs more support and that was big for me. It's a school that reflects my values.

What kind of doctor do you want to become?

I want to become a doctor who is inclusive and self-aware. I grew up in a single-parent household and saw how often people in these situations can struggle to access care. I saw my mom’s health and well-being suffer as she worried about her next paycheck and how to provide for her children.

What inspired you to become a doctor?

I always say that I wouldn't be anywhere in life without my mom. I learned through her what it meant to persevere and to be dedicated to what you love. My mom was 30 years old when my dad passed away in a car accident. To her, all that mattered was that she was working towards giving her two kids the best life possible. She is my biggest role model.

Now that you’re entering your fourth year of medical school, what can you tell me about your experience?

In my third year, I had my surgery rotation very early on and basically fell in love with the specialty. I know for certain it's what I want to do. During my surgery rotation at Sunnybrook’s trauma centre, I got to see and do so much. I never felt more useful. I soon realized that what I had a passion for was surgery especially in the areas of surgical oncology, breast cancer and trauma surgery.

Tell me more about your research in surgical oncology.

In my second year of the MD Program, I started working in the area of breast cancer. I found I was really interested in the surgical aspect of breast cancer treatment as well as in medications used and the effects they have on the body. I was mentored by and worked with Dr. Husam Abdel-Qadir, assistant professor of medicine at the ��Ƶ and a staff cardiologist at Women's College Hospital, doing research related to chemotherapy and its cardiotoxicity. A lot of breast cancer patients are in their 20s and may wish to have children one day. I wanted to look at how chemotherapy affects egg fertilization and what it means for these patients. I’ve also started looking at caesarean section scarring. I haven't figured out exactly what I want to do in general surgery, but I just know that that feeling of excitement is something that I want to work towards.

You are also interested in trauma surgery. Can you tell me more about that?

While I was at Sunnybrook’s trauma centre, I saw patients coming in after experiencing vehicle accidents, shootings and stabbings. It's remarkable what these teams do to help patients in the operating room, while making sure their families are well supported. I lost my father quite young due to trauma from a car accident in Iran. The health-care system there is not the same as it is in Canada. Growing up, I spent a lot of time thinking about what would have happened to my dad if he had the car accident somewhere else in the world where the trauma response is faster. I'm curious to see what other parts of the world are like and am excited to take my knowledge and my skills to trauma centres around the world and to bring my experience back here, to Canada.

You received the T.S. Butcher Bursary and the Frank William Moore Award in Medicine from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. In what ways has donor support helped bring you closer to this dream?

I committed to putting myself through school because my mom was a single parent. Medical school is costly, so I worked part time for my first two years. I was a nanny, I worked in retail, I also worked as an autism support worker at Woodview Mental Health and Autism Services and in research at Women's College Hospital. I was so thankful to have help from scholarships and bursaries, which made a huge difference. It was challenging to balance work with school and with my other extracurriculars. Support from donors meant I could focus more on my education and on myself and my well-being. Thanks to donors, I can dedicate my energy to learning and supporting patients and becoming a better doctor.

What has been your most memorable moment at Temerty Medicine so far?

One highlight was a Health Systems Research (HSR) course. I focused on types of cancers, like pancreatic cancer, which are caught so late in the game and are very devastating and very hard to recover from. A lot of my research was looking at young patients who receive chemotherapy treatments, and who later on have side-effects like heart failure. I wanted to investigate screening guidelines for these cancers. The research project yielded that lymphoma patients are at greater risk of cardiovascular events after treatment with chemotherapy. I created an abstract and was able to present it at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting presentations. Now, we’re talking about creating guidelines that can be implemented across Toronto.

What do you think lies ahead for you?

Coming into medicine, my goal was to always, ultimately, give back. I hope that when I become a surgeon, I can make sure my patients are well supported and have adequate follow-ups. While I was clerking, I saw a lot of interdisciplinary work being done (involving social workers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, etc.). Many teams would come together to support individual patients. I hope my journey will include more training as part of interdisciplinary teams, so I can learn from different kinds of health professionals and take that knowledge to other hospitals.

U of T classics prof uses graphic design, humour to keep students engaged

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 19:28:21 +0000

U of T classics prof uses graphic design, humour to keep students engaged

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 08/23/2023 - 15:28

Cutline

Sarah Murray, an associate professor in the department of classics, sports one of her T-shirt designs near Nuxis in southwestern Sardinia, Italy (all photos courtesy of Sarah Murray)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

Sarah Murray has even emblazoned her poster art-inspired images on T-shirts

“Let not the tyranny of the PowerPoint template reign supreme.”

