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Dear ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Community,

I am writing to share some updates and information for ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ students, staff and faculty. Please take a moment to review this message as well as all previous Deans Community Updates and Resources.

UofT Fall Convocation and ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Virtual Celebration

The ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ has now announced the date of the virtual fall Convocation for all divisions and programs. will take place on Saturday, November 21st at 12:00pm and ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Virtual Convocation Celebration will be hosted on Thursday November 26th at 2:00pm. Registration details for the ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Celebration will be available shortly on the .

²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Black Resistance and Self-Restoration Series

I am excited to announce that in November, ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ will be hosting a series of sessions for the ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Black community of students and staff. You are invited to join facilitator AinaNia Ayo’dele for a series of sessions on Black Resistance and Self-Restoration. The sessions will address the direct impact of anti-Black racism on Black/People of African Descent, explores ancient African practices and principles for resistance and self-restoration, and offers participants some simple and practical tools to mitigate traumatic impacts of institutional anti-Black racism. These sessions are for ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ students and staff only. Please register online at the following link.

Find out more about these sessions along with a range of additional sessions being hosted on the ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Wellness website at /wellness.

²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Winter 2021 Tuition Exemption Information

Please note that students whose graduation would normally have been planned for Fall 2020 but who needed an additional semester to complete the requirements of their degree due to significant delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may request to register with tuition exemption on the basis of progress delay due to COVID-19. ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ will be launching the Winter 2021 request to Register with Tuition Exemption in the coming days. For more information please see oise.utoronto.ca/orss/COVID19_Support_to_Students.html.

²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Graduate Student Supports and Resources

I want to extend a reminder to graduate students that the ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Registrar and Student Services Office offers a range of excellent support services and resources including:

2 ORSS Online Drop-In - Fall 2020 Schedule
Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday | 12:30 - 1:30 pm
Online Link to ORSS Online Drop-In

Academic Social Club (AcSoc)
Every Thursday | 12-1pm
Join in an open discussion-based session where the topics are determined every week based on participants. Thursday meetings will be via Zoom: AcSoc.

Additional weekly professional and academic development events vary. Full AcSoc schedule and links to events are online.

UofT School of Graduate Studies Hub

The ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ School of Graduate Studies has launched the offering helpful information and resources for students at this time. Be sure to visit the review the full range of .

Education Commons Update

Over the past year, ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½â€™s Education Commons went through a community consultation process culminating in the approval of a new strategic plan in the spring. The next step in this process was the development of an organizational structure that would match the strategic directions articulated in the plan. The new structure involves numerous shifts in position roles and responsibilities. Transitioning to this new structure will involve a number of iterative steps, but we expect the new structure to be fully in place in the spring of 2021.

²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Building Entry Reminder

Last week, you should have received messages directly from UofT as well as from me, regarding the new Campus Building Entry Protocol. All ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ students, faculty and staff must now complete a self-assessment health check screening before coming on campus. The university’s self-assessment tool, UCheck, is available at ucheck.utoronto.ca. Please be sure to review all details found at ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Building Entry Protocol.

Take care,

Glen A. Jones, Ph.D.
Professor and Dean