Professor draws on expertise of the Lassonde Education & Innovation Studio
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When remote course delivery became a reality for the 2020 fall semester, Mojgan Jadidi knew she would need some support in turning her third-year course, ESSE3600 – GIS and Spatial Analysis, into a successful online experience, so the Lassonde assistant professor of geomatics engineering turned to the most likely source of assistance: the Lassonde Education and Innovation Studio (LEIS).
Mojgan Jadidi
LEIS was established in the spring of 2020 as a way of assisting faculty at the Lassonde School of Engineering in bringing innovation into their classrooms. When the pandemic hit and instruction moved online, their work became highly valued. Jadidi is a member of LEIS, as well as a client.
“As an instructor, it’s important to give my students a learning journey, and LEIS sparked ideas about how my students could move smoothly toward applying their skills to something tangible,” said Jadidi. “Their expertise helped me design my course so that I could continue to use the flipped classroom mode once we return to in-class instruction.
“In working with LEIS, I realized that we also need to be very effective in our communications online and that students need a clear roadmap so they know what they are doing each week.”
In the flipped classroom approach, students are responsible for reading/watching the requisite informational material prior to attending class. Class time is used to discuss the concepts and theories or to work through problems that rely on what the students have learned themselves.
Jadidi asks her students to watch a series of short videos prior to attending class. They then solve problems or do exercises together or in break-out groups during a synchronous online class. The lab component of the class operates in similar fashion. Students spend the first portion of their lab time following structured lab instructions on their own. A live, synchronous lab follows, allowing for a discussion of their results and any problems they encountered.
Jadidi has also adopted a different approach to grading the course, focusing largely on competence-based assessment. Sixty per cent of the grade is based on a digital portfolio the students are required to create using COVID-19-related scenarios that also incorporate systems design, problem solving, GIS data science techniques and software, as well as equity, diversity and inclusion. There are three individual projects and a team project.
“We have both engineering and science students in the class, and they have different ways of looking at a problem and designing the solution,” Jadidi said. “They complement each other as they work together to create something new.”
The students tackle one of these digital challenges every three weeks, using the new knowledge they have accumulated during that period. First, Jadidi asks them, in a hypothetical scenario, to decide where to locate new hand sanitizing stations on campus; next, where a new COVID-19 testing centre should be built; and finally, how to make that testing centre accessible. The team project focuses on dealing with the disruptive COVID-19 situation to implement UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
“These projects bring a lot of concepts and skills together and allow the students to apply their knowledge,” Jadidi said. “Although in this case, their ‘client’ is York University in a hypothetical scenario, this problem could exist anywhere, and they can apply what they’ve learned in their future career path.
“By the end of the term, they will have a digital portfolio that they can present to any employer.”
Jadidi says she hopes the class has given students skills that will assist them in their careers.
“They will know how to use data to solve problems, applying spatial data science techniques which should be useful when they seek informed decision making and optimal solutions,” she said.
She is delighted by the way her revamped course is unfolding and credits LEIS for helping her bring it to life online.
“At Lassonde, we’re always trying new educational methods to give practical experiences to the students,” Jadidi said. “We need to be innovative and move from traditional objectives to something new so students can learn.”
By Elaine Smith, special contributing writer
Holiday closure information for the community
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The following is an important message to students, faculty and staff from York University Vice-President Finance and Administration Carol McAulay:
La version française suit la version anglaise.
Dear York Community,
As the holiday season approaches, I want to remind you of the extended University holiday closure period. All our campuses will be closed as of Thursday, Dec. 24 until Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. We are very pleased to be able to provide you with a few very well-deserved extra days off, to thank you all for your continued service and dedication particularly in light of challenges due to the ongoing pandemic. We would strongly encourage you to take full advantage of the holiday break and set aside York work commitments. We would also like to give a special thanks to all those employees who are required to work or provide instruction over the holiday period.
With the University closed for the holidays, and in order to minimize the number of staff required to work over the holiday closure, please do not plan to come to campus or book meetings during the holiday closure, even if you have previously received approval to access campus. A very few limited exceptions apply to this request, such as students in residence and research that cannot be suspended for the holiday period. Only absolutely exceptional requests for access for anyone with a demonstrated need will be granted and can be submitted here.
To ensure requests are processed and the necessary arrangements are finalized, exceptional requests should be submitted before end of day on Friday, Dec. 11.
The University will reopen on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, and restricted operations under the current Toronto Public Health guidelines will resume on that date, with classes resuming on Monday January 11, 2021. Anyone who was pre-approved to attend campus during the fall, will automatically have their access restored as of Jan. 7, 2021. No further request for approval to come to campus will be needed in the new year.
If you receive exceptional approval to be on campus during the holiday period, and you do not have a working key/card, you can sign one out at any time during the holiday period from the Security Control Centre located at the northeast corner of the William Small Building (opposite the Petrie Science and Engineering Building) on the Keele Campus. Please note that the key/cardprovided by Security Control are for building access only, so please make sure you have your office key/card with you. All persons signing out keys/cards are required to provide photo identification.
The York community has worked incredibly hard in the face of an unprecedented transition of our teaching, research, and professional endeavours to remote formats, while the safety and well being of our community continues to be our first priority.
Thank you all and I hope you have a restful holiday.
Sincerely,
Carol McAulay
Vice-President Finance and Administration
Information au sujet de la fermeture pour les fêtes
Chère communauté de York,
À l’approche de la saison des fêtes, je tiens à vous rappeler la fermeture prolongée de l’Université. Tous nos campus seront fermés à compter du jeudi 24 décembre 2020 et rouvriront le jeudi 7 janvier 2021. Nous sommes très heureux de pouvoir vous accorder quelques jours de congé supplémentaires bien mérités afin de vous remercier pour votre service et votre dévouement constants, surtout dans le contexte des défis posés par la pandémie actuelle. Nous vous encourageons vivement à bien profiter du congé des fêtes et à mettre de côté vos obligations professionnelles. Nous tenons également à remercier tout particulièrement les employés qui seront obligés de travailler ou de donner des cours pendant la période des fêtes.
Comme l’Université sera fermée pour les fêtes, veuillez ne pas prévoir de visites sur le campus ni réserver des réunions – même si vous avez un accès autorisé au campus – afin de minimiser le nombre de personnes devant travailler durant la fermeture. Il existe quelques exceptions, comme les étudiants et étudiantes habitant en résidence et les travaux de recherche qui ne peuvent pas être interrompus durant les fêtes. Seules les demandes d’accès absolument exceptionnelles ayant un besoin démontré seront approuvées; vous pouvez en faire la demande ici.