This declaration appears on the personal website of Sarah Murray, an associate professor in the ��Ƶ’s department of classics in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

To liven up her lectures when teaching classics like the Iliad and the Odyssey, Murray creates colourful lecture slides and course posters that have become an integral part of her teaching – artwork that she's even begun using on T-shirts and hoodies.

“I find it more fun to teach when the students are having a good time,” she says. “And it seems that engaging visuals do a lot of the work in keeping students focused on the intellectual journey I’m trying to take them on.”

Murray first got into graphic design to make some extra cash as a graduate student at Stanford University.

“I was living in Palo Alto, Calif., which is very expensive,” she says. “The cost of living there is so high that I was always looking for ways to make some money.

Two class posters by Sarah Murray.

“For a while, I was doing the very glamorous work of setting out cheese and wine for receptions following department events. But at some point, a better-paid position for a grad student to do graphic design opened up. I didn't have any experience with graphic design, but I'm generally able to wrangle most computer programs through trial and error. So I told them, ‘I can do it.’ And then I figured it out from there.”

One of her first and favourite posters was created to promote the defence of her dissertation, “Trade Imports & Society in Early Greece: 1300 – 900 B.C.”

One of Sarah Murray's first and favourite posters was created to promote the defence of her dissertation.

In the classrooms where she now teaches, Murray says she can tell if her imagery is engaging students by their chuckles, the number of raised hands or the liveliness of the discussion.

“It's more fun for me, too,” she says. “I don’t take much delight from filling out bullet points in a PowerPoint template and then reciting them in class. On the other hand, it's very satisfying to bring something funny or esthetically pleasing into the world that didn't exist before – so, I enjoy that aspect of it.

“As far as pedagogical utility goes, having some visual jokes in the slide deck keeps students paying attention for two reasons. First, because they think something funny might appear on the screen at any moment. Second, if they actually laugh when they are supposed to, that helps me have a sense of whether people are following along with the lecture content.”

Vintage travel posters are a key source of inspiration, she says. Noted for their vivid colour, posters, print ads and brochures were the most common way for travel companies to reach their customers from the late 1800s until about 1950.

“There's such a rich body of these beautiful posters, which are both fine examples of genuinely excellent design and captivating reminders of a bygone era of travel,” Murray says. “So, my earlier posters would often try to begin from that visual world. Then, I would try to envision what it would look like if, instead of advertising an exotic vacation destination, you were advertising a course about the Odyssey, and let things develop from there through the strange mechanism of the human imagination.”

Another source of inspiration comes from a post-PhD trip to Georgia, where she was struck by the imagery used in Soviet-era propaganda posters. Some stirred patriotism, others slammed illiteracy and laziness, while still others condemned the evils of capitalism and praised socialism.

“It sounds scary, but the Georgian propaganda mosaic artists in particular were incredibly talented,” says Murray. “While a lot of Soviet art was deliberately destroyed after the fall of the USSR, many mosaics have been preserved specifically for the reason that they are genuine masterpieces.

“So I would say that I entered a new phase after the Georgia trip, so that a lot of the post-Stanford designs attempt to capture the spirit of muscular propagandism more than dreamy, aspirational travel. This phase also coincided with a decision to start making my own custom ‘merch’ featuring some of the propaganda themes.”

Having created about 10 different designs for T-shirts and hoodies so far, Murray says the project was an effort to combat boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A lecture slide titled, “Hera did not like the Trojans.”

“My daily routine involved waking up, working, running, working and going back to sleep, which became pretty tedious after a while. So, I started working on these designs in the evening as a way to relax,” Murray says. “It's very different to what I'm doing most of the time, which is reading academic scholarship and trying to compose complicated research arguments. Of course, that’s really engaging and fulfilling in its own way.

“But creating a visual design – it's not so much an intellectual process as an esthetic and imaginative exercise. It helped me sink into a few hours of immersive, pleasant internal productivity. And I genuinely like having my weird bespoke shirts. They make me happy. I wear them all the time.”

Two of Sarah Murray’s clothing designs, inspired by Soviet-era propaganda posters

Murray will be wearing her designs next year when she’s on sabbatical to focus on her research, which includes being the co-director of the Bays of East Attica Regional Survey Project situated around the bay of Porto Rafti in Greece – an archaeological project that aims to expand scholarly knowledge about the history of this area.

She’ll return to teaching in the fall of 2024 with a new repertoire of posters and slides that are sure to spark laughter, thinking and discussion.

“In some ways I’m being selfish in that I like to make them,” she says. “And I think the material we're studying is really fun. There are a lot of interesting, strange things going on in the ancient world.

“You can play that up in a way that piques curiosity. It's not just that I want the students to pay attention to me in that moment. I want to get them thinking excitedly about the little bits of magic that you can pull out of even old texts.”

