Virtual Town Hall for students provides updates on 2021-22 plans

webinar computer

York University Vice-Provost, Students Lucy Fromowitz and a panel of York University’s senior leaders hosted a virtual Town Hall for all students on April 14 to provide an update on University-wide plans for 2021-22.

Lucy Fromowitz
Lucy Fromowitz

The Town Hall was an opportunity for students to ask questions, in advance or live during the event, about the University’s evolving response to COVID-19 on topics such as: plans for online and in-person learning for the Summer 2021 and the upcoming academic year; updates and information for international and graduate students; and overall health and safety information.

President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton, and Provost & Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps joined the panel to answer student queries about the University’s plan for a safe return to campus sometime in the Fall (an exact return date has not yet been set) and addressed the overall COVID-19 health and safety procedures York is implementing ahead of the Summer 2021 and Fall/Winter 2021-22 sessions. Senior leadership applauded York Facilities Services for their hard work and continued dedication in ensuring the campus has and will remain safe for students, staff and Faculty.

University Registrar Darran Fernandez and Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice-President Thomas Loebel addressed undergraduate and graduate student questions regarding in-person learning opportunities for the Summer 2021 session and how students can apply for various scholarships and bursaries to assist them with funding their studies.

Executive Director, York International, Vinitha Gengatharan, addressed many questions pertaining to international students on topics surrounding study permits, post-graduate work permits, and the COVID-19 quarantine plan for incoming international students.

The panel was moderated by Manager of Student Life, Office of Student Community & Leadership Development Jair Kallidumbil.

The full video of the town hall is now available and can be viewed at https://vp.students.yorku.ca/town-hall.

Virtual town hall provides update on 2021-22 University budget

Vari Hall Winter Scene

President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton and York University’s senior leadership team hosted a consultation on the 2021-22 University budget at a virtual town hall held Feb. 8.

The town hall presented an overview of the University’s current financial framework and discussed the opportunities and challenges York faces in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and planning for the next academic year. Members of the community were invited to ask questions – in pre-submitted and live formats – on budget priorities and other concerns.

Joining Lenton were Provost & Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps, Vice-President Finance & Administration Carol McAulay, Vice-President Advancement Jeff O’Hagan, Vice-President Research & Innovation Amir Asif and Vice-Provost Students Lucy Fromowitz.

The full video of the town hall on the 2021-22 University budget is now available and can be viewed at: https://conversations.info.yorku.ca/past-town-hall-webcasts/.

York continues digital transformation with new electronic platform for student documents

Woman laptop computer FEATURED

York University has joined the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) national network as an early adopter for delivering student documents to them electronically through a secure, centralized source. The national network, ARUCC MyCreds™ | MesCertifMC, will enable students to access certain documents through a centralized source and share documents with other institutions globally.

The MyCreds™ platform will help support the University Academic Plan’s sustainable development goals, streamline administrative processes, improve turnaround time to students, help to eliminate credential fraud, enhance student experience with password-protected digital solutions and improve efficiencies with one single repository.

MyCreds™ | MesCertifMC, will enable students to access certain documents through a centralized source and share documents with other institutions globally

Along with other projects – including the Student Systems Renewal Program (SSRP), a new Curriculum Management System and the implementation of SAVY, York’s student virtual assistant – the University is transforming the digital experience for its community.

Staff in the Office of the University Registrar, Faculties and other student service units across both campuses will benefit from a streamlined process that increases speed and accuracy of processing documents and allows service staff to enhance service levels to meet student expectations. Since documents managed through MyCreds™ are certified authentic, the risk of document fraud will be reduced and trust in authenticity increased.

Darran Fernandez
Darran Fernandez

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a number of areas for us to modernize our services to meet student needs. Our partnership with ARUCC | MyCreds™ is a big step in that direction by empowering our learners – both past and present – to use and share their academic records when and how they want through a secure digital national network with global connections,” said York University Registrar Darran Fernandez. “Through this initiative, we are using digital technology to support our students and to help them achieve success – an important commitment that is central to our University Academic Plan.”