Pour assurer le traitement des demandes et la finalisation des arrangements nécessaires, ces demandes exceptionnelles doivent être soumises avant la fin de la journée du vendredi 11 décembre 2020.
Lors de la réouverture de l’Université le 7 janvier 2020, des activités restreintes en vertu des directives actuelles de la santé publique de Toronto reprendront. Les cours recommenceront le lundi 11 janvier 2021. L’accès de toute personne pré-approuvée pour fréquenter le campus pendant l’automne sera automatiquement rétabli à partir du 7 janvier 2021. Aucune autre demande d’autorisation pour fréquenter le campus ne sera requise au début de la nouvelle année.
Si vous avez obtenu l’autorisation exceptionnelle d’être sur le campus pendant la période des fêtes et que vous n’avez pas de clé/carte fonctionnelle, vous pouvez en obtenir une durant la fermeture auprès du Bureau des services de sécurité situé à l’angle nord-est du William Small Building (en face du bâtiment Petrie Science and Engineering). Veuillez noter que la clé/carte fournie par les Services de sécurité vous donnera seulement accès à votre bâtiment; vous devrez donc apporter la clé/carte de votre bureau lors de votre visite. Pour emprunter des clés/cartes, vous devrez montrer une pièce d’identité avec photo.
Toute personne sur le campus actuellement et/ou durant la période des fêtes devra continuer à remplir le formulaire de dépistage de la COVID-19 avant de venir sur le campus (et respecter nos protocoles de santé et de sécurité, y compris le port d’un masque ou couvre-visage à l’intérieur, la distanciation physique et la pratique d’une bonne hygiène des mains.
La communauté de York a travaillé sans relâche pour faire face à la transition sans précédent de nos activités professionnelles, d’enseignement et de recherche vers des formats à distance. La sécurité et le bien-être de notre communauté restent notre priorité absolue.
Je vous remercie et vous souhaite un congé reposant.
Veuillez agréer mes sincères salutations,
Carol McAulay Vice-présidente des finances et de l’administration
New research shows most countries are violating international law during pandemic
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Most countries are not fulfilling their international legal obligations during COVID-19 and other public health emergencies, reveals new research by a consortium of 13 leading global health law scholars, hosted by the Global Strategy Lab (GSL) at York University.
In 2019, members of the Global Health Law Consortium analyzed key aspects of the International Health Regulations (IHR) to authoritatively interpret what countries are legally allowed to do to each other during future public health crises like Ebola and SARS.
This work became even more relevant when COVID-19 began spreading around the world early in 2020, and Global Health Law Consortium members reviewed how countries reacted to the outbreak based on the International Health Regulations that legally bind 196 countries in how they prevent, detect and respond to public health crises.
Subsequently, during a conference in South Africa, this group of legal experts developed consensus statements that authoritatively interpret Article 43 of the IHR, which identifies the additional health measures countries can legally enact when responding to public health risks, and Article 44, which outlines countries’ legal duty to collaborate and assist one another in building national public health systems.
Professor Steven J. Hoffman, director of the Global Strategy Lab at York University, is senior author on both consensus statements, and Roojin Habibi, research fellow at the GSL and doctoral candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School, is lead author on the consensus statement that interprets Article 43 of the IHR.
“Many countries have taken overbroad measures, both in the past and now during the coronavirus outbreak, which indicate that the provisions within Article 43 of the International Health Regulations are not well understood and perhaps not fit for purpose,” says Habibi.
Under Article 43 of the IHR, countries are permitted to exercise their sovereignty in taking additional health measures to respond to public health emergencies, provided that these measures are proportionate to the risk at hand, aligned with human rights imperatives, and backed by scientific evidence.
“COVID-19 has clearly shown that proper international cooperation is required to prevent infectious diseases from spreading across borders,” Habibi says. “Based on our analysis, we believe that the global community needs a common understanding of the law at hand. We recommend revision and clarification of legal obligations contained in these Articles to facilitate collaboration and enhance pandemic responses in the future.”
According to Article 44, there is a common and shared responsibility among countries to make it possible for every country to achieve the core public health capacities identified in the IHR, which is overseen by the World Health Organization.
“Most countries in the world are currently violating their international legal obligations under Articles 43 and 44 of the International Health Regulations,” says Hoffman. “This means that the rules that were supposed to guide governments’ responses to pandemics like COVID-19 are either misunderstood, toothless or insufficient – most likely a combination of all three. The Global Health Law Consortium’s analyses of the International Health Regulations that were published today will help bring clarity to countries’ legal obligations during global health emergencies, but ultimately these regulations need to be urgently updated to better reflect the realities of the globalized world in which we all live.”
The two statements published Dec. 3 are the first consensus-based collaboration by members of the Global Health Law Consortium.
Glendon instructor livestreams field trips to provide experiential education throughout pandemic
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A photo of the GoPro set up Charles-Antoine Rouyer used in his second livestreamed field trip
A course director at York University’s Glendon Campus is not letting COVID-19 restrictions disrupt experiential learning opportunities for his students. For Charles-Antoine Rouyer, who teaches Communication, Health & Environment to 125 students this fall in a remote format, cancelling the course’s field trips was not an option.
Charles-Antoine Rouyer
“We usually do two field trips in the fall in this course, as experiential education is a great addition to achieve some of the learning objectives,” said Rouyer, who has been teaching the fall/winter six-credit course since 2004. “It’s also an opportunity to see and experience what we talk about in the class.”
The field trips, focused on watershed dynamics and urban ecology education, allow students to see science in action and engage with what they are learning, he said.
When the course shifted to a remote format in September, Rouyer considered what alternatives might provide a similar experience to his students. His idea? To do the field trips anyway, and livestream it to his students. But first, he’d have to test it out.
It wasn’t as easy as expected; in fact, Rouyer admits it was “quite a bit of work” to figure out what technology would work best to deliver the experience. He spent a few hours of experimenting, first at home and then on site, and decided to stream via his smart phone with a 1080p camera and feed the video into Zoom. He used his earbuds’ microphone to transmit audio.
The first livestream event took place on Oct. 3 at the City of Toronto Brickworks Park to showcase manufactured nature with ponds to understand how wetlands construction provides natural water filtration and flood protection.