Role reversal: U of T student and faculty dean swap jobs, gain insights

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 14:47:25 +0000

Role reversal: U of T student and faculty dean swap jobs, gain insights

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 04/14/2023 - 10:47

Cutline

Second-year student Chelsea Wang recently traded places with Faculty of Arts & Science Dean Melanie Woodin for a day, sending Wang to high-level meetings and Woodin to a class on modern East Asia (photo by Sarah Khan)

Christine Elstub

Topic

Our Community

Student Experience

Faculty of Art & Science

Undergraduate Students

Victoria College

Chelsea Wang has been busy during her two years as a ��Ƶ student. The international relations major is vice-president of the East Asian Studies Students’ Union, a mentor to incoming Victoria College students and a U of T tour guide.

Now she can add “dean” to her already impressive resume – albeit for a single day.

Wang recently got to trade places with Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science, after winning a raffle held by the Arts & Science Student Union (ASSU), with the money raised going to food banks. For one day, Wang attended Woodin’s meetings while Woodin attended Wang’s class and worked her shift as a campus tour guide – a role swap that gave each party new insights into the university.

Wang says the highlight of her “Dean for a Day” experience was chairing a meeting of Arts & Science vice-deans, where she learned about ongoing initiatives such as improvements to student spaces like Robarts Common and the Sidney Smith Commons.

“I was able to give feedback on what the student experience is like in those spaces,” says Wang, adding that she was pleased to learn about the team’s efforts to solicit student voices on the projects. “I offered ideas about what can be improved, especially during exam time.”

Chelsea Wang, centre, leads a meeting of Arts & Science vice-deans (photo by Sarah Khan)

Wang’s schedule also included back-to-back meetings with members of the faculty’s academic leadership team, including Acting Vice-Dean of Undergraduate Students Bill Ju and Acting Associate Dean of Student Affairs Alana Boland, as well as meetings with U of T Vice-Provost of Students Sandy Welsh and Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering Dean Christopher Yip.

Chelsea Wang and Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students (photo by Sarah Khan)

Meanwhile, Woodin attended Wang’s modern East Asia lecture, where she chatted with instructor Yurou Zhong, an associate professor in the department of East Asian studies, interacted with students and even participated in the class discussion – although she admittedly had not completed the required readings.

Faculty of Arts & Science Dean Melanie Woodin arrives early for Chelsea Wang's morning lecture (photo Christine Elstub)

After the lecture, Woodin headed to the Nona Macdonald Visitors Centre to cover Wang’s shift as a U of T tour guide. She greeted a group of incoming students and their families at the centre before they toured the St. George campus.

Faculty of Arts & Science Dean Melanie Woodin, right, prepares to cover Chelsea Wang’s shift as a U of T tour guide (photo by Sarah Khan)

“I really enjoyed attending class and chatting with current and future students. It was a great reminder of what it’s like to be a student here,” says Woodin, an Arts & Science alumna. “The Dean for a Day fundraiser was a wonderful opportunity for Arts & Science students, faculty and staff to come together to learn from each other while giving back to the community.

“Trading places with Chelsea gave me fresh insight into the student experience, and my team gained invaluable feedback from Chelsea’s participation in meetings.”

For Wang, who is involved in student government, her experience as dean was also not entirely unfamiliar. “I found the meetings I attended similar to how student government meetings work, with members of different teams working together to get feedback and make improvements.”

Wang says she would participate in any future Dean for a Day raffles and encourages other students to do the same. “It supports a great cause, so it’s a nice way to get to know ASSU and participate in administrative life for a day.”

'An amazing experience': U of T Engineering students explore careers through PEY Co-op program

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 23:55:06 +0000

'An amazing experience': U of T Engineering students explore careers through PEY Co-op program

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 03/21/2023 - 19:55

Cutline

Lauren Boers and Noah Guerin both plan to continue working with the companies – Hatch and Quanta, respectively – where they spent their professional experience years (supplied photos)

Topic

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Undergraduate Students

Noah Guerin wanted a taste of the career he could have after graduation – one that would allow the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering student to delve deeper into the power and control systems he had been studying in his electrical engineering classes.

“I had an idea of what I thought I enjoyed but working in the real world is not the same as learning in a classroom,” the fourth-year undergraduate says. “I wanted to know if these areas were something I would want to spend more time in, or if I would even be good at it.

“I also wanted to apply this knowledge in different ways, including programming, consulting and analysis.”

Enter the Professional Experience Year Co-op program (PEY Co-op) and a job posting at Quanta Technology, a company that specializes in electric power and utilities. For Guerin, who wanted to apply his knowledge in a variety of ways, it seemed to check all the boxes.