Beginning this month, York students will gain secure digital access to graduation confirmation and enrollment verification letters, which will be followed by digital access to diplomas in March and the ability to request and digitally share transcripts in May. Future planned development will include availability of badges and microcredentialing for students.

Call for nominations: Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award

Students watching a professor speaking

Do you know an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student who has made significant contributions to the York community? Why not nominate that student for a Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award?

The Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award recognizes students whose leadership has contributed to the growth, development and vitality of York University. Established in 2012, this award is named after Robert J. Tiffin, who served as York University’s vice-president, students for nine years during his tenure. Through his strong leadership, dedication and integrity, Tiffin transformed his operation into one of the most professional student service organizations in the country, serving one of Canada’s largest student populations.

“The focus is on trying to identify and recognize those students who have taken leadership roles in the community,” Tiffin said. “The skills that students develop in the classroom … are enhanced through their participation outside of the classroom, by contributing to the community. A lot of the competencies that we look for, like leadership, are really honed by becoming involved and becoming engaged in providing support for fellow students.”

All members of the University community (students, faculty, staff and alumni) are encouraged to submit nominations for this award. Nominees must be currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate students who exhibit leadership, dedication, integrity, enthusiasm and the pursuit of excellence through their endeavours. Selection will be based on leadership and/or involvement in the York community and outstanding academic achievement. Recipients will be honoured at a virtual award reception and have their name added to the awards display in the Vari Hall Rotunda. They will also receive a certificate and have the award noted on their transcript.

Nomination packages must include:

  • a letter of recommendation from a primary nominator (maximum of 500 words);
  • a statement of support from a secondary nominator representing one nominating constituency (York University students, staff, faculty or alumni) not represented by the primary nominator (maximum of 350 words);
  • a candidate statement that describes how co-curricular involvement at York University has affected their university experience and helped to enhance the quality of life on campus (maximum of 500 words; include the student number at the top of the page); and
  • a current resume/CV, including detailed descriptions of involvement at the University.

The nomination package deadline is Friday, March 5. Submissions must be completed online by clicking here.

For any questions related to the Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award, email the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students at vpstudents@yorku.ca or visit the website for more information about the award here.

Town Hall offers update on academics, work life and York’s positive contributions through COVID-19

Vari Hall new image
Vari Hall new image

During a Virtual Town hall event held on Oct. 21, York’s senior leadership team shared details on the University’s direction as it continues to evolve to meet pandemic safety guidelines.

The event offered York community members an opportunity to ask questions – in pre-submitted and live formats – and learn more about the University’s plans and initiatives. In attendance were President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton, Provost & Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps, Vice-President Finance & Administration Carol McAulay, Vice-President Advancement Jeff O’Hagan, Vice-President Research & Innovation Amir Asif, and University Registrar Darran Fernandez.

Rhonda L. Lenton
Rhonda L. Lenton

Lenton opened with a land acknowledgement, and a reminder that some of the University’s facilities – indoor gyms and indoor seated spaces for dining – have been temporarily shuttered to meet updated COVID-19 public health measures announced by the province two weeks ago.

Looking forward to winter term, Lenton said the University will continue to operate with the same plan as fall with the majority of courses offered remotely. Senior leadership, she said, is now in the beginning stages of planning for the 2021-2022 academic year.

“We expect that for fall of 2021 we will be able to move largely back to in-person instruction; however, it’s a volatile situation and there is still some level of uncertainty,” she said, adding that the decision rests largely on guidance from Toronto Public Health as well as the development of, and access to, a vaccine for COVID-19.

Reflecting on the last six months, Lenton noted the University’s highlights including the conclusion of the University’s 10-year plan, the completion of the University Academic Plan (UAP) 2015-2020 and the work on a new five-year UAP that will take the University to 2025. She encouraged the community to read the annual President’s Report, which recognizes institutional accomplishments and positive change led by the University over the 2019-2020 academic year.