Rouyer surveyed the class to measure interest in participating on site – while ensuring COVID-19 protocols for distancing and social gatherings would be followed – and one student attended in person. Of the other 124 students, 76 logged on to participate.
“It was nice to have one student present for added interactivity and his questions and input benefitted the whole class watching online,” he said.
During the livestream Rouyer ensured students could ask questions and interact in real-time via Zoom. The event was also recorded to allow for viewing by students unable to attend online.
After reviewing the recording, he sought to improve the livestream quality for the next field trip, scheduled for Oct. 24. This time, he would broadcast live from the Glendon Forest along the Don River, to educate students on watersheds and ecological restoration.
A photo of the GoPro setup Charles-Antoine Rouyer used in his second livestreamed field trip (Image: John Marbella)
For this event, Rouyer upgraded to a GoPro camera and connected it to the internet through his phone’s hotspot to provide a livestream. However, due to bandwidth limitations, the phone could not support both the GoPro livestream and Zoom session. To improve the experience, he asked a student participating online to host the Zoom session, and launched the livestream through a GoPro URL. One of the four students attending this field trip in person stayed on Zoom through her cell phone, and relayed information between the class and Rouyer.
Although there were some glitches in both methods – such as some interruptions to video and audio consistency – Rouyer feels both experiments were successful. And, according to a survey distributed to his class, so do his students.
Asma Zahra, a student who attended the Glendon Forest field trip in person, said she appreciated the time Rouyer took to be creative with experiential learning. Acting as Rouyer’s “ears” for the Zoom session while he was livestreaming on GoPro added depth to the content she had learned in class. She also commended him for being creative and innovative in his delivery of experiential learning.
“He is very passionate about the environment and it shows through his lectures and presentations,” she said. “Professors who take the time to be creative, engage their students and try to get the most out of experiential learning are much appreciated through this time.”
She notes that since taking classes in the summer semester, when learning went remote, she’s enjoyed this class the most.
“This is by far the best class I have taken through the online format since the pandemic,” she said. “It is very important to not only ‘adjust’ to our current situation, but to be more creative and innovative with delivery of education. Professor Rouyer … went out of his way to engage students and implement the experiential learning. Though there will always be issues with technology, he still fought through it to make sure students get the most out of this course through these times. I think that’s commendable.”
Rouyer said he tried to offer students a variety of options to experience the sites, including instructions for a self-guided tour, and site maps provided via eClass, so students could follow along during the livestream events. He surveyed all students who participated in one or both sessions and found that most students preferred the technology used in the second field trip. The feedback overall has been very positive, however.
Aameet Ekram, a first-year student studying political science from abroad, said the livestream field trip idea was “interesting,” and although he had reservations, the experience was better than expected.
“It was a format I could learn off of, and I genuinely did,” said Ekram. “I’d advocate for this type of programming being implemented into different programs. I’m sure it would be real useful for courses which would’ve had field trips in non-COVID conditions.”
Despite studying from overseas in a different time zone, Ekram was able to log on and participate, and gain valuable insights from the experience. “It showed a preview of the environments themselves – which is, really, the aim of the course – and allowed me to see the place in a way I would’ve never gotten to any other way (learning in an online environment).”
Though Ekram says it isn’t comparable to in-person field trips, it’s the next best thing. “I’d call the entire idea genius,” he said. “If anything, the livestreamed field trips actually made me want to go to these places in real life. I think I’ll do that once the entire situation is normalized and I can actually come to Toronto.”
Rouyer has presented his livestream field trip experimentations with faculty members who meet weekly to share e-learning strategies, and hopes his experiences will contribute to a University-wide community of practice about remote on-site livestreaming.
York faculty member Linda Carozza, a course instructor in the Department of Philosophy and an e-learning peer mentor in the Teaching Commons, leads the faculty group that shares experiences in e-learning. She said Rouyer’s account of his livestream teaching method offered a glimpse into the intersection of experiential education, digital pedagogy and educational technology.
“The pandemic may have thrown a wrench in a typically face-to-face course with field trips, but it also pushed colleagues like Charles-Antoine to lead the pack with innovative e-learning methodology,” said Carozza.
She says she hopes he documents his experiences and research in livestreaming in the domain of the scholarship of teaching and learning.
By Ashley Goodfellow Craig, deputy editor, YFile
Un enseignant de Glendon diffuse en direct des sorties sur le terrain à des fins d’éducation expérientielle pendant la pandémie
Charles-Antoine Rouyer ne voulait pas que les restrictions dues à la COVID-19 privent ses étudiants et étudiantes de possibilités d’éducation expérientielle cet automne. Ce chargé de cours du campus Glendon de l’Université York donne à distance le cours Communication, santé et environnement à 125 étudiants. Pour lui, il était hors de question d’annuler ses sorties sur le terrain.
Charles-Antoine Rouyer
« Nous faisons habituellement deux sorties sur le terrain dans le cadre de mon cours d’automne-hiver. L’éducation expérientielle est un excellent moyen d’atteindre certains objectifs d’apprentissage, dit Charles-Antoine Rouyer, qui assure ce cours de six crédits depuis 2004. C’est aussi une bonne occasion de découvrir ce dont nous avons parlé en classe. Les sorties sur le terrain, axées sur la dynamique du bassin hydrographique et l’écologie urbaine, permettent aux étudiants de voir la science à l’œuvre et de s’investir dans leur apprentissage. »
Quand son cours est passé à un format à distance en septembre dernier, Charles-Antoine Rouyer s’est demandé quelles options pouvaient offrir une expérience similaire aux sorties sur le terrain à ses étudiants. Sa solution? Les faire quand même, mais les diffuser en direct. Tout d’abord, il devait faire des essais.
Charles-Antoine admet que ce n’était pas aussi facile que prévu et que cela lui a demandé « pas mal d’efforts » pour trouver la technologie la mieux adaptée à l’expérience. Il a consacré quelques heures à faire des essais, d’abord chez lui, puis sur le terrain, avant de décider d’opter pour une diffusion en continu avec à la caméra 1080p de son téléphone intelligent. Pour l’audio, il a utilisé le micro de ses écouteurs-boutons et Zoom pour la diffusion en continu et en direct.
Le premier événement a été diffusé en direct le 3 octobre 2020 au parc Brickworks de la ville de Toronto. Cette sortie sur le terrain visait à présenter un environnement artificiel avec des étangs et comprendre comment la construction de zones humides permet la filtration naturelle de l’eau et protège contre les inondations.
