Friday, August 26, 2011

[FASE] Director of the Dean's Office

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Christina da Rocha-Feeley to the position of Director, Office of the Dean, effective Monday August 29, 2011. Christina comes to us from the Toronto Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society, a not-for-profit professional association with over 7,500 members. Her most recent position at the Toronto CFA was as the Director, Operations where she provided expertise on operations, governance, planning, project management and technology for the organization. Christina is a graduate of the University of Toronto, with an Honours BA and a Masters in Library and Information Science.

I would also like to extend my thanks to following members of the hiring committee for their time and input on this important appointment:
Stewart Aitchison, Vice-Dean Research; Barbara McCann, Registrar; Karen Lewis, Director HR; Paul Santerre, Director IBBME; and Lisa Simpson-Camilleri, Assistant Dean, Academic HR and Diversity

Please join me in welcoming Christina to the Faculty in her new role of Director, Office of the Dean.

Cristina Amon, Dean

[SGS] School of Graduate Studies Important Dates 2011-2012

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Chairs/Directors/Graduate Coordinators/Graduate Administrators

Cc: Committee of Graduate Deans
School of Graduate Studies, Staff

FROM: Heather Kelly, Director of Student Services

DATE: August 25, 2011

RE: School of Graduate Studies (SGS) Important Dates 2011-2012

Every year, SGS Student Services prepares an integrated list of important dates for your convenience which includes sessional dates from the academic calendar, governance meeting schedules (GEC, CSM, CPM) as well as SGS Student Services dates & deadlines (award deadlines, workshops, meetings and brown bag lunches etc.), among others. Please find attached SGS Important Dates 2011-2012.

Please note that there are numerous other SGS events and deadlines that occur throughout the year and graduate units are informed of these through a variety of communications during the course of the academic year.

The graduate sessional dates are included but can also be referenced in the SGS 2011-2012 Calendar at:

http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/Assets/SGS+Digital+Assets/current/current+pdf/SGS+Sessional+Dates+2011-2012.pdf

I hope that you will find this document useful.

Heather Kelly
Director of Student Services
School of Graduate Studies
University of Toronto
63 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2Z9
Tel: 416-978-4350
Fax: 416-971-2864

----- attachment -----

Important Dates 2011-2012*
School of Graduate Studies Student Services
63 St. George St.
www.sgs.utoronto.ca

*The following list has a focus on SGS Student Service activities, with a few other School-wide events included. Note that there are numerous other SGS events and deadlines that occur throughout the year, and graduate units are informed of these through a variety of communications during the course of the academic year.

Staff

Heather Kelly Director heather.kelly@utoronto.ca 978-4350
TBA Associate Director , Graduate Awards 978-8576

Officers

Michael Godwin Division I, Mgmt, FIS, Law, CERES michael.godwin@utoronto.ca 978-6390
Vesna Makarovska Division II v.makarovska@utoronto.ca 946-3381
Steve Rutchinski Division III s.rutchinski@utoronto.ca 978-2657
Victoria Hurlihey Division IV victoria.hurlihey@utoronto.ca 978-4592
Hasmik Sargsyan Recruitment & Admissions Officer hasmik.sargsyan@utoronto.ca 978-4101
Jeff Richardson Programming Coordinator jeff.richardson@utoronto.ca 946-3497
Laura Stathopoulos Senior Awards Officer laura.stathopoulos@utoronto.ca 978-2150
Lisa Fannin Doctoral Examinations Office doctoral@sgs.utoronto.ca 978-5258
Audrey Fong Master’s Theses & Convocation sgs.masters@utoronto.ca 978-2377
Lisa Haley Postdoctoral Fellows sgs.postdoc@utoronto.ca 946-5254

The complete SGS Staff Directory is available in the “Administrative Support” section of the SGS website under “Directories & Contact”.