The floor opened to questions from the community and kicked off with a query on how students studying from abroad will continue to participate in the winter semester. Lenton offered assurance that winter would continue in the same manner as fall. The 150 courses requiring an in-person component will reflect that requirement in the course notes.

It was also noted that while York is now permitted to welcome international students to campus, domestic students will have to wait for travel abroad for educational opportunities. However, Fernandez pointed out there are opportunities with an international focus available through York’s Globally Networked Learning programs.

Lisa Philipps

Students also voiced concern with lectures being posted too late, lectures running past the allotted time frame, and the lack of focused group work. Philipps said while the University acknowledges the impressive efforts by faculty to pivot to online instruction, she recognizes there is still room for improvement and would ensure these concerns are forwarded to the deans.

While the learning experience may not be the same, Lenton said “our colleagues are ensuring students still have the same student learning outcomes” and that “there’s a continual improvement as we go along.” Lenton further noted the senior leadership team aims to soon host a virtual town hall specifically for students.

One student asked about the development of scholarship fund supporting Black students. O’Hagan said there have been new donations specifically earmarked to support Black students, and Lenton said work has begun on developing an action plan.

Staff inquired about what work-from-home policies York may consider in a post-pandemic scenario. Lenton acknowledged the need to consider flexible work arrangements and said the University plans to continue discussions with management and unions on how to move forward. Other staff were curious to know if staff, like faculty, would be offered early retirement incentives. McAulay said there have been discussions on developing a program, and conversations would continue.

Concerns about potential staff layoffs were addressed as well. Lenton said the University’s approach has been to talk with unions and managers, and to try to get input from colleagues about challenges they face and to try to be responsive to those issues.

Many questions were specifically related to the pandemic and outlined concerns with ventilation on campus and with individuals not complying with the University’s mask and face covering protocol. McAulay said the University has implemented measures to improve ventilation on campus, including overriding settings to bring in more fresh air, filtration material being upgraded to a higher quality filter and air filters changes with increased frequency. (For more details on initiatives undertaken to ensure clean air in buildings at York, visit facilities.info.yorku.ca/maintenance). As for the face coverings, Lenton said she would take concerns to the University’s Emergency Operations Committee and look to them for guidance on how to follow up on complaints of non-compliance.

One community member asked senior leadership to describe what role York University has played in helping the community during the pandemic. Philipps pointed to the five faculty members recognized with provincial awards for their COVID-19 research.

Asif described several of the research projects undertaken by York’s researchers, including statistical modelling that is now used by the province to predict emerging trends, and also recounted York’s contributions of PPE, chemicals and other equipment to the province.

“York University has also awarded $300,000 in research grants to advance 20 new research projects ranging from the impact of COVID-19 on child protection investigations, to how textiles and non-woven materials could be modified to boost protection offered by cloth-based personal protective equipment (PPE), virus through microdroplets and potential implications for ventilation system design, as well as the role that variations in the genomic sequences of the virus play in infection and disease,” Asif added.

Commenting on the University’s new brand, one individual asked how the York community shows compelling evidence that York is a community of changemakers and produces graduates who are changemakers.

Lenton highlighted the recent Times Higher Education (THE) rankings, that placed York University 33rd out of 767 competing Universities when measured against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new, upcoming interactive UAP website, said Philipps, will also catalogue stories of positive change led by York, similar to the YU Better Together website developed to highlight York’s positive contributions during the pandemic. O’Hagan pointed to the Alumni and Friends page, where there are stories that showcase alumni contributions to creating positive change.

In closing, Lenton thanked community members for their questions, and noted that senior leadership would aim to answer any questions not addressed during the town hall.

To watch the recorded version of this Virtual Town Hall, visit conversations.info.yorku.ca/first-page/webcast.

Call for nominations: Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award

Students at York University
Featured image

Do you know an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student who has made significant contributions to the York community? Why not nominate that student for a Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award?

The Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award recognizes students whose leadership has contributed to the growth, development and vitality of York University. Established in 2012, this award is named after Robert J. Tiffin, who served as York University’s vice-president, students for nine years during his tenure. Through his strong leadership, dedication and integrity, Tiffin transformed his operation into one of the most professional student service organizations in the country, serving one of Canada’s largest student populations.