Charles-Antoine Rouyer a sondé sa classe pour mesurer l’intérêt d’une participation en personne, tout en respectant les protocoles de la COVID-19 pour la distanciation et les rencontres sociales. Un seul étudiant s’est présenté à la sortie et 76 y ont participé au moyen de Zoom.
« C’était bien d’avoir un étudiant présent, précise-t-il. Cela ajoutait un côté interactif à la sortie; ses questions et ses commentaires ont profité à ceux qui étaient en ligne. »
Durant la diffusion en direct, Charles-Antoine s’est assuré de donner la chance aux participants de poser des questions et d’interagir en temps réel grâce à Zoom. L’événement a également été enregistré pour ceux qui ne pouvaient pas y assister en direct.
Après avoir visionné l’enregistrement, Charles-Antoine a peaufiné la qualité de la diffusion en continu avant la deuxième sortie sur le terrain qui était prévue le 24 octobre dans la forêt de Glendon, le long de la rivière Don. L’objectif pédagogique était de sensibiliser les élèves aux bassins hydrographiques et à la restauration écologique.
Pour cette sortie, Charles-Antoine s’est équipé d’une caméra GoPro et l’a connectée à Internet en utilisant le point d’accès de son téléphone pour la diffusion en continu. Malheureusement, en raison des limites de bande passante, son téléphone ne pouvait pas appuyer à la fois la diffusion en continu de la caméra GoPro et la session Zoom. L’enseignant a donc confié à un étudiant en ligne la gestion de la session Zoom et a lancé la diffusion en continu avec une adresse URL GoPro. Cette fois, quatre étudiants s’étaient présentés. Parmi eux, une étudiante est restée sur Zoom avec son téléphone pendant toute la sortie et a assuré la liaison entre la classe et l’enseignant.
Malgré quelques problèmes techniques avec les deux méthodes — notamment des interruptions du flux de l’audio et de la vidéo —, Charles-Antoine considère que les deux approches étaient fructueuses. Selon les résultats d’un sondage distribué par la suite, tous les étudiants de la classe étaient du même avis.
Asma Zahra, l’étudiante qui était présente lors de la sortie dans la forêt de Glendon, se dit reconnaissante du temps investi dans cette expérience d’éducation expérientielle. Le fait d’avoir été les « oreilles » de la rencontre Zoom — pendant que l’enseignant était en direct sur GoPro — a ajouté de la substance au contenu de ses cours théoriques. Elle loue également la créativité et le sens de l’innovation déployés dans cette possibilité d’éducation expérientielle.
« M. Rouyer se passionne pour l’environnement et on ressent cela dans ses cours et ses présentations, déclare-t-elle. En ce moment, les professeurs qui font des efforts pour être créatifs, faire participer leurs étudiants et tirer le meilleur parti possible de l’éducation expérientielle sont très appréciés. »
Ce cours est d’ailleurs son préféré depuis le passage à l’apprentissage à distance durant le trimestre d’été. « C’est de loin le meilleur cours que j’ai suivi en ligne depuis le début de la pandémie, ajoute-t-elle. Il est très important non seulement de s’adapter à la situation actuelle, mais aussi d’adopter des approches pédagogiques plus créatives et innovantes. M. Rouyer s’est donné beaucoup de mal pour maintenir l’intérêt chez ses étudiants et leur offrir des possibilités d’éducation expérientielle. Malgré quelques problèmes techniques inévitables, il a fait tout son possible pour que les étudiants et étudiantes tirent le meilleur parti de ce cours durant cette période. Ce sont des efforts vraiment louables. »
Photo de l’installation GoPro utilisée par Charles-Antoine Rouyer lors de la deuxième sortie sur le terrain diffusée en direct en continu (Image : John Marbella)
Charles-Antoine Rouyer dit qu’il a essayé d’offrir à ses étudiants diverses options pour découvrir les sites, notamment des instructions pour une visite autoguidée et des plans de sites sur eClass, afin que les étudiants puissent mieux suivre les événements en direct. Les résultats d’un sondage auprès des étudiants ayant participé aux deux sorties ont indiqué que la majorité d’entre eux préférait la technologie utilisée lors de la deuxième sortie sur le terrain. Dans l’ensemble, la rétroaction a été très positive.
Selon Aameet Ekram, un étudiant de première année qui suit des cours de science politique à distance, la sortie sur le terrain diffusée en continu et en direct était très « intéressante », et malgré ses réserves initiales, l’expérience s’est beaucoup mieux passée que prévu. « Ce format permettait d’apprendre, et franchement, j’ai beaucoup appris, déclare-t-il. Je préconiserais de mettre en place ce type d’expérience dans d’autres programmes. Je suis sûr que ce serait vraiment utile dans des cours qui auraient offert des sorties sur le terrain si la pandémie n’avait pas frappé. »
Bien qu’il étudie à l’étranger avec plusieurs heures de décalage horaire, Ekram a pu se connecter, participer et tirer des enseignements précieux de cette expérience. « Cela m’a permis de découvrir réellement les environnements en question — ce qui est l’objectif du cours — et d’explorer des lieux que je n’aurais jamais eu l’occasion de visiter (dans le cadre d’un apprentissage en ligne). À défaut de visites en personne sur le terrain, c’est ce qu’il y a de mieux. C’est vraiment une idée de génie, ajoute-t-il. En fait, la diffusion des sorties sur le terrain m’a donné envie de visiter ces endroits. Je pense que je le ferai quand tout sera revenu à la normale et que je pourrai venir à Toronto. »
Charles-Antoine Rouyer a présenté ses expériences de diffusion en continu et en direct aux membres du corps enseignant qui se réunissent chaque semaine pour partager des stratégies d’apprentissage en ligne. Il espère que ses expériences contribueront à une communauté de pratique à l’échelle de l’université sur la diffusion en direct à distance.
Linda Carozza, membre du corps professoral de York, chargée de cours du Département de philosophie et mentore partenaire de l’apprentissage en ligne au sein de Teaching Commons, dirige le groupe de professeurs qui partagent leurs expériences sur l’apprentissage en ligne. Selon Mme Carozza, le récit de Charles-Antoine Rouyer sur sa méthode d’enseignement en direct offre un aperçu de l’intersection entre l’éducation expérientielle, la pédagogie numérique et la technologie pédagogique : « La pandémie a certes mis des bâtons dans les roues d’un cours généralement donné en face à face avec des visites sur le terrain, mais elle a également incité des collègues comme Charles-Antoine à être des pionniers de cette méthodologie innovante d’apprentissage en ligne ».