Important SGS Dates & Deadlines

August 25 ROSI Batch Uploading Training Workshop for Graduate Administrators, Location: TBA
August 26 Deadline for payment of fees
September 6 SGS Orientation for new students 8:45-12:00 & 2:00-4:00, Hart House
September 12 Most formal graduate courses and seminars begin in the week of September 12
September 14 GPS Orientation 3:00-4:00, Grad Room
September 15 GPS Orientation 11:00-2:00, Grad Room
September 15 Final date to submit final doctoral theses to SGS to avoid fees for 2011-12
September 16 Deadline for registration; late fee required at SGS after this date
September 16 SSHRC/NSERC/OGS Application Workshop for Students 10:00-12:00 & 1:00-3:00 (St. George)
September 16 Grades due for summer session and extended courses.
September 16 Deadline to change SDF grades from Winter Session 2011
September 19 GPS Orientation 3:00-4:00, Grad Room
September 19 Conference Grant Fall 2011 application available online to students
September 19 Students who have not yet registered and have INVIT status on ROSI will be ‘FINCA’D’
by SGS
September 20 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
September 21 Summer grades available for students on ROSI
September 21 SSHRC/NSERC/OGS Application Workshop for Students (UTM)
September 22 SSSHRC/NSERC/OGS Application Workshop for Students (UTSC)
September 23 CGS-Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements (Fall 2011) applications
due at SGS by 4:00 p.m.
September 26 Final date to add full-year and fall session courses
September 27 Council of Graduate Deans 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
September 29 NSERC Workshop for Graduate Administrators (new Grad Admins)
September 29 Deadline to request a name change for diplomas for November convocation
September 30 Master’s degree recommendations and theses due at SGS for November convocation
September 30 Doctoral theses due at SGS for November convocation
October 4 NSERC Workshop for Graduate Administrators
October 4 SGS Orientation for New Graduate Academic Administrators (Chairs, Directors and Graduate Coordinators) 8:45-12:00, GB 202, Galbraith, 35 St. George
October 6 OGS Workshop for New Graduate Administrators
October 11 Advisory Committee on Student Matters 2:00-4:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
October 11 OGS Workshop for Graduate Administrators
October 12 OGS Workshop for Graduate Administrators
October 12 Advisory Committee on Program Matters 2:00-4:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
October 13 Admissions Application Workshop 2:00-4:00, Grad Room
October 14 Vanier NSERC/SSHRC/CIHR scholarship applications due at SGS
October 14 Last Day to request Banting PDF University Support Letter
October 18 Graduate Education Council 3:00-6:00, Governing Council Chambers
October 19 OGS application goes offline/student’s final day to submit application
October 20 General Meeting for Graduate Administrators 2:00-4:30, Galbraith, 35 St. George
October 21 NSERC PGS/CGS scholarship applications due at SGS
October 25 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
October 25 Council of Graduate Deans 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
October 26 Postdoctoral Fellows Orientation, Croft Chapter House
October 27 SGS Brown Bag Lunch: Topic TBA (RSVP) 12:00-2:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
October 28 Banting PDF University Support Letter ready for applicants
October 31 Final date to withdraw from September courses (full and half) without academic penalty
November 1 Deadline for students to change immigration status or claim exemption from international student fees for the Fall session.
November 1 OGS applications due at SGS (non-NSERC eligible units)
November 7 OGS applications due at SGS (NSERC-eligible units)
November 9 Deadline to submit applications for the Trudeau
November 8 - 11 SGS Convocation
November 9 Joint Advisory Committee on Student & Program Matters 2:00-4:00, Location: TBA
November 15 Graduate Education Council 3:00-5:00, GB 202, Location: TBA
November 15 Connaught/Vanier Reception 5:00-7:00, Faculty Club
November 17 Admission Procedures Workshop 2:00-4:00, Gradroom Lower Level
November 22 Council of Graduate Deans, 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
November 22 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
November 24 SGS Brown Bag Lunch: Topic TBA (RSVP) 12:00-2:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
November 28 SSHRC CGSM & SSHRC Doctoral/CGSD scholarship applications due at SGS
November 30 Fall deadline to submit MTFB
November 30 CIHR CGSM scholarship applications due at SGS (goes off-line)
December 1 Deadline for John C. Polanyi Prize nominations
December 5 Delta Kappa Gamma World Fellowship award applications due at SGS
December 7 & 8 ROSI and Batch uploading training for Graduate Administrators
December 9 SGS International Credentials Workshop (RSVP)
December 21 Winter break begins (for last day of classes before Winter break, consult graduate units concerned)
January 4 Autism Scholars award applications due at SGS
January 4 Deadline to submit applications for the Ontario Women’s Health Scholars
January 9 Most formal graduate courses and seminars begin in the week of January 9
January 9 Winter Welcome for Incoming Students 10:00-3:00, Grad Room
January 13 Final date for registration for students beginning a program in Winter 2012. Late fee required at SGS after this date
January 10 Advisory Committee on Program Matters 2:00-4:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
January 11 Advisory Committee on Student Matters 2:00-4:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
January 11 GPS Orientation 2:00-3:00, Grad Room
January 12 GPS Orientation 2:00-3:00, Grad Room
January 13 GPS Orientation 2:00-3:00, Grad Room (Note: only scheduled if necessary)
January 13 Course work must be completed and grades submitted for Fall session courses
January 13 Deadline to change SDF grades from Summer Session 2011