“The position listed some skills that I didn’t have so I wasn’t putting all my hopes on it, but I still applied,” he says. “I was surprised when I got an interview request – and just days after the interview, I received a job offer.”

Facilitated by U of T’s Engineering Career Centre, the PEY Co-op work term that Guerin completed offers undergraduate engineering students the opportunity to gain full-time, paid work experience over 12 to 16 months.

While this work term begins after students’ third year of study, the PEY Co-op program is a degree-long work-integrated learning journey. It begins in first year with self-reflection and career exploration, followed by learning activities in second year that prepare students for the recruitment process and workplace. The program also supports students in pursuing summer co-op work term opportunities after second year.

Noah Guerin worked at Quanta Technology, which specializes in electric power and utilities (supplied image)

Lauren Boers, who is in her fourth year of mechanical engineering and plays on U of T’s women’s basketball team, always knew she wanted to work at Hatch because of the engineering firm’s focus on sustainability and its large scale.

She didn’t plan on doing a PEY Co-op work term at first because of her busy student-athlete schedule, but instead started working at Hatch in 2021 as a summer mechanical engineering intern at the company’s Mississauga office. But, given the chance to extend her internship into a 16-month PEY Co-op, Boers sought approval from the Engineering Career Centre and embarked on an “exciting” year that included travel to the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan.

Expected to be the world’s largest potash producing mine once it is in operation, the mine will provide potassium-rich salt to create fertilizer for agricultural production.

“I was working full-time out of the Mississauga office and playing on the Varsity basketball team,” she says. “Later, I had the opportunity to travel and work on site in Saskatchewan. I would travel out for 14 days, working 10-hour shifts, and then come home for seven days, back and forth for a whole summer.

“It was hectic at times, but it was honestly an amazing experience.”

Lauren Boers travelled to a potash mine in Saskatchewan during her 16-month PEY Co-op with engineering consultancy Hatch (supplied image)

During her work term, Boers wrote technical specification documents for equipment used across the entire project. She also completed a full specification package – from start to finish, all the way through to picking a vendor – for the project’s underground mining satellite fuel systems. While on site, she worked on the coordination of construction execution and technical deliverables of various scopes of work on the surface and underground.

But a highlight from her co-op was being tasked to come up with a design alternative for one part of the potash mine, where the initial design was no longer feasible.

“I got to create the designs and pitch it to the clients with a full presentation,” she says. “And the clients ended up picking my design, which provided them with substantial cost savings.”

Boers’ time at Hatch helped her discover her niche – project management – and when she graduates in June, she will be returning to the company.

“I’m proud of myself for having the courage to try different things and realize that in the end, it was all worth it because I was able to figure out what my strengths are and what I need to work on,” she says.

“There are so many opportunities within the company that will make my career so fulfilling. Hatch has projects all around the world – I can really go down any path.”

Guerin, who accepted a full-time position at Quanta that will begin in June, also found his co-op experience to be career-affirming – especially when he had the opportunity to travel to Chicago. The client trip allowed him to close out a project that involved modelling the transmission line protection system for the Chicago-area electric utility and creating a software tool that allows the client’s engineers to continue making changes to the delivered model in an automated way.

“I started from data entry role on the project, and eventually moved into a more involved project management-like role: assigning and completing tasks, giving the client updates and asking technical questions in bi-weekly meetings,” he says.

“The people, the culture and the work at Quanta were all really great and I am very excited to go back and continue building my career in this field.”

U of T students return to the field for 2022 Research Excursion Program

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 13:22:07 +0000

U of T students return to the field for 2022 Research Excursion Program

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 09/14/2022 - 09:22

Cutline

Abigail Wagner and Lily Peters at the Koffler Scientific Reserve north of Toronto where they spent the summer conducting research on the parasitic goldenrod gall fly (photo by Kemeisha McDonald)

Chris Sasaki

Topic

Our Community

Student Experience

Ecology & Environmental Biology

Faculty of Arts & Science

st. michael's

Undergraduate Students

Victoria College

When the pandemic halted in-person instruction at the ��Ƶ in the spring of 2020, it also paused valuable experiential learning opportunities like the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Research Excursions Program (REP).

But with pandemic restrictions now easing and students back in the classroom, the program is once again providing undergraduates with a chance to take part in a faculty member’s research project off campus.

Lily Peters and Abigail Wagner spent the summer taking part in a study of the parasitic goldenrod gall fly and the common goldenrod plant at U of T’s Koffler Scientific Reserve at Joker’s Hill (KSR), located north of Toronto in a region of the province known as the Oak Ridges Moraine. The site comprises 350 hectares of wetlands, pastures and forests – and the wildlife that calls those habitats home – and is used by the university for research, training and public outreach.