“The focus is on trying to identify and recognize those students who have taken leadership roles in the community,” Tiffin said. “The skills that students develop in the classroom … are enhanced through their participation outside of the classroom, by contributing to the community. A lot of the competencies that we look for, like leadership, are really honed by becoming involved and becoming engaged in providing support for fellow students.”

All members of the University community (students, faculty, staff and alumni) are encouraged to submit nominations for this award. Nominees must be currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate students who exhibit leadership, dedication, integrity, enthusiasm and the pursuit of excellence through their endeavours. Selection will be based on leadership and/or involvement in the York community and outstanding academic achievement. Recipients will be honoured at an award reception and have their name added to the awards display in the Vari Hall Rotunda. They will also receive a certificate and have the award noted on their transcript.

Nomination packages must include:

  • a letter of recommendation from a primary nominator (maximum of 500 words);
  • a statement of support from a secondary nominator representing one nominating constituency (York University students, staff, faculty or alumni) not represented by the primary nominator (maximum of 350 words);
  • a candidate statement that describes how co-curricular involvement at York University has affected their university experience and helped to enhance the quality of life on campus (maximum of 500 words; include the student number at the top of the page); and
  • a current resumé/CV, including detailed descriptions of involvement at the University.

The nomination package deadline is Friday, Feb. 28. Submissions must be completed online by clicking here.

For any questions related to the Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award, please email the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students at vpstudents@yorku.ca or visit the website for more information about the award here.

Nominations open for the Robert Tiffin Student Leadership Awards

Vari Hall from the exterior
Vari Hall

Do you know an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student who has made significant contributions to the York community? Consider nominating him/her for the prestigious Robert Tiffin Student Leadership Award.

The Robert Tiffin Student Leadership Awards recognize students whose leadership has contributed to the growth, development and vitality of York University. Established in 2012, these awards are named after Robert Tiffin, who served as York University’s vice-president, Students for nine years. Through his strong leadership, dedication and integrity, Tiffin transformed his operation into one of the most professional student service organizations in the country, serving one of Canada’s largest student populations.

“The focus is on trying to identify and recognize those students who have taken leadership roles in the community,” Tiffin said. “The skills that students develop in the classroom … are enhanced through their participation outside of the classroom, by contributing to the community. A lot of the competencies that we look for, like leadership, are really honed by becoming involved and becoming engaged in providing support for fellow students.”

All members of the University community (students, faculty, staff and alumni) are encouraged to submit nominations for these awards. Nominees must be currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate students who exhibit leadership, dedication, integrity, enthusiasm and the pursuit of excellence through their endeavours. Selection will be based on leadership and/or involvement in the York community and outstanding academic achievement. Recipients will be honoured at an awards reception on April 27 and have their names added to the awards display in the Vari Hall Rotunda. They will also receive a certificate and have the award noted on their transcript.

Nomination packages must include:

  • a letter of recommendation from a primary nominator (max. 500 words);
  • a statement of support from a secondary nominator representing one nominating constituency (York University students, staff, faculty or alumni) not represented by the primary nominator (max. 350 words);
  • a candidate statement that describes how co-curricular involvement at York University has affected their university experience, and helped to enhance the quality of life on campus (max. 500 words); and,
  • a current resume/CV, including detailed descriptions of involvement at the University.

The nomination deadline is Friday, March 17.

Packages can be submitted by email to Rheza Evangelista, executive assistant in the Office of the Vice Provost Students, at rhezae@yorku.ca. If you have questions, call 416-736-2100 x70705.