January 16 Final date to submit doctoral theses to SGS without fee payment for Winter session
January 17 Graduate Education Council Meeting 3:00-6:00, Location: TBA
January 18 Fall grades available for students on ROSI
January 20 Deadline to submit applications for the Sumner
January 23 Final date to add Winter courses
January 24 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
January 24 Council of Graduate Deans 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
January 26 Admissions Policy Procedures Workshop for Graduate Administrators, 2:00-4:00, Gradroom Lower Level
January 27 Final date to submit degree recommendations and theses for March or June graduation for master’s students without fees being charged for the Winter session
January 27 Deadline for all students to request that their degrees to be conferred in March (in absentia)
January 27 September dual registrants must be recommended for the master’s degree by this date to maintain their Ph.D. registration.
February TBA Deadlines for graduate units to submit editorial revisions for 2012/2013 SGS Calendar
February 1 Deadline for students to change immigration status or claim exemption from international
February 1 Deadline to submit applications for the Mackenzie King
February 2 General Meeting for Graduate Administrators 2:00-4:30, Galbraith, 35 St. George
February 3 Deadline to request a name change for diplomas for March and June convocation
February 6 Travel Grant application for students opens
February 7 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
February 10 Standing Committee on Program Matters 2:00-4:00 Room 201 65 St. George
February 13 Deadline to submit applications for the Connaught
February 13 Deadline to submit applications for the Ontario Trillium Scholarship
February 14 Graduate Education Council 3:00-5:00 (Reserve Date)
February 16 SGS Brown Bag Lunch: Topic TBA (RSVP) 12:00-2:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
February 21 Deadline for submission of Graduate Faculty Membership checklists
February 22 Deadline for nominations to the CAGS/UMI/Layerle Dissertation Award
February 27 Deadline to submit applications for the Avi Bennett and Fodor
February 27 Final date to drop full-year or Winter session courses without academic penalty
February 28 Council of Graduate Deans 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
March TBA March Graduation in absentia
March TBA Deadlines for graduate units to submit editorial revisions for 2012/2013 SGS Calendar
March 6 Annual Graduate Briefing Session (Chairs, Directors and Graduate Coordinators) 2:00-4:00, GCC, Simcoe Hall
March 20 Graduate Education Council 3:00-5:00 (Reserve Date)
March 22 Standing Committee on Program Matters 2:00-4:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
March 22 SGS Brown Bag Lunch: Topic TBA (RSVP) 12:00-2:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
March 23 Standing Committee on Student Matters 2:00-4:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
March 26 Conference Grant winter 2012 application available online to students
March 27 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, Room 303, 63 St. George
March 27 Council of Graduate Deans 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
March 30 Winter deadline to submit applications for the MTFB
April 9 Deadline to submit nominations for Governor General’s Gold Medal
April 10 Joint Advisory Committee on Student & Program Matters 2:00-4:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
April 17 Graduate Education Council 3:00-6:00, Location: TBA
April 18 Deadline to submit DCA Nominations
April 20 Coursework must be completed and all grades submitted for students whose degrees are to be conferred at June convocation
April 20 Final date to receive degree recommendations and submit theses where required for master’s degrees for June Convocation
April 20 Final date to submit a final PhD thesis for Students whose degrees are to be conferred at the June Convocation
April 20 Final date for degree recommendations of January dual registrants for the master’s degree to maintain their Ph.D. registration
April 24 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
April 24 Council of Graduate Deans 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
May TBA Proofread graduate unit entries for 2012/2013 SGS Calendar
May 4 Final date for registration for May session
May 8 SGS A & P Committee meeting 3:00-5:00, Room 303, 63 St. George
May 11 Final date to enrol in May-June or May-August session courses
May 11 Course work must be completed and grades submitted for full-year and Winter session courses.
May 11 Deadline to change SDF grade from Fall Session 2011
May 15 Graduate Education Council 3:00-5:00 (Reserve Date)
May 16 January and full-year course grades available for students on ROSI
May 17 GEC Reception, Time and Venue TBA
May 17 SGS Brown Bag Lunch: Topic TBA (RSVP) 12:00-2:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
May 22 Council of Graduate Deans 12:00-2:00, 65 St. George, Room 201
May 24 CGS-Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements (Spring 2012) applications due at SGS
May 24 Deadline to submit applications for SGS Restricted Awards
May 30 Governor General’s Gold Medals Reception 4:00-6:00, Faculty Club
June TBA June Convocation
June 1 Deadline to drop May/June courses without academic penalty
June 12 SGS A & P Committee Meeting 3:00-5:00, 63 St. George, Room 303
June 20 CGS/UMI award nominations due at SGS
June 21 SGS Registration Workshop (RSVP) 1:00-4:00, Grad Room
June 22 Final date to enrol in July-August courses
June 22 Final date to drop May-August session Y section courses without academic penalty
July 2 QEII-GGST applications due to SGS
July 20 Final date to drop July-August S section courses without academic penalty
July 20 Course work must be completed and grades submitted for May/June F Section Courses
July 25 Grades for May/June F section courses available for viewing by students on SWS