Elle espère vraiment qu’il documente ses expériences et ses recherches sur la diffusion en continu en matière d’enseignement et d’apprentissage.
York undergraduate students recognized for achievements in emergency management
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Disaster & Emergency Management (DEM) undergraduate students Mahmood Khan and Tiana Putric were recently recognized for their academic achievements in the 2019-20 academic year with awards from the Ontario Association of Emergency Managers (OAEM).
Khan and Putric are among few other undergraduate students to receive these honours. Khan received the Brian Hook Memorial Award and Putric was recognized with the A. Normand Academic Award.
DEM undergraduate student Mahmood Khan received the Brian Hook Memorial Award
The Brian Hook Memorial Award is awarded to a student for making significant contributions to the field of emergency management while maintaining a high level of academic excellence. Over the last year, Khan has been researching security practices for religious communities.
His project, under the working title “Consideration of the threats of Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism: Commonalties in developing community resiliency to religious hate crimes in Toronto,” is co-authored by Professors Jack Rozdilsky and Aaida Mamuji, and recent DEM graduates Younus Imam and Rebecca Gutman. The focus of the publication is to establish safety practices which may be adopted by Muslim and Jewish communities to protect them from hate crimes and mass shootings.
“My passion for this field grew exponentially after learning about the importance of advocating for disaster management practices that are inclusive, accessible and culturally sensitive,” said Khan.
The A. Normand Academic Award recognizes essays on topics highlighting emergency management and business continuity. Putric was awarded for her essay titled “Business Discontinuity: Why Business Continuity Plans Fall Short in the Face of Pandemics.” Having been taught by Professor Alain Normand, a faculty member at York, the award was even more meaningful for her.
Tiana Putric was recognized with the A. Normand Academic Award
“I am incredibly humbled and honoured to receive the A. Normand Academic Award. A tremendous thank you to Professor Normand for his incredible generosity and for his commitment and dedication to supporting students in the field of disaster and emergency management,” said Putric in her virtual acceptance speech. “I had the privilege of studying under Professor Normand and he is a truly inspiring lecturer who brings the real world into his lecture halls. To Professor Normand, thank you for sharing your expertise, thank you for your support, and thank you for your interactive teaching style.”
To confer these awards, the Disaster and Emergency Management Conference (DEMCON) organized a virtual ceremony this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Khan and Putric both highlighted the immeasurable impact that disaster management practitioners achieve by not only preparing for emergency scenarios, but by being able to positively influence people’s lives.
“York DEM students have consistently been recipients of external emergency management awards, and I’m so proud of our two undergraduate students who are 2020 OAEM award recipients. This speaks to the quality of our program, our instructors, and our students,” said Mamuji, associate professor of fundamentals of emergency management. “In York’s DEM program, we pride ourselves on equipping our students to tackle our ever-changing and complex world, and all of our professors strive to graduate students that are determined to make a positive and sustainable impact through the profession.”
LA&PS alumna spotlights the under-told history of Canada’s Black trailblazers in new children’s book
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Cover of Trailblazers: The Black Pioneers Who Have Shaped Canada
Downplayed in the history books and drowned out by a flood of American literature and media, the story of Black Canadians has largely been underrepresented in mainstream historical narratives.
“Viola Desmond and Carrie Best stood up to racial injustice years before Rosa Parks and yet somehow they’re not given the same priority or recognition,” says Tiyahna Ridley-Padmore, an alumna of the Master of Public Policy, Administration and Law program. “When we look at some of the moments that started global uprisings and conversations, a lot of them happened in Canada before they occurred in the United States.”
Cover of Trailblazers: The Black Pioneers Who Have Shaped Canada
Ridley-Padmore is the author of a new illustrated children’s book that places a uniquely Canadian perspective on pivotal moments in Black history. Through its rhythmic prose and charming visuals, Trailblazers: The Black Pioneers Who Have Shaped Canadatells the under-told stories of more than 40 Black changemakers who were foundational to the making of Canada but left out of the nation’s history. “I think it’s critical that we look back and understand the systemic and longstanding underpinnings of inequality in our country,” notes Ridley-Padmore.
Reflecting on Canada’s past is what, in fact, set Trailblazers in motion. Having discovered 17th-century Black explorer and translator Mathieu da Costa not until adulthood, Ridley-Padmore began to see the biases within the education system that formed her understanding of Canadian history. “I heard Samuel de Champlain’s name so many times throughout my schooling, but Mathieu da Costa had not come up once,” she recalls. “I felt cheated.”
Propelled by a personal journey to uncover Canada’s hidden Black pioneers, Ridley-Padmore penned Trailblazers, eventually enlisting Ottawa-based illustrator Merryl-Royce Ndema-Moussa to help bring their stories to life. In a landscape where narratives such as this are often seen as not marketable to the masses, getting the book into the homes of Canadians was not an easy feat.
Author Tiyahna Ridley-Padmore (right) with illustrator Merryl-Royce Ndema-Moussa
“Initially, we reached out to eight different publishers and only one of them got back to us,” says Ridley-Padmore. And even then, they were asked to make revisions that would’ve drastically altered the vision and spirit of Trailblazers. Disenchanted with the publishing industry, the pair turned to Kickstarter.
Launched amid a summer when discussions about anti-Black racism in Canada reached a new fever pitch, the Trailblazers Kickstarter campaign could not have been better timed. “Following the murder of George Floyd and the conversations that have been sparked since then, I think a lot of people were awakened and started recognizing some of the gaps in their knowledge around race and racism in a Canadian context,” explains Ridley-Padmore.
With a desire for increased diversity in the telling of Canadian history, the community rallied around Trailblazers. Within 10 hours, the campaign surpassed its goal of $10,000 and raised a total of over $47,400 in donations. “Turning to the community and being able to raise money to do it ourselves was a really empowering and affirming process,” says Ridley-Padmore.
Albert Jackson is thought to be the first Black letter carrier in Canada
With a band of supporters and the funds to self-publish, Ridley-Padmore was able to find an equitable and supportive publishing partnership with Indigo Press which has brought Trailblazers to Indigo store shelves.
Unlike any other children’s book currently available in a big box bookstore, Trailblazers could very well be a young person’s first experience with a depiction of Canadian history that’s rooted in inclusivity. As such, Ridley-Padmore aspires for her book to expand mainstream conceptualizations of Canada’s Black history, but also to inspire a new generation of leaders. “I hope there’s a sense of inspiration, awakening and unrest and that it’ll inspire more young people – people of all ages, really – to leverage their skills and interests and blaze their own trails.”