Sexual Violence Policy Working Group issues draft policy

Vari Hall with students walking through it

Robert Castle, chair of the Sexual Violence Policy Working Group, has issued the following message, on behalf of the working group, to the University community:

The Sexual Violence Policy Working Group has continued to develop the draft Sexual Violence Policy since communicating with the York community on November 21st. Throughout November, representatives of the working group held direct consultations with 35 campus groups, including two public consultations – one at Keele and  one at Glendon, representing over 60 hours of consultations.  We have incorporated many of our community’s suggestions and recommendations into our current draft policy, which we are pleased to share with you. It is our hope that you will take the time to read the draft policy and provide feedback by December 9, 2016. The draft policy may be viewed here.

There are two modes are available for you to provide feedback on this important issue. First, for those who would like to make a confidential submission, you can do so by going to one of the following links:

For English: http://tinyurl.com/grqe7a3         For French: http://tinyurl.com/zg6ls68

For those who would like to engage directly with members of the Working Group, we will be hosting a drop-in consultation on Wednesday, December 7, 2016, between 1 and 5pm in Founders College Senior Common Room,305 Founders College.  ASL interpreters will be available throughout the afternoon.

While the working group is widely representative of the community, with over 20 members, half of whom represent student organizations, it is still important that as many people as possible take the chance to voice their comments, questions, and suggestions. Your recommendations and comments will help form the final draft of the policy which will be presented to the Board of Governors for approval in two weeks. In January 2017, the formal release of York’s new Sexual Violence Policy will be accompanied by a number of key commitments to ensure effective implementation of the policy.

To ensure we meet community expectations shared during our consultations, a key commitment the University is making today concerns the Sexual Violence Response Office, which is currently a part of Office for Student Community Relations (OSCR). Over the next several months the University will be transitioning the response office to a stand-alone office, with increased staff to meet the needs of our community. While the response office will maintain operational connections with OSCR, it will have its own location and governance structure.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Students are reminded to be careful about the information they share with others

External organizations and individuals visit York University’s campuses regularly to promote services and opportunities. However, students may sometimes encounter people or groups that misrepresent themselves or their intentions.

It has recently come to the University’s attention that a group promoting “Business Internship Opportunity for Summer 2017” is distributing sign-up sheets in classrooms across campus. This is not a University-sanctioned activity.

Students are reminded to be careful with the information they provide to third parties: when in doubt, don’t do it.

Rest assured that official York clubs are bound to the York Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities, which includes keeping personal information safe and secure.

For questions or to report something suspicious, contact the University’s Security Services.

 

International Women’s Day: A personal perspective from Janet Morrison, York’s vice-provost students

Janet Morrison, vice-provost students at York University
Janet Morrison
Janet Morrison
Janet Morrison

In this reflection penned for the Toronto Star newspaper as part of its coverage of International Women’s Day, York University’s Vice-Provost Students Janet Morrison examines the lengthy dialogue surrounding sexual assault on college and university campuses.

For over 30 years, I have been proud to learn and lead within college and university communities committed to social justice, equity and respect. This is particularly true today: International Women’s Day. Canadian campuses are home to thousands of impressive female students who now comprise a significant majority of post-secondary enrolments in this country, a stark change from 1971, when 68 per cent of graduates were male. The percentage of female faculty members has also markedly increased since the 1970s. Many of these are eminent feminist scholars who lead projects on wage parity, political engagement, gender identity, body autonomy, and sexual violence. Women are learning, teaching, doing ground-breaking research, and engaging in community service activities on postsecondary campuses across this country. Their social, economic, cultural and political contributions matter; individually and collectively, they are fueling the charge towards gender parity on, and off campus.

Notwithstanding the postsecondary sector’s undeniable contributions to feminism, however, colleges and university campuses have been labelled unsafe. Specifically and most recently, leaders like me have been criticized for not doing enough to prevent sexual violence; for not adequately supporting survivors of sexual violence; and for not holding alleged perpetrators of sexual violence accountable for their behavior. Having invested my entire professional life in the work of fostering human development and student success, this is painful to hear. Personal safety, security and overall wellbeing are foundational to learning. Even one incident of sexual violence on a campus is one too many. The individual and communal impacts can be incalculable. I know because I’ve been a first responder and a primary supporter for too many survivors over my 25 year career as a student services professional. Experience underpins my unwavering commitment to preventing and addressing sexual violence in all its forms: sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, indecent exposure, voyeurism, and/or sexual exploitation. Before and since the latest public call for systematic improvements and increased accountability, stakeholders (students, faculty, and staff) on campuses across the province have worked collegially to draft sound policy, put survivors more squarely at the center of response protocols, and revisit adjudication processes. Perhaps most importantly, we have worked to improve communications so that survivors can make informed decisions that support personal recovery. Every school I have worked at, for example, facilitates academic accommodations, personal counselling, and referrals to community agencies, temporary housing, emergency financial support, and safety planning. We need to be explicit about the help that is available and provide road maps for access. We are listening, learning, and building on existing strengths.