[PDADC-L] Early Research Award 2011, Round 8

MEMORANDUM

TO: PDAD&C

FROM: Professor Paul Young, Vice President, Research

DATE: August 22, 2011

RE: Early Research Award 2011 (Round 8)
________________________________________________________________________

Please bring this information to the attention of eligible faculty in your department.

The Ministry of Research and Innovation has announced the 2011 competition for Early Researcher Awards (ERA). This program helps promising, recently-appointed Ontario researchers build their research teams of undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research assistants, associates, and technicians. The goal of the program is to improve Ontario’s ability to attract and retain the best and brightest research talent.

The Early Researcher Awards program will now include seven panels recognizing achievement in the categories of Arts and Humanities; Energy, Environment and Emerging Technologies; Information and Communication Technologies, Math and Physics; Life Sciences – Clinical; Life Sciences – Non-Clinical; Materials and Advanced Manufacturing; and Social Sciences. For Round 8, the Ministry of Research and Innovation has introduced a new, distinct “Arts and Humanities” panel to recognize achievement in the study of arts and culture which are essential components of a creative, knowledge-based economy.

Eligible applicants are no more than 5 years from having started their independent academic research career, as of July 1, 2011 and no more than 10 years from having completed their first PhD, DVM, or Medical Doctor/Fellowship/Training as of July 1, 2011. To be competitive, researchers should be actively involved in conducting independent research that is supported by peer-reviewed funding.

The key dates for campus-based faculty applicants are as follows:

September 30: internal deadline for Notices of Intent
October 5 : The Research Services Office will be hosting an information session, time and location will be posted on our website:
http://www.research.utoronto.ca/research-funding-opportunities/early-researcher-award-era/

November 7: internal deadline for full applications


The award provides $100,000 for direct costs plus $40,000 for indirect costs based on a matching contribution of $50,000. The ultimate goal of the program is to improve Ontario’s ability to attract and retain the best and brightest research talent, move increasingly towards a knowledge-based economy and seize opportunities for global leadership. The ERA program success rate over all competitions is 37%, while the UT (campus) success rate is 42%.

For further information about this program and to obtain forms please visit http://www.mri.gov.on.ca/english/programs/era/program.asp or contact Sheila Van Landeghem (sheila.vanlandeghem@utoronto.ca, 416-946-3603).

[PDADC-L] Ontario Research Fund - Research Excellence, Round 6

MEMORANDUM

TO: PDAD&C
FROM: Professor Paul Young, Vice President, Research
DATE: August 24, 2011
RE: Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence, Round 6
________________________________________________________________________
The Ministry of Research & Innovation has just released information on Round 6 of the Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program. The ORF-RE program promotes research excellence of strategic value to Ontario by supporting new leading-edge, transformative, and internationally significant research.
While research proposals in all disciplines are eligible for ORF-RE Round 6, the Ministry particularly encourages collaborative projects across institutions and disciplines from the following focus areas:
• Bio-economy and clean technologies;
• Advanced health technologies;
• Digital media and information & communications technologies;
• Sustainable communities (multidisciplinary research including but not limited to the topics of ageing, energy, health, environmental sustainability, regional economic development and/or economic prosperity for all).
The Ontario Research Fund Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program promotes research excellence in Ontario by supporting transformative, internationally significant research of strategic value to the province. This program focuses on scientific excellence and strong commercialization and targets new, leading-edge research initiatives. As a general rule, the minimum support provided by the ORF-RE to a project is $1 million and the maximum support provided is $4 million. Only in exceptional circumstances will requests over $4 million be considered. ORF-RE investment constitutes one-third of the total project budget, and requires a $1-$1 match from the institution and from a private sector partner(s). Strong participation by industry is a significant part of the ORF-RE mandate.
Regional information sessions will be held in September. Specific dates will be posted on the website below as they are scheduled.
The internal deadline at the Research Services office (RSO) for Notices of Intent (NoI’s) is September 30, 2011. RSO staff will submit all UofT NOIs to the Ministry for their Oct 14, 2011 deadline. RSO staff will work with applicants and their division heads to finalize full submissions. Internal deadlines for staged development of proposals will be established in consultation with project teams. The Ministry’s deadline is January 27, 2012. Forms and additional information on the competition can be found on the Research Services website: http://www.research.utoronto.ca/research-funding-opportunities/research-excellence-orf-re/


Please make your colleagues aware of this wonderful opportunity for UofT faculty to attract significant research investment. Questions may be directed to Sheila Van Landeghem (416-976-3603; sheila.vanlandeghem@utoronto.ca).

[PDADC-L] Compulsory Student Ancillary Fees

PDAD&C#5, 2011-12

MEMORANDUM

To: Principals, Deans, Academic Directors & Chairs
Professional and Managerial Staff
From: Jill Matus, Vice-Provost, Students
Date: August 23, 2011
Re: Compulsory Student Ancillary Fees

The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities has requested that I write to remind you of the Ministry's requirements regarding compulsory charges of academic and non-academic ancillary fees.

The Ministry's policy prohibits compulsory tuition-related ancillary fees or surcharges related to the delivery of academic courses. All of the costs associated with students' participation in a course are expected to be funded through tuition revenue and the University's provincial operating grant. Students must be able to complete all aspects of a course without a mandatory surcharge (and students cannot be penalized for not choosing to pay the surcharge). The Ministry specifically asked that we remind instructors that it is not permitted to require students to purchase access to online resources or online software applications to access assignments, tests or examinations. Please communicate this requirement to all instructors in your unit.

With respect to non-tuition-related compulsory ancillary fees charged for campus and student services, the Ministry's policy is that these fees may not fund academic services or other elements of academic programs. These fees are also subject to other requirements (see below).

Under the University's policies, all compulsory ancillary fees must be approved by the Governing Council. This includes fees for campus and student services provided by the University, student societies, special levies of student societies (e.g., to fund special projects including capital projects), cost recoveries (e.g., publications, field trips, clothing, equipment that becomes the property of students), and administrative user fees and fines (e.g., application fees, placement fees, library fines, other administrative fees). Fees charged to recover costs must relate to those costs, and may not exceed them, or a reasonable estimate of them.
Academic ancillary fees, including cost recovery fees, administrative user fees, and fines, are subject to the requirements and procedures described in the Policy on Ancillary Fees.