For young people looking to make a positive change, Ridley-Padmore has included a guide on how to do just that in each copy of Trailblazers. It provides readers with the foundational steps to becoming a changemaker and outlines “how to leverage the learnings and examples from the Black trailblazers featured in the book.” In an effort to further extend this conversation, Ridley-Padmore is working to develop a workshop on becoming a trailblazer that can be offered to students.
“I think there’s a real opportunity right now when we’re talking about this upcoming generation where, for a lot of them, their first learning experiences of Canadian history can be rooted in a more inclusive and holistic approach,” says Ridley-Padmore. “And so maybe they won’t have to do the same learning and unlearning that I had to do.”
Ontario lockdown successful in disrupting transmission of virus by shifting contact patterns
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CDC image of the Coronavirus
Do COVID-19 interventions, such as lockdowns, physical distancing and business closures, actually work? York University researchers conducted a model-based analysis that found Ontario government measures had a substantial and positive effect on mitigating virus transmission.
York University Distinguished Research Professor Jianhong Wu Faculty of Science. Photograph by Paola Scattolon
Faculty of Science Professor Jianhong Wu, corresponding author of the study, and his team found interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 reduced people’s social contact rate and altered who they were in contact with, which changed the contact mixing patterns. For example, more people were at home and that disrupted the contacts they otherwise would have had in their workplace and in the community.
Individual contacts decreased from about 12 a day to just under seven a day, while household contacts increased by 51 per cent, from before the lockdown in Ontario until it ended on May 16.
The researchers developed and utilized a novel methodology that looked at variables such as age and setting – workplace, household, school and community – to better understand transmission rates and contact mixing patterns, and the effectiveness of measures on the spread of COVID-19.
“These assessments are essential to avoid increases in transmission in vulnerable populations and to plan a smart relaxation of measures that will still protect these populations and inform expected outcomes. One of these may be a reintroduction of measures, but more targeted and informed by its induced shift of contacts, in the case of a resurgence,” says Wu, director of the Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics at York.
They found that timely and stringent non-pharmacological interventions are effective in curbing the spread of the outbreak if they are enforced until the transmission has been significantly reduced.
Wu and his team estimate there was a 46 per cent decrease in contact rate after Ontario implemented a series of interventions as contacts shifted to the household.
They also found that susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 increases with age and those 17 years old and younger have relatively low susceptibility to infection, less than three per cent. Seniors, already more vulnerable, however, are the most susceptible with a more than 50 per cent chance of becoming infected upon contact with the virus.
The four key periods the researchers used provided an escalation of measures from international travel advisories until March 13, public school closures, a state of emergency declaration and physical distancing advisories, and the closure of non-essential workplaces from March 24 to May 16.
The team’s methodology can be adopted in many regions around the world and could yield insights of the transmission risk and the effectiveness of different age- and setting-specific measures in workplaces, schools, the community and households.
“Estimates of age and setting-specific social contact patterns, along with age-specific susceptibility, allows governments to explore different scenarios when considering a staged reopening of the economy,” says Micheletti Alessandra, guest editor of the special COVID-19 issue of the Journal of Mathematics in Industry and a professor at Università degli Studi di Milano Statale. “It provides retroactive evaluation and proactive assessment of the effectiveness of measures.”
The framework can also be used for rotating workforce strategies and to help identify optimal distribution strategies by age should a viable vaccine be available.
Announcement of the appointment of the Principal, Glendon Campus
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Glendon Campus
The following is a message to the community from York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. The message was issued on Dec. 1:
I am delighted to announce that the search for Principal of Glendon Campus has reached a successful conclusion.
As you may recall, earlier this year I reconstituted a search committee comprised of members of Glendon Campus — including faculty, staff and students, as well as a member appointed by me — which was chaired by the Provost and Vice-President Academic and charged with undertaking a search for the next Principal. This is an important time in Glendon’s development as it evaluates academic programs and delivery; establishes strategies to attract and retain outstanding students, faculty and staff; and looks to promote its research activity and increase its profile.
Marco Fiola, photograph by Jenna Marie Wakani
Following an extensive national and international search, which attracted a number of outstanding candidates, the search committee recommended the appointment of Professor Marco Fiola to the position of Principal. I am very pleased to announce that Professor Fiola has accepted our invitation to take up a 5.5-year term as Principal, commencing January 1, 2021. On my recommendation, today the Board of Governors concurred with the recommendation for the appointment.
Professor Fiola will bring dynamic academic leadership and development experience to the position of Principal of Glendon Campus. He will join York University from the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Ryerson University, where he held the position of Chair for eight years, during which time he led the unit through tremendous changes and growth.
He is a Full Professor at Ryerson University, an institution he joined in 2006. From 2001 to 2006, he held an appointment at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. Prior to embracing an academic career, Professor Fiola was a Senior Translator for the Government of Yukon, where he worked closely with the Francophone community, in addition to providing advice to the Government of Yukon on issues related to Indigenous language preservation and revitalization.
As Chair of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Ryerson, he was responsible for all aspects of departmental leadership and administration. He led the broadening of the department’s mission, the funding of endowed scholarships and the intensification of research activities. Under his leadership, the department witnessed a three-fold increase in faculty positions and a notable academic programming expansion. He laid the groundwork for the diversification of course and program offerings beyond French and Spanish by enhancing Mandarin and Arabic offerings, developing a course suite in American Sign Language, and successfully reintroducing Latin and Attic Greek.
Throughout his career as a translator, translation studies scholar and academic leader, Professor Fiola has been a strong advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion, specifically through his award-winning research-action work, publications and community work on intercultural and interlinguistic communication. His publications include a Tamil-English Legal Glossary and several chapters on medical and community interpreting. He is a published Italian–French translator, and the coauthor of an English–French translation textbook. He has published and lectured domestically and internationally, including in France, Italy and Spain. In 2017, he served as Academic Convenor for the Congress of the Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences — a gathering of over 10,000 scholars representing some 70 scholarly associations — who met at Ryerson University for the first time.
