2025-2026 Academic Year

This meeting will be held remotely via Zoom. The link and password to join the meeting may be found via the meeting鈥檚 email notice.

1. Welcome and Chair鈥檚 Remarks

Chair Mike Zryd

Consultation on Senate Advisory Statement to the Presidential Search Committee (.pdf)

2. Minutes (Previous Meeting May 7, 2026) (.docx)

3. Business Arising from the Minutes

4. Dean's Remarks

Dean Alice MacLachlan

5. Changes to Faculty Regulations:  Graduate Supervision, and Policy on Appointments to the Faculty of Graduate Studies

For approval
Dean Alice MacLachlan
Proposal (.docx)

6. Changes to Faculty Regulations:  Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Milestone

For approval
Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs Wes Moir
Proposal (.docx)

7. Standing Committee Reports

For discussion

Academic Planning & Policy Committee (.docx)
Appeals & Academic Honesty Committee (.odt)
Awards Committee (.docx)
Nominating Committee (.pdf)
Petitions Committee (.docx)

8. Reports from Faculty of Graduate Studies' Representatives to Senate Committees

Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, Senate Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee
Anne MacLennan, Senate Academic Policy, Planning and Research Committee
Naomi Couto, Senate Executive Committee

9. Other Business

This meeting will be held remotely via Zoom. The link and password to join the meeting may be found via the meeting鈥檚 email notice.

1. Welcome and Chair鈥檚 Remarks

Chair Mike Zryd

2. Faculty of Graduate Studies鈥� Faculty Teaching Award

Presentation
2025-2026:
Professor Mary Goitom, Graduate Programs in Development Studies, and Social Work

3. Minutes (Previous Meeting April 2, 2026) (.docx)

4. Business Arising from the Minutes

5. Dean's Remarks

Dean Alice MacLachlan

6. Changes to Faculty Regulations:  Graduate Supervision, and Policy on Appointments to the Faculty of Graduate Studies

For discussion
Associate Dean Academic, Cheryl van Daalen-Smith
Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs, Wes Moir
Proposal (.docx)

7. Summer Authority

For approval
Motion: 鈥渢hat all items that need Council approval be delegated to the FGS Academic Planning & Policy Committee after the last meeting of Council in this academic year and until the first meeting of Council in the next academic year.鈥�

8. Report of the Nominating Committee

For information
Associate Dean Academic, Cheryl van Daalen-Smith
Report (.pdf)

9. Reports from Faculty of Graduate Studies' Representatives to Senate Committees

Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, Senate Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee
Anne MacLennan, Senate Academic Policy, Planning and Research Committee
Naomi Couto, Senate Executive Committee

10. Student Electronic Communication Policy

For information
Associate Dean Students Tokunbo Ojo
Policy (.pdf)

11. Senate Synopses

Summaries of Senate meetings of March 26 and April 23, 2026 (URL, .pdf)

12. Other Business

Awards Committee

Gordon Fitch, Graduate Program in Biology
Dr. Gordon Fitch is, since 2023, Assistant Professor of Pollination Ecology in the Biology Department and an executive member of 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. His research addresses the role of environmental stressors, particularly urbanization, disease, and agricultural intensification, in structuring interactions between plants and pollinating insects, particularly