Non-academic ancillary fees (sometimes described as incidental fees or non-tuition fees), including fees for campus services and student societies, are subject to the provisions and procedures of the Policy for Compulsory Non-Academic Incidental Fees. Compulsory fees for campus and student services are also subject to the University's protocol on non-tuition fees.

If your unit is considering the implementation of an academic or non-academic ancillary fee, please contact one of the individuals listed below well in advance of the anticipated session in which proposed fees are to begin. For new fees or changes to fees scheduled to begin in fall 2012, it would be advisable to begin the planning process by early fall 2011 as these fees must be approved by the Governing Council no later than the late winter of 2012.

If you have any queries about existing practice in your unit, or if you have other questions about the Policies, please contact the following:

On matters related to academic ancillary fees:

Sally Garner, Executive Director, Planning & Budget
(416) 978-2819 / sally.garner@utoronto.ca

On matters related to non-academic ancillary fees (incidental fees):

Jim Delaney, Director, Office of the Vice-Provost, Students
(416) 978-4027 / jim.delaney@utoronto.ca

[PDADC-L] Message from the Vice-Provost, Students re: Janet Hurd, Director of the Office of Student Recruitment retirement

TO: PDAD&C
From: Jill Matus, Vice Provost Students
Date: August 23, 2011

With very mixed feelings, I am writing to let you know that Janet Hurd, Director of the Office of Student Recruitment, will be retiring as of June 30, 2012. Janet has provided distinguished service to the University for 24 years. She has consistently been one of the University's finest ambassadors and has represented U of T enthusiastically and professionally around the world; we will certainly miss her talents. I'm delighted that she will be staying with us until next summer to assist with the transition to her successor, as well as to focus on international recruitment initiatives. We will post for a new Director in the coming weeks.

Friday, August 19, 2011

FAPESP-UofT-UWO Call for Proposals Update - Canada & Brazil

FAPESP – UofT – UWO CALL FOR PROPOSALS: RESEARCH EXCHANGE BETWEEN CANADA AND BRAZIL

Dear Researchers,

On July 15th, our office announced the FAPESP-UofT-UWO Joint Call for proposals, on behalf of Professor Paul Young, Vice President, Research at UofT. The funding opportunity is the result of an exciting partnership between FAPESP (the scientific research funding agency in São Paulo, Brazil), the University of Toronto, and the University of Western Ontario. The Call for Proposals is aimed at facilitating proposals between Canadian and Brazilian researchers working in partnership. The funding available is predominantly focussed on covering the cost of exchange of researchers between Canada and the State of São Paulo, Brazil, or “mobility” expenses. It is also envisioned that those who are funded will have the opportunity to work together on future undertakings.

IMPORTANT UPDATE ON AMOUNT OF FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR SUCCESSFUL PROPOSALS:

I am pleased to offer this important UPDATE:

• the total amount of funding available is actually $40,000 in total over two years, with $20,000 available for the UofT partner(s), and $20,000 available for the Brazilian partner(s). (My earlier communiqué indicated that half of that amount was available, or $20,000 in total.) The maximum budget that can be spent in any one year of an award remains $10,000.

APPLICATION FORMS: ENGLISH VERSIONS

We now have English language versions of the Budget Form and the Research Registration Form, which are to be completed by researchers from UofT as part of the larger application package, details of which are available on the Research Services’ website at:

http://www.research.utoronto.ca/research-funding-opportunities/sao-paulo-research-foundation-fapesp-uoft-and-uwo-joint-call-for-research-proposals/

ADJUDICATION PROCESS:

I have received a number of questions about the adjudication process and how it will work. I am pleased to offer the following explanation and hope this clarifies any questions you may have:

1. Applications are jointly submitted at the same time: by UofT applicants to UofT (to my attention); and by Brazilian applicants to their authority (and if there is a UWO partner, the UWO partner submits to UWO.)
2. Each of UofT, FAPESP, and UWO will conduct a preliminary administrative review of applications submitted to them respectively, ensuring all forms are complete and clarifying any questions that come up with applicants.
3. The Vice Presidents, Research at UofT, UWO, and the leaders of FAPESP have established a joint adjudication committee. Each proposal submitted to each institution will then be reviewed collectively by the joint committee.
4. Decisions are expected to be announced on January 16, 2012.

INTERESTED IN APPLYING? At this point, I’m asking anyone who is planning on applying to please let me know by email at drew.gyorke@utoronto.ca. I am building an contact list and want to be able to offer news or information to those wishing to apply quickly. (Updates are also posted on our website at the link noted above.)

Questions or More Information: Please do not hesitate to be in touch with me.

Best regards,
Drew


Fluctuating markets, debt crises in the U.S. and Europe: Are we headed for another recession? A Q&A with Rotman Professor Eric Kirzner.