A member of Victoria College, Peters is entering her second year in an ecology and evolutionary biology specialist program with a genome biology major. Wagner, meanwhile, is entering her fourth year in a genome biology and physiology program and is a member of St. Michael’s College.

“This has been my first real experience doing research,” says Peters. “I'm planning to do a master’s degree or PhD, so I wanted to see if research was for me and see what type of research I liked. I wanted to get a feel for how this type of research is done.”

Wagner, for her part, says she is interested in genomics and wants to pursue a career in genetic counseling. “Our project is related to uncovering how different characteristics correlate with different gene variations and how common these variations are in a population – so it was just what I was looking for,” she says.

The students’ REP supervisor is Arthur Weis, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology. Weis studies natural selection – one of the mechanisms by which species evolve – in particular, when evolution occurs over a short period of time.

Abigail Wagner “bags” a gall to protect it from parasitic wasps (photo by Kemeisha McDonald)

The goldenrod fly is a parasite that lays its eggs on goldenrod plants. After about 10 days, a larva emerges from the egg and burrows into the plant’s stem, triggering the growth of a gall – a round, tumour-like sphere measuring a half-inch to an inch in diameter. The larva survives the winter inside the gall and in the spring, the adult fly emerges, ready to start the cycle over.

Peters and Wagner are helping Weis in his research into the genetic connection between individual flies and the size of the galls their larvae produce.

Gall size is important. Larvae in small galls are vulnerable to parasitic wasps that lay eggs in galls which then hatch into larvae that prey on the fly larvae. Larger galls offer protection from wasps but larger galls are preyed upon by woodpeckers for the larvae within. The researchers’ goal is to shed light on the natural selection forces that favour a gall that is neither too small nor too large – and the genes that may be the basis for determining size.

The students began by finding goldenrod plants with galls. Their next step was to protect the fly larvae from wasps by wrapping the galls in mesh. Over the summer, Peters and Wagner “bagged” over 700 galls.

The students then collected galls and sorted them by size.

The students collected goldenrod flies that have emerged from galls (photo by Kemeisha McDonald)

“Next, we’ll sequence all the flies to figure out whether all the big-gall flies have a similar section of their genome,” says Wagner. “Then, we’ll look to see if some of the genes in this section play a role in causing a specific size of gall.”

For Weis, the program is rewarding as both an instructor and a scientist.

“This is what it's all about – working with students in the lab or in the field,” he says. “Students who are curious, enthusiastic and want to learn. And in the process, it extends my own research and helps me answer the questions I'm curious about.”

For Wagner and Peters, the experience has provided them with much more than an opportunity to do research.

“It’s really added context for me for when I’m reading a research paper,” says Wagner. “Because now, I've experienced the entire research process, hands-on.”

Peters, meanwhile, says she’s planning to pursue a PhD, “so, it's been cool seeing and talking with other researchers up here and learning about what they're doing for their masters and PhDs.

“And working outside in the field all day has been amazing. I’ve seen so many things – like my first porcupine! It’s been a really great experience that’s shown me how amazing field work is. It’s really solidified in my mind that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

'It's OK to ask questions': Four tips for new and returning U of T students

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 14:26:14 +0000

'It's OK to ask questions': Four tips for new and returning U of T students

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 09/07/2022 - 10:26

Cutline

ASKme Anything booths and volunteers, which can be found across U of T's three campuses, aim to create a friendly and welcoming community for new and returning students (photo by David Lee)

Topic

Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

��Ƶ students are kicking off the fall term this week with in-person classes and orientation events across the three campuses.

It’s the biggest-ever back-to-school season as incoming students – and some upper-year students who have attended university remotely until now – arrive on campus for the first time.

U of T News has rounded up a back-to-school starter kit of four key things new or returning students should know to help start the 2022-2023 academic year off on the right foot.

Need help navigating campus? Just ask!

How and where do I get my TCard? What are some gym and recreational activities at U of T? Where can I meet new people around campus? For new students, navigating campus can initially feel a little daunting. Fortunately, U of T’s ASKme Anything booths and ambassadors are here to help.

The program is aimed at creating a friendly and welcoming community for students across all three campuses.

On the St. George campus, there are four booths set up near the Koffler Student Services Centre, the main campus gates on College Street, Sidney Smith Hall and Robarts Library until Sept. 23. There will also be hundreds of individuals on campus wearing an orange ASKme Anything button, who are ready and willing to assist students.

“ASKme has become somewhat of an icon of the back-to-school season,” says Ashley Yim, an ASKme program assistant and student ambassador. “Our booths and student ambassadors not only make everyone feel welcomed on campus, but we also make everyone look forward to the new school year.