And yet, I am worried that our momentum will stall or that we will self-sabotage by alienating key partners. I also fear that our haste to respond will inadvertently undermine our commitment to being survivor centric

Let me start by saying that we have been talking about this for far too long. In the late 1980s when I was enrolled as an undergraduate at Western University, my sense of self and security was shattered on December 6, 1989 when Marc Lepine shot 28 people and massacred 14 women at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. Five months later, an engineering student at Western – Lynda Shaw – was sexually assaulted and murdered at a fast food outlet on Hwy 401. I knew her. I had stopped at that very rest stop dozens of times. Like so many of my privileged peers, I was profoundly and personally impacted by those two atrocities. Our grieving drove us to organize, establish peer networks, and lobby campus administrators. We advocated for education and awareness campaigns, orientation programming, accountability for perpetrators, and survivor-centric supports.

The caution I am sounding is that we have been here before. And yet, the goal is unrealized: the number of students on Ontario campuses who experience sexual violence is still unfathomable. And if they choose to file a formal report, they are often susceptible to having their character and integrity challenged. In this and other regards, universities are a microcosm of broader society wherein violence is glorified and survivors are too often re-traumatized. Most of our students are products of an Ontario secondary school curriculum that – before the recent changes – largely ignored the issue of consent. The magnitude of this challenge is overwhelming. To drive real, sustainable change we must collaborate, demonstrate respect, and ensure that a diversity of voices and lived experiences are heard and acknowledged.

I was at the Premier’s Summit on Sexual Violence in January when a young leader proudly proclaimed that students had been fighting for 30 years to end sexual violence on campuses. Given that most of the students present were not alive in 1986, I took this to be an affirmation of the work that my colleagues and I have done over decades as students, faculty and staff. This message was quickly followed, however, by venomous references to university administrators being singularly focused on revenue generation and reputation. Hurt and insulted, I contemplated pushing myself away from the table. In the end, I concluded that this would be disadvantageous to the cause because my commitment to the issue goes far beyond my professional role as the Vice-Provost, Students at York University.

In the second year of a doctoral program at Bowling Green State University, I started noticing that a man was following me. I would see him outside my classroom, at the gym, and then – over time – outside the window of my apartment. A careful accounting of when and where I saw him provided the impetus for him to plead guilty to Menacing by Stalking; a crime for which he was sentenced to two years in jail.

The path to that outcome – all too rare in instances of sexual violence – was incredibly difficult. For months, I lived in fear and had panic attacks. I am still easily startled and get anxious when my partner travels for work. As is typical, my academic performance, physical health and mental wellbeing suffered. I spent a lot of time questioning what I had done to elicit the criminal attention, and started doubting my personal choices. I felt particularly guilty that my entire family put their lives on hold so they could support me through protection orders, the University’s judicial processes, and a criminal trial. To be clear, I survived being stalked by a man with a violent criminal history because of my parents, my brothers and a few close friends. Key leaders on the campus did their best to help, but there were gaps in policy and support programming that left me vulnerable and undermined my autonomy. Campus Security, for example, decided at some point to move me onto campus so they could better ensure my personal safety. Unfortunately, the only student housing available was a first-year residence dormitory, filled with people 10+ years my junior who partied day and night. I was moved for the right reasons, but the new living environment threatened my already fragile mental health. To allow me to safely return home, my brother and his friend moved to Bowling Green to serve as my bodyguards. Their presence was a constant reminder of how the stalker was undermining my personal power, independence, and freedom. It made me mad.