Drew Gyorke,
Director, Agency & Foundation Funding
Research Services
University of Toronto

3rd Floor, McMurrich Building
12 Queen's Park Cres. West
Toronto, ON M5S 1S8
P: (416) 978-7248
F: (416) 946-3707

[PDADC-L] Call for Proposals, 6th Annual U of T Teaching & Learning Symposium

TO: PDAD&C

FROM: Carol Rolheiser,
Director, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation

RE: Call for Proposals - Cultivating Teaching, Cultivating Learning
6th Annual University of Toronto Teaching & Learning Symposium, 28 November 2011

This year's Teaching & Learning Symposium will focus on strategies and initiatives that aim to cultivate effective teaching and learning across the University of Toronto's divisions and campuses. Through concurrent sessions, posters and roundtable discussions the day will focus on the following four sub-themes:

1. Student acquisition of knowledge, skills and values
o What knowledge, skills and values do today's students most need?
o Are there particular skills, knowledge and values that we especially want UofT students to acquire?
o How can we support the development and acquisition of this knowledge and these skills and values?
2. Enhancing relationships and fostering partnerships
o What opportunities currently enable student-faculty interaction and collaborative partnerships amongst members of our community?
o What other opportunities should we cultivate?
3. Planning, instruction and assessment
o How are our changing teaching contexts altering the way we plan, teach and assess?
o How is current research influencing the way we teach and what we know about student learning?
4. Leadership to support teaching and learning
o How can academic leadership cultivate effective teaching and learning?
o How can we foster shared leadership to enhance teaching and learning?

This tri-campus event is intended to stimulate discussion and the sharing of practical, successful experiences around teaching and learning, aiming to enhance communications and build internal networks. It is a cross-divisional forum which allows faculty and staff to explore and share new instructional methods, to celebrate our commitment to teaching and learning, and to hear from this year's recipients of the President's Teaching Award. The symposium will include a featured speaker, a panel discussion featuring the President and the 2011 President's Teaching Award recipients, interactive concurrent sessions, roundtable discussions, and poster and resource sharing sessions.
SESSION PROPOSAL FORMATS:
We invite session proposals, in one of the following formats, from UofT faculty and staff that address the themes outlined above:

1. Interactive Concurrent Sessions (50 minutes): Presentation of creative teaching approaches or strategies that have evidence of effectiveness as demonstrated through assessment, research or successful practice.
2. Poster Sessions: These sessions are designed to provide presenters and participants with a means of sharing information regarding learning and teaching, including research findings and innovative practices.
3. Roundtable Discussions (50 minutes): These sessions engage a small group in facilitated conversation. Facilitators suggest a theme, a problem, or a solution related to the symposium focus. Rather than give a presentation, the facilitator may offer a brief summary of the discussion topic and participants exchange ideas around the table.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS Session proposals should be a maximum of 150 words and should clearly indicate: format, presentation title, names of presenters, and provide a brief description of the session (which will be used to produce the program guide). Proposals should be submitted online no later than 30 September 2011 to:
http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/about_ctsi/symposium/submission.htm

QUESTIONS FOR THE PRESIDENT'S TEACHING AWARD WINNERS & THE PRESIDENT This year we also welcome submissions from the broader university community for questions that may be posed during the Panel Discussion with the 2011 President's Teaching Award Winners. These questions may be directed at the award winners or the President and should relate to the theme of the Symposium. They can be sent directly to CTSI at ctsi.teaching@utoronto.ca or included in your proposal submission.
Questions about the Symposium or regarding proposal submissions can be directed to: Thuy Huynh, Programs Coordinator, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation at thuy.huynh@utoronto.ca or 416-946-3325.

Friday, August 12, 2011

[PDADC-L] Notice of potential disruption to central email and network services

To: PDAD&C
Professional/Managerial Staff

From: Patrick Hopewell, Director, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions

Date: August 12, 2011

RE: Notice of potential disruption to central email and network services

Construction of the new central administrative data centre in the McLennan Physics building will include a transformer replacement. In preparation, it is necessary to re-feed one of the three Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) units in the existing data centre from a different power source.

While we have undertaken extensive preparatory work in advance of the cutover, there nevertheless remains an element of risk in the event that the UPS does not automatically switch to battery power as it should. If that were to occur, devices powered solely from this UPS would lose power. Some of the services that could be affected include: UTORmail, Exchange, Campus Wireless & GTAnet access. To increase the amount of battery backup time available for the electricians to do their work, we may also need to shutdown some customer-facing components of UTORmail during the cutover and in order to reduce the risks associated with an uncontrolled shutdown.

We will be conducting the electrical cutover on Wednesday August 17th starting at 5pm.

Although everything will be done to reduce the chance of users experiencing any service interruption at all, we wish to give you advance notice to permit you to make scheduling adjustments that would reduce the impact if an outage occurred. We will send out a follow-up message to advise when the electrical work is complete.

If you have any questions or concerns about this work, please send an email to the Network Operations Centre: net-ops@noc.utoronto.ca

Civilans Run for the Cure - Join our Team


Dear Civil Engineering Faculty, Staff, Students and Friends:

You are all invited to join our team for the annual CIBC Run for the Cure
on the morning of *Sunday, October 2, 2011*. This is a recreational
charity run/walk that raises funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer
Foundation. It's getting bigger every year and so is our Civilians team
(http://tinyurl.com/civilians2011). The start line for this year will
be right on campus again.