“The welcoming atmosphere is especially important for new students who are on campus, or even in Toronto, for the first time.”

At U of T Scarborough, ASKme Anything booths will be located by the bus loop outside Highland Hall, at the front of the Student Centre and at the front of the Instructional Centre. There will also be ASKme ambassadors with orange buttons around campus to help students out. Some staff and faculty will participate by displaying ASKme signs in their offices.

On the U of T Mississauga campus, there will be individuals wearing ASKme Anything buttons from Sept. 3 to Sept. 23 at orientation and various events. Students are also encouraged to visit the Centre for Student Engagement front desk office to have their questions answered.

ASKme ambassadors are at campus #UofTBackToSchool events this month.
Look for staff, librarians, faculty and senior students wearing ASKme buttons if you have questions about #UTM. We're here to help! pic.twitter.com/44WhQNOeVu
— U of T Mississauga (@UTM) September 7, 2022

AskMe booth outside of the U of T Bookstore, St. George campus (photo by David Lee)

Yim, a U of T alumna of the Faculty of Arts & Science, says the ASKMe Anything booths and ambassadors create an inviting space for students while also sending the message that “it’s OK to ask questions and reach out. In fact, we encourage you to do so.”

“This way, new students will more likely make connections in the future, whether it’s with their peers, instructors, staff or community members.”

Students who need help navigating the three campuses can also access U of T’s new campus map feature.

Remember to prioritize health and wellness

U of T is home to a range of services and opportunities that support students’ physical and mental health.

On the St. George campus, students have a variety of gym options including the Hart House Fitness Centre, Athletic Centre and the Goldring Centre for High Performance. Across the facilities, students can find swimming pools, strength and conditioning centres, indoor tracks, dance studios, cardio machines, tennis and squash courts and so much more. At U of T Mississauga, The Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre offers programs such as yoga to relieve stress, group fitness, women’s only classes, personal training session and more. Athletics and Recreation at U of T Scarborough is similarly a hub of activity on campus, which is home to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

All three campuses offer an intramural sports program – a great opportunity to create or join a team, meet new people and stay physically active.

Self-care and wellness are also a key part of maintaining a healthy student lifestyle – and, across the university, resources include peer support from trained students, yoga clubs, and workshops on managing stress or studying smarter. Programming includes a Community Support Group, Mindful Moments classes, Better Coping Skills sessions and live cooking classes. Check out the Student Mental Health Resource for a tri-campus list of programs and workshops.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hart House Fitness Centre UofT (@harthousefitnesscentre)

For students seeking mental health support, U of T has many virtual and in-person services and programs. Navi, short for navigator, is a chat-based virtual assistant that can be used to search all mental health services and resources offered by all campuses. The tool is accessible 24/7 and communication is anonymous.

U of T My Student Support Program (MySSP) offers 24-hour support for any school, health or general life concern. Students can access it by downloading an app or by calling 1-844-451-9700 (for outside of North America, call 001-416-380-6578). The service is available in 146 languages.

Seek out places to find your community

Making connections at university goes well beyond the classroom. From hundreds of clubs and student groups to volunteer opportunities, events and more, all three U of T campuses are home to extensive programming to help find your community.

At St. George, Student Life is a great first stop for mentorship and peer programs that offer support from upper year students, coaching skills and opportunities to network and make connections. Programs include Latin American Student Engagement, African Black Caribbean Student Engagement, Southeast Asian Student Engagement, First Generation Student Engagement and more.

U of T is home to hundreds of community-oriented clubs and student groups, including UTSC Cheer (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

On Sept. 8 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., undergraduate students are invited to attend a virtual workshop called Talking to New People. The session is meant to help students who may be feeling anxious or fearful about making new connections at university. And, on Sept. 12 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., a learning strategist will lead a virtual workshop called Planning for the Semester, which will focus on helping students create strategies to manage the semester workload.

For more workshops and events, check out the Student Life calendar.

Another key destination is Hart House, a student centre on the St. George campus that offers programming and clubs ranging from archery and debate to photography and chess – all housed in a beautiful, century-old building.

For Indigenous students, First Nations House at the St. George campus is an important cultural hub. The space offers academic support, opportunities to meet with Elders and traditional teachers for support and guidance, financial aid advising and other services. On Sept. 14, First Nations House will host an Indigenous student orientation from 3 to 5 p.m.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by U of T Student Life (@uoftstudentlife)

At U of T Mississauga, the Indigenous Centre invites students, staff and faculty to ongoing monthly lunch and learn for an informal chat about Indigenous cultures.

The Indigenous Outreach Program at U of T Scarborough, meanwhile, provides students learning opportunities and resources as well as a chance to meet with Elders and traditional teachers for guidance and support (A dedicated Indigenous Centre is under construction).