Professor Fiola holds a BA and an MA in Translation (Université de Montréal) as well as a DEA in Language Sciences and a PhD in Translation Studies (École Supérieure d’Interprètes et de Traducteurs — Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle). He is a Certified Translator and Terminologist (Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario) and a Certified Translator (American Translators Association). In 2019–20, he was awarded both the Ryerson Fellowship at Massey College and the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership in recognition of his work within and outside Ryerson University.
I wish to express my deepest appreciation to Professor Ian Roberge for his outstanding leadership and service as Interim Principal this past year, and his dedication to Glendon and the University. I would also like to thank the members of the Search Committee for the Principal of Glendon Campus for their valued contributions to this important process.
I look forward to welcoming Professor Fiola to York University and to working with him in the coming years as he undertakes this key leadership role. I know that all members of Glendon and the University will join me in congratulating and welcoming him.
Sincerely,
Rhonda L. Lenton, PhD President and Vice-Chancellor
Annonce de la nomination du principal du campus Glendon
J’ai le plaisir de vous annoncer la conclusion heureuse de notre recherche pour pourvoir au poste de principal du campus Glendon.
Comme vous le savez peut-être, afin de recruter le prochain principal, j’ai reconstitué au début de l’année un comité de recrutement composé de membres du campus Glendon — notamment des membres du corps professoral, du personnel et du corps étudiant ainsi qu’un membre que j’ai désigné —, présidé par la rectrice et viceprésidente aux affaires académiques. Cette étape est d’autant plus importante pour l’essor du campus Glendon qu’elle coïncide avec l’évaluation de ses programmes académiques et de leur prestation; l’élaboration de stratégies pour attirer et fidéliser des étudiants, membres du corps professoral et du personnel de calibre élevé; et les efforts déployés pour promouvoir les activités de recherche et rehausser le profil du campus.
Marco Fiola, photographie de Jenna Marie Wakani
À l’issue d’une vaste prospection nationale et internationale qui a attiré d’excellents candidats, le comité de recrutement a recommandé la nomination du professeur Marco Fiola au poste de principal. Je suis ravie de vous apprendre que le professeur Fiola a accepté ce poste pour un mandat de 5 ans et demi commençant le 1er janvier 2021. Sur ma recommandation, le Conseil d’administration a approuvé aujourd’hui cette proposition de nomination.
Ce poste permettra au professeur Fiola de mettre son expérience dynamique en leadership et en développement académique au service de Glendon. Il se joindra à l’Université York après avoir occupé pendant huit ans, à l’Université Ryerson, le poste de directeur du Département de langues, littératures et cultures qui a connu une croissance et des changements considérables durant cette période.
Professeur titulaire de l’Université Ryerson, Marco Fiola a occupé de 2001 à 2006 un poste à l’Université du Québec en Outaouais. Avant de faire carrière dans le monde universitaire, le professeur Fiola a été traducteur en chef pour le gouvernement du Yukon. À ce titre, il a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec la communauté francophone et a conseillé le gouvernement du Yukon sur des questions relatives à la préservation et à la revitalisation des langues autochtones.
En tant que directeur du Département de langues, littératures et cultures de l’Université Ryerson, le professeur Fiola était responsable des divers aspects du leadership et de l’administration du département. Il a mené à bien la diversification de la mission départementale, le financement de bourses de dotation et l’intensification des activités de recherche. Sous sa direction, le nombre de postes d’enseignants dans le département a triplé et les programmes académiques se sont multipliés. Il a posé les jalons de la diversification des cours et programmes s’ajoutant au français et à l’espagnol en rehaussant l’offre de cours de mandarin et d’arabe, en développant un ensemble de cours de langue des signes (ASL) et en réintroduisant le latin et le grec attique.
Tout au long de sa carrière de traducteur, de chercheur en traductologie et de dirigeant universitaire, le professeur Fiola a été un ardent défenseur de l’équité, de la diversité et de l’inclusion, notamment par ses travaux primés de recherche-action, ses publications et ses travaux communautaires sur la communication interculturelle et interlinguistique. Ses publications comprennent un lexique juridique bilingue anglais-tamil et plusieurs chapitres sur l’interprétation médicale et communautaire. Il est également un traducteur italien-français publié et le co-auteur d’un manuel de traduction anglais-français. Il a publié des travaux et donné des conférences au niveau national et international, notamment en France, en Italie et en Espagne. En 2017, il a été le responsable académique du Congrès des sciences humaines — un rassemblement de plus de 10 000 universitaires représentant quelque 70 sociétés savantes — qui se réunissait pour la première fois à l’Université Ryerson.
Le professeur Fiola détient un baccalauréat et une maîtrise en traduction (de l’Université de Montréal) ainsi qu’un DEA en sciences du langage et un doctorat en traductologie (de l’École Supérieure d’Interprètes et de Traducteurs — Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3). Traducteur et terminologue agréé de l’Association des traducteurs et interprètes de l’Ontario (ATIO) et traducteur agréé de l’American Translators Association, il a obtenu en 2019-2020 la bourse de recherche de Ryerson au Massey College et le prix Errol Aspevig pour son leadership universitaire, en reconnaissance de son travail à l’Université Ryerson et au-delà.
Je tiens à exprimer toute ma gratitude au professeur Ian Roberge pour son leadership exceptionnel dans son rôle de principal par intérim cette dernière année, ainsi que pour son dévouement envers Glendon et l’Université. J’aimerais également remercier les membres du comité de recrutement du principal de Glendon pour leur contribution précieuse à ce processus important.
Je me réjouis d’accueillir le professeur Fiola à l’Université York et de collaborer avec lui durant les années à venir dans le cadre de ce rôle de leadership clé. Je suis certaine que tous les membres de Glendon et de l’Université se joindront à moi pour le féliciter et lui souhaiter la bienvenue.
Veuillez agréer mes sincères salutations,
Rhonda L. Lenton, Ph. D. Présidente et vice-chancelière
York partners in international collaboration focused on controlling COVID-19 in Africa
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An image of the COVID-19 virus. Image: CDC
Researchers from York University are joining with organizations across Africa to predict the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide modelling that will help national policymakers from across Africa manage the virus in real time.
The project, “Predictive modeling and forecasting of the transmission of COVID-19 in Africa using Artificial Intelligence,” will receive more than $1.2 million in funding from the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC). It is one of nine projects selected for funding through the Global South AI4COVID Response Program, focused on low and middle-income countries.