There are multiple ways to get involved in this annual event:
- 1K run/walk
- 5K run/walk
- Donations (follow this link http://tinyurl.com/DonateToCivilians2011)

All friends, family and coworkers are encouraged to join for this worthy cause. It's a lot of fun!

To register for the run/walk, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/JoinCivilians2011
Or you can click on "Join Team" from the main team page
Our team name is "Civilians"

Registration is free if you commit to raising $150 (raising about $15 from
10 friends and family members). Or you can just pay $40 as a registration fee.

It should be straightforward. But please drop us an email
(cegsa@ecf.utoronto.ca) if you have any questions. We'll send information
regarding our meeting place and time in a later email.

See you there!
CEGSA and CSCE

MIE Seminar: Talk by Professor Gary Fedder - Sep 7, 2011, 11am-12pm, MC310

Dear Chairs and Directors:

On behalf of Dean Amon, it would be appreciated if you could please distribute the attached MIE seminar notice to faculty members within your department/institute for their interest. The seminar talk entitled “Opportunities and Challenges of CMOS MEMS” will be given by Professor Gary Fedder of Carnegie Mellon University on September 7, 2011 at 11:00am to 12:00pm in Room 310 of the Mechanical Engineering Building.

----- attachment -----

Seminar Title: Opportunities and Challenges of CMOS MEMS

Speaker: Prof. Gary Fedder, Carnegie Mellon University

Time: 11:00am-12:00pm, Sept. 7, 2011

Location: MC310 (within Mechanical Engineering building)

Abstract: The “More than Moore” trend in the microelectronics industry is driving a renewed interest in mixed-physics microsystem integration with CMOS. Integration becomes a necessity for multi-component microsystems, where wiring between MEMS and electronics scales with MEMS component count. Integration also drives down parasitic capacitances and thus provides opportunities for ultra-low-power and/or ultra-compact microsystems. Present manufacturable fabrication techniques for CMOS MEMS may be placed in two major categories: monolithic integration and chip stacking. Several monolithic integration approaches exist that create MEMS devices from the layers in the back-end-of-line (BEOL) CMOS stack or by adding materials on top of the BEOL stack.

Emerging features in future CMOS MEMS include attributes of re-configurability, selfconfigurability and “self-healing” in the presence of manufacturing and environmental variability. These are general attributes that hold promise of providing high manufacturing yield, resiliency and redundancy for critical applications. One class of such systems are RF circuits tightly integrated with multiple electrothermally actuated MEMS capacitors that lead to a variety of low-loss, frequency reconfigurable circuit blocks. Two other exemplary self-configuring systems are micro-instrumented scanning probe arrays for tip-based nanomanufacturing and selfhealing resonant mixer-filters for RF front-ends.

Gary K. Fedder is Director of the Institute of Complex Engineered Systems, Howard M. Wilkoff Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor in The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from MIT in 1982 and 1984, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree from U. C. Berkeley in 1994. From 1984 to 1989, he worked at Hewlett-Packard on circuit design and printed-circuit modeling. He is an IEEE Fellow and received the 1994 AIME Electronic Materials Society Ross Tucker Award, the 1996 Carnegie Institute of Technology G.T. Ladd Award, and the 1996 NSF CAREER Award. He currently serves as a subject editor for the IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, on the editorial boards of the IoP Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering and IET Micro & Nano Letters and as coeditor of the Wiley-VCH Advanced Micro- and Nanosystems book series. He has contributed to over 200 research publications and holds several patents in the MEMS area. His research interests include microsensor and microactuator design and modeling, integrated MEMS manufactured in CMOS processes and structured design methodologies for MEMS.

U of T CTSI Back-to-School Workshops for Faculty

Dear Faculty,

From August 23 - 26, 2011, the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) will host a series of “Back-to-School” sessions for faculty on a range of teaching topics.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
9am – 12noon Setting the Tone for Success: The First Day and Beyond
1pm – 4pm Supporting Student Learning: What Instructors Can Do and Who Else Can Help

Wednesday, August 24, 2011
9am – 12noon Building a Blackboard Course
9am – 12noon Small Group Instructional Approaches to Engage and Enthuse Students

Thursday, August 25, 2011
9am – 12noon Assignment Design
1pm – 4pm Formative Assessment: How to Keep Teaching and Learning on Track

Friday, August 26, 2011
9:30am – 12:30pm The Course Life Cycle: Managing Your Course

To register for the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation’s Back-to-School workshop series, please visit: http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/teaching/nfo/2011.htm

For more information on any of these events, please contact Thuy Huynh, Programs Coordinator, CTSI at 416-946-3325; thuy.huynh@utoronto.ca, or Rong Wu, Program Assistant, CTSI at 416-946-3799; rong.wu@utoronto.ca.

Best,
Thuy


Thuy Huynh | Programs Coordinator
Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) | Teaching Assistants' Training Program (TATP)
University of Toronto
Tel: 416-946-3325 | Fax: 416-946-8588
www.teaching.utoronto.ca

The Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) provides leadership in teaching and learning at the University of Toronto and provides support for pedagogy and pedagogy-driven instructional technology for all teaching staff and teaching assistants across the university’s campuses and divisions.