That anger fueled my resolve to fight back. At the beginning, I had no intention of filing charges; I arrived unannounced at security services one day and an officer named John listened to my disclosure and said he believed me. His obvious priority was my safety, wellbeing and survival. John connected me with campus resources like personal counselling and worked with me on a safety plan. It was several weeks before I decided to pursue the process to have the stalker expelled and charged with a criminal offence.

Bill 132, the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act, will amend various statutes with respect to sexual violence, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. It stems from It’s Never OK: an action plan to end sexual violence and harassment, which includes 13 commitments to “establish an Ontario where everyone lives in safety and is free from the threat, fear or experience of sexual violence and harassment”. My colleagues and I applaud the passage of this legislation and are already working to ensure each of our campuses is compliant. Based on my professional and personal experience, however, I am compelled to sound two points of caution. Both relate to the aspirational goals of the government’s plan.

The first speaks to the issue of reporting versus disclosure. Across Ontario, colleges and universities must be empowered to distinguish between a report of sexual violence – which is formal and involves an expectation that action will be taken against an alleged perpetrator – and a disclosure of sexual violence, in confidence, for the express purpose of accessing resources and/or accommodations. A failure to make this distinction may discourage survivors from coming forward because, for example, they are not ready, they do not feel safe, or they fear public shaming, judicial processes and/or police involvement. Legislating or regulating that all disclosures must be treated as formal reports takes control and choice away from the survivor. That’s wrong because it will keep people from accessing the supports they need to recover. I needed time to feel safe and empowered. Had I been rushed or forced into filing a formal report with police, the man who stalked me would likely never have served time for his crime. I appreciate that having quantitative data makes the general public feel like public institutions are being held accountable. The priority, however, must be individual survivors and their recovery.

My second concern relates to accommodations and supports, both of which are keys to survival and recovery. Quite simply, the legislation could require that we count the number of times accommodations or supports have been accessed by any student who has been impacted by sexual violence. I do not think this is a good way to measure the efficacy of our services and I fear that meeting the reporting requirements could threaten personal privacy. Currently, some schools (including York) publicize the number of formal reports filed that relate to sexual violence. If such data was collected and reported using consistent guidelines, it might give prospective and current students a measure by which to judge the ‘relative’ safety of one campus versus another. That number, however, tells only a fraction of the story because so many instances of sexual violence go unreported. To understand the bigger picture, an expert panel convened by the Council of Ontario Universities is recommending that a customized, consistent, confidential climate survey be sent to post-secondary students in Ontario. Carefully designed and implemented, this tool would provide colleges and universities with detailed demographic and student experience data. It would help us understand the real prevalence of sexual violence on our campuses by gathering input from both survivors and perpetrators. Institution-specific questions related to services could be used to guide quality improvement planning. More broadly, the evidence collected via the survey would empower campus leaders (students, faculty and staff) to more effectively drive cultural change.

I rarely speak about my lived experience and this disclosure will come as a surprise to many of my students and colleagues. But today – on International Women’s Day, 2016 – I have decided to use my voice because, quite simply: I do not want to be talking about sexual violence on college and university campuses in five, or 10, or 15 years. I honestly believe that avoiding that reality rests on our capacity to work together and make smart decisions that will drive long-term change.

I am passionate about the transformative power of earning a University degree. This is what fuels my enthusiasm for working at York and supporting the smart, resilient, dynamic students who call our campuses their academic home. Some will wonder how I can advocate so ardently for an environment that exposed me to such emotional trauma. The answer is two-fold. First and foremost: I blame the stalker. He had been on campus less than two months when the behaviour started. Surely, Bowling Green State University cannot be held accountable for his criminality. Second, I firmly believe that I thrived in the wake of sexual violence expressly because I have lived my entire adult life embraced by vibrant, progressive learning communities that are committed to ending the kind of violence that didn’t break me.