“This timely collaboration brings together York’s research strengths in disease modelling, global health, artificial intelligence and emergency management, with African AI and modelling expertise. It will allow our researchers to access the practical skills, perspectives and sensitivity that only local organizations can provide, enhancing outcomes and creating positive change in local communities,” said Rhonda Lenton, president and vice-chancellor of York. “York looks forward to working with colleagues across Africa to contribute to the global effort to contain the devastating effects of the pandemic.”
Jude Kong
Jude Kong, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science, and a member of the National COVID-19 Modelling Rapid Response Task Force at York, will lead an interdisciplinary team of more than 50 researchers from key academic and government institutions in nine African countries and Canada.
“Working with organizations in Africa, we will develop models and simulations of COVID-19 that are relevant to specific cities and the areas adjacent to them,” said Kong. “This will give municipal and national health authorities and policy-makers from across Africa the practical tools they need to suppress subsequent waves of infections or mitigate their impact. It will enable us to look at the effectiveness of public health interventions to determine if a particular intervention is appropriate, equitable, feasible and cost-efficient.”
The project will also examine ways to address the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 prevention and treatment.
Professors from three faculties and four major research centres and laboratories at York will contribute their expertise to the project. In addition to Kong, the principal investigator, key York participants include:
Distinguished Research Professor and Canada Research Chair Jianhong Wu, Faculty of Science, director of the Fields Laboratory of Mathematics for Public Health, leader of the National COVID-19 Modeling Rapid Response Task Force.
In conjunction with the project, the Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Public Health Data Modelling Consortium has been established and will be co-chaired by Wu, of York University, and Professor Bruce Mellado of University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. The Consortium will collaborate on the project, building on an existing South Africa-led COVID-19 dashboard developed by Mellado’s research team and transmission models and simulation technologies that have been developed both at York University and University of the Witwatersrand and widely adopted by government agencies and international organizations. By engaging with urban communities and communities just outside urban communities, the project will examine the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on marginalized populations such as women, rural communities, informal workers and others.
The 2020-2025 Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMA3) now finalized by Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities
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Keele Campus entrance
La version française suit la version anglaise.
The 2020-2025 Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMA3) between Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities and the province’s universities have been finalized. The SMA3 is a key component of the Ontario government’s accountability framework that identifies:
Government’s objectives and priorities for the post-secondary system;
New performance-based funding mechanism for the SMA3 time period;
Performance targets for 10 metrics that will be assessed annually;
Enrolment corridor midpoint that provides enrolment-based funding.
Finalization of all SMA3 documents was delayed from March 2020 due to COVID-19. Throughout the summer York University along with the Council of Ontario Universities engaged in advocacy work with MCU to ensure a commitment to stability for the sector was achieved and on-going engagement with the sector would occur to assess the impact of COVID-19 on universities and their ability to fulfill the commitments made in the SMA3.
The following are some highlights of what MCU and the universities agreed upon to achieve greater funding stability:
Performance metrics will be tracked but will not impact funding for 2020-21 and 2021-22
Commitment to consider revised methodologies for assessing performance given COVID impacts.
More opportunities for the University to change weights assigned to the 10 performance metrics
Confirmation of enrolment corridor funding
In addition, all SMA3 documents include a general statement about the uncertainty of COVID-19 impacts on institutions and provide for some flexibility in the annual evaluation process that assesses performance. Each university was also permitted to explain briefly how COVID-19 is impacting them, in the Institutional Profile section of the document.
In 2019-20 Provost & Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps led consultations with the York community supported by principles for the development and implementation of SMA3. These principles recognized the need to advance York’s University Academic Plan in the SMA3 context, and to maximize provincial funding in order to support the full breadth of important activities and programming across York’s campuses.
Thank you to all members of the York community who participated in the SMA3 consultation process and who provided input through the document development process last fall and spring.
To read the document and for more information click here.
Le ministère des Collèges et Universités de l’Ontario finalise actuellement les Ententes de mandat stratégiques (EMS 3) 2020-2025
Les Ententes de mandat stratégique (EMS3) 2020-2023 entre le ministère des Collèges et Universités (MCU) de l’Ontario et les universités de la province ont été finalisées. L’EMS3 est un élément clé du cadre de responsabilité du gouvernement de l’Ontario qui définit :
Les objectifs et les priorités du gouvernement de l’Ontario pour le système postsecondaire;
Le nouveau mécanisme de financement fondé sur le rendement pour la durée de l’EMS3;
Les cibles de performance pour 10 mesures qui seront évaluées annuellement;
L’effectif de base sur lequel repose le financement relatif à l’effectif.
La finalisation de tous les documents de l’EMS3 qui était prévue en mars 2020 a été retardée en raison de la COVID-19. Tout au long de l’été, l’Université York et le Conseil des universités de l’Ontario se sont engagés dans un travail de plaidoyer avec le MCU afin d’atteindre un engagement de stabilité pour le secteur et un engagement continu avec le secteur pour évaluer l’impact de la COVID-19 sur les universités et leur capacité à remplir les engagements pris dans l’EMS3. Voici quelques points saillants sur lesquels le MCU et les universités se sont entendus pour parvenir à une plus grande stabilité de financement :
Les mesures de performance seront enregistrées, mais n’auront pas d’incidence sur le financement pour les années 2020-21 et 2021-22;
Engagement pris d’envisager des méthodologies révisées pour l’évaluation des performances compte tenu des impacts de la COVID-19;
Plus grande possibilité pour l’Université de modifier les pondérations attribuées aux 10 mesures de performance;
Confirmation du financement en fonction du système de couloirs différentiels.
De plus, tous les documents de l’EMS3 comprennent une déclaration générale au sujet des incertitudes liées aux répercussions de la COVID-19 sur les établissements et prévoient une certaine souplesse dans le processus annuel d’évaluation de la performance. Chaque université a également pu expliquer brièvement les répercussions de la COVID-19 sur son établissement dans la section « Profil de l’établissement » du document.
En 2019-20, la rectrice et vice-présidente aux affaires académiques, Lisa Philipps, a mené des consultations avec la communauté de York fondées sur des principes pour le développement et la mise en œuvre de l’EMS3. Ces principes ont reconnu la nécessité de faire évoluer le plan académique de l’Université York dans le contexte de l’EMS3, et de maximiser notre financement provincial afin d’appuyer l’ensemble des activités et des programmes importants sur nos campus.
Merci à tous les membres de la communauté de York qui ont participé au processus de consultation de l’EMS3 et qui ont apporté leur contribution tout au long de l’élaboration du document à l’automne et au printemps.
Pour lire le document et pour plus d’information, cliquez ici.