Guggenheim Fellowships - Application Deadline September 15

Dear Chairs and Directors,

I am writing on behalf of Dean Amon to ask that you encourage outstanding researchers to apply for the upcoming Guggenheim Fellowships. Guggenheim Fellowships are grants to selected individuals made for a minimum of six months and a maximum of twelve months. Approximately 220 Fellowships are awarded each year. Fellows may spend their grant funds in any manner they deem necessary to their work.

Considered "midcareer" awards, Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for those who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship in any field. Previous Faculty recipients include Professor Peter Zandstra and Professor David Zingg.

Applications for Guggenheim Fellowships are made online by the researcher. The deadline is September 15, 2011.

For more information on Guggenheim Fellowships please see http://www.gf.org/applicants/how-to-apply/ or contact me.

Please let me know if anyone in your department is planning to apply so that I can provide any necessary assistance.

Best regards,
Carolyn

Carolyn Farrell | Director, Awards and Honours

Faculty of Applied Science + Engineering | University of Toronto
Galbraith Building | Room 154
35 St. George Street | Toronto | Ontario | M5S 1A4
carolyn.farrell@utoronto.ca | www.engineering.utoronto.ca
Tel 416.978.8666 | Fax 416.978.4859

[PDADC-L] USW General Membership Meeting - Reminder Email for Sept 7th Meeting

HR# 2, 2011-12

August 10, 2011

To: PDAD&C

Professional and Managerial Staff

From: Christina Sass-Kortsak

Assistant Vice-President, Human Resources

Re: USW General Membership Meeting - September 7, 2011

By email of March 10, 2011, members of PDAD&C and Professionals/Managers were advised of the dates and times of the three USW general membership meetings scheduled for 2011. The link to this information may be found at

http://www.hrandequity.utoronto.ca/news/memoranda/1011/HR_20.htm

This is a reminder that USW has scheduled a General Membership meeting for September 7, 2011 at 12pm. The meeting will be held on the St. George campus with video conferencing at UTSC and UTM.

The meeting location is as follows:

St. George
Sidney Smith Hall, Room SS 2102

UTM
William G Davis Building (formerly "South Building"), Room 3130 (Council Chambers) (via video conference)

UTSC
Main Building, Humanities Wing, Room H403(via video conference)

In accordance with the terms of the staff-appointed collective agreement be= tween the United Steelworkers and the University of Toronto, "employees will be given time off (not to exceed two (2) hours), with no loss of regular straight time pay, up to three (3) times per year to attend General Membership Meetings of the Local Union".

We ask that those staff-appointed employees wishing to participate in the meeting who are represented by USW be permitted to leave at 11:45 a.m. in order to participate in the meeting.

Please note that in accordance with the terms of the collective agreement employees who will be attending the USW general meeting must notify their manager at least one week in advance of the meeting date. This meeting includes the employee's lunch period if it would normally occur at or about this time. Managers should expect their employees to be back to work by 2:15pm or thereabouts.

There is no comparable clause in the non-appointed (casual) collective agreement. However, such employees may attend on their own time if they are not scheduled to work.

Monday, August 8, 2011

[PDADC-L] Deadline for Honorary Degree Nominations, 2011-12

Memorandum to: Governing Council
Academic Board
Business Board
University Affairs Board
Principals, Deans, Academic Directors and Chairs
Professionals, Managers and Confidential Staff
President of UTFA
Presidents of Employee Unions
Presidents of APUS, GSU, SAC and SCSU

From: Henry Mulhall, Secretary, Committee for Honorary Degrees

Date: August 2, 2011

Re: Deadline for Honorary Degree Nominations, 2011-12


On May 20th the President issued a Call for Nominations (http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=7956) for candidates to be considered by the Committee for Honorary Degrees for the awarding of degrees at the 2012 and some of the 2013 convocations. I am writing once again to remind members of the University community that the deadline for the receipt of nominations is August 15, 2011 in order to allow their consideration by the Committee in September.

The Terms of Reference and Guidelines for the Committee are available on the Governing Council website (http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/bac/hd.htm) and provide information about the nomination and selection process. A nomination form is also available on the web site. Please take the time, either on your own or in consultation with your colleagues, to submit one or more nominations. In preparing submissions, nominators should pay particular attention to the statement of reasons for the nomination, and ensure that they provide sufficiently thorough information for the consideration of the Committee. Nominations are kept active for a period of one year. If you have submitted a nomination since December 2010, it will be brought forward to the Committee for its consideration this September. If you wish to re-nominate a former candidate, please resubmit and add to the earlier nomination.

If you have any questions about the nomination or selection process, please contact the Office of the Governing Council by return email or by telephone at 416-978-6576.

Please submit completed nomination forms by August 15th to:

The Secretary,
Committee for Honorary Degrees
Office of the Governing Council
Simcoe Hall, Room 106
27 King's College Circle
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1
Fax: 416-978-8182
governing.council@utoronto.ca

Welcome to the CIV-MIN Blog

This is where we compile all the announcements, postings and non-urgent alerts that used to clog up your email inbox. Feel free to scroll through the latest postings organized by date below, or check our categorized listings on the right for the information you want.