Be conscious of online and campus safety

With several scams targeting students, it’s more important than ever to safeguard your personal information.

Shannon Howes, director, high risk, community safety and crisis and emergency preparedness at U of T, says students should be aware of scare tactics used in emails, text messages and phone calls.

“Legitimate government organizations and law enforcement agencies will never threaten you in exchange for payment of funds,” says Howes.

When contacted by someone, Howes recommends stopping whatever you’re doing, taking a breath and evaluating whether what you’re being told to do actually makes sense.

“Is this an organization that you normally deal with and is known to you? Is this a person who you actually know in real life? Does what they’re asking you to do make sense? If the answer is no, talk to someone you trust about the situation before you take any action.”

Howes adds that scammers have ways of changing the call display on a phone to say things like “police” or can create spoof email accounts to trick users into thinking a message is coming from someone who they trust.

“Be aware of receiving offers from people you do not know, jobs you didn’t apply for or prizes from contests you didn’t enter,” she says. “If an offer sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”

Students should watch for job scams, rental scams, law enforcement impersonations and phishing scams, Howes says, adding that students who wish to discuss any safety concerns can book an appointment to meet with a community safety case manager at U of T’s Community Safety Office.

“The office also has a has a dedicated Fraud Prevention Page on its website with information about different types of frauds and scams, fraud prevention tips, tips for safety on social media and a list of resources and supports available,” says Howes.

Security Matters – U of T’s security awareness and education initiative – publishes regular blog posts, news and educational resources including helpful tip sheets.

Also available to U of T students are Phish Bowl, which provides examples of recently reported phishing incidents, and Housing Services – a resource for the St. George campus that provides workshop and assistance to individuals seeking housing or dealing with housing issues.

Safety is a priority across all three U of T campuses. The U of T Campus Safety app features emergency contacts, tips, support services, and a live chat feature that connects users with U of T safety staff in real-time. App users can also use a Mobile Bluelight feature which sends the user’s on-campus location to the safety team in case of a crisis. Other features include TravelSafer, which allows safety staff to monitor a user’s walk on campus, and Friend Walk, which allows a trusted contact to monitor your walk anywhere in the world.

As well, students and all current members of the U of T community are automatically subscribed to UTAlert – a service that allows the university to send important messages via email and text.

Learn more at UTogether

Students pack Pan Am Sports Centre for Scarborough Shooting Stars game

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 17:38:44 +0000

Students pack Pan Am Sports Centre for Scarborough Shooting Stars game

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 08/04/2022 - 13:38

Cutline

Hundreds of U of T Scarborough students were given tickets to attend the final game of the Scarborough Shooting Stars' season on July 28 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (photo by Sophia Seoh)

Topic

Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre

U of T Scarborough

The Scarborough Shooting Stars, the GTA's first franchise in the Canadian Elite Basketball League, gave hundreds of tickets to their final home game of the season to ��Ƶ students.

The Stars, the eighth team in the CEBL, has a roster of prolific players, including former Toronto Raptor Jalen Harris. Until recently, the team also featured Jermaine Cole, better known as the rapper J. Cole. Home games were played at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre throughout the summer, with Drake showing up to support the team from the sidelines.

The stands were packed with U of T Scarborough students on July 28 after Stars co-owner Sam Ibrahim donated 250 tickets on U of T Scarborough Student Leadership Day, hosted by the Office of Student Experience and Wellbeing.

Ibrahim plans to donate tickets to the team’s final regular season home game every year, to acknowledge students' work and leadership.

"When local leaders serve with a generous spirit, it inspires us all to build a stronger community," says Neel Joshi, the new dean of OSEW at U of T Scarborough. "Having 250 students, staff and community partners all together to cheer on the home team for their final home game not only unites us as a campus, it makes us even prouder to be in Scarborough."

Ibrahim is a former U of T Scarborough student and grew his business, the Arrow Group of Companies, in Scarborough. Joshi says the new tradition came about because both he and Ibrahim "believe in Scarborough's potential and believe that our community has so much to contribute to the world."

"This was about two Scarborough-raised people who are fiercely proud and grateful to be from here and want to show the world why we are a place where leaders are humble, hardworking, and authentically exhibit inclusive excellence."

(photo by Sophia Seoh)

At halftime, Joshi received an SSS jersey in recognition of his contributions to the Scarborough community. Olympic champion sprinter and Scarborough native Andre De Grasse also received a jersey.

Tickets were distributed to student groups and raffled off on the university’s social media channels.

"The air was full of excitement and silence, hoping that our team would take the win each match," says student Sophia Seoh, who attended the game. "The new tradition of donating tickets to students to witness an exhilarating basketball game is very kind, and I hope other students can experience it."

‘No one left behind’: U of T Run Club takes community building in stride

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 18:19:14 +0000

‘No one left behind’: U of T Run Club takes community building in stride

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 07/14/2022 - 14:19

Cutline

Members of U of T Run Club pose for a photo at Casa Loma. With its inclusive, community-building approach, the club's popularity has ballooned over the past 10 months (photo courtesy of U of T Run Club)

Mariam Matti

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

UTogether

Student Experience

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Fitness

Graduate Students

The ��Ƶ Run Club upholds their motto – “no one left behind” – every single time its members lace up their sneakers.

With stops at coffee shops and ice cream parlors across the city, co-presidents Emily Nguyen and Ashim Bhattacharya make it a priority to promote an inclusive community where runners of any ability feel welcome to join.

They even take the somewhat unusual step of mixing novice and seasoned runners together in the same groups.

“The most important thing we can do is try to create an environment where people aren’t feeling excluded,” says Bhattacharya, a master’s student in pharmacology from New Jersey who joined the club about three years ago to meet new friends.

Growing up, Nguyen practised ballet but took up running after she moved Toronto from Edmonton to attend university.

“I wanted to apply my athleticism from ballet in a new area,” says Nguyen, who is now studying medicine in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

The pair became co-presidents of the club in the summer of 2020, when most clubs and social events were on pause because of the pandemic. They began organizing runs in 2021, navigating shifting public health guidelines.

“Ashim and I, both being health science students, were very public health focused,” says Nguyen.

In addition to putting in place measures to keep members safe, the co-presidents plan and test routes, lead the runs and manage the club’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Run Club co-presidents Emily Nguyen (left) and Ashim Bhattacharya (right) plan and test routes, which often incorporate stops at coffee shops and other attractions (photo courtesy of U of T Run Club)

Nguyen says the club has seen tremendous growth over the last 10 months due to word of mouth and social media – and, for the first time, is continuing operations throughout the summer season. In the most recent academic year, the club held 72 runs for more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional students from across the university.

Ishika Bangari is one of those runners. An undergraduate student specializing in astrophysics in the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, she heard about the club through a friend and thought its Instagram looked “super cool.”

Although Bangari has run competitively in cross country and track and field since middle school, she wanted to keep it casual when she moved to Toronto – so the U of T Run Club seemed like a perfect fit.

“I’ve gotten to know Toronto more as a city because of the different routes they pick,” she said. “My course load is so demanding. Run Club gives me an opportunity to step outside of campus.”

U of T Run Club members gather near the front steps of University College – the meeting location for their weekly runs (photo courtesy of U of T Run Club)

From High Park to the Beach and coffee shop and eateries in between, Bhattacharya and Nguyen plan five-kilometer routes twice a week. In the summer, the group meets at the steps of University College on Wednesdays and Friday. On the weekends, they frequently plan longer routes and special events.

“Doing a lot of runs that don’t start in downtown Toronto has allowed us to explore the city more,” says Nguyen.

The club’s six-kilometre run through the Beach (or Beaches, if you prefer), explored Woodbine Beach Park, Ashbridge’s Bay Park, the Boardwalk and Woodbine Park. For the fall and winter semester, they planned routes that ended at different cafes. And they kicked off their food series for the summer with a route that took the group through Trinity Bellwoods Park and ended at The Big Chill for ice cream.

“A lot of people loved the event,” Nguyen says. “Somebody asked me if we could have ice cream after all our runs.”

As for the actual running, participants are split into three groups with a run leader to ensure the pace stays around 6:00 to 6:30 minutes per kilometer.

“We always make sure to check the back and communicate with each other,” says Nguyen.

Bhattacharya notes that the club’s approach deliberately avoids splitting people up into groups based on their pace.

“Imagine you show up and it’s like, ‘Oh I’m with the slow people?’” he says.

Members explore the Moore Park Ravine during a run. To maintain its inclusive atmosphere, the club eschews the idea of organizing participants by pace (photo courtesy of U of T Run Club)

The community and social aspect of the club is something Nguyen and Bhattacharya say members value.

“It’s been really great to see some of our runners who haven’t had running experience come and form friendships, healthy habits and be able to achieve their goals,” says Nguyen, adding that the activity has also had a positive impact on her mental health.

“When I go to the runs, I put all my school aside. I’m in the moment with my peers, enjoying the run, the fresh air and taking in the sights of the city.”

Bangari, too, has formed friendships through the club – even joining Midnight Runners, another local Toronto run club, with another member.

Bhattacharya, for his part, says a particular highlight is watching friendships being formed through the club he helped organize.

“It’s one thing to show up and run, but it’s another thing to hang out and do something after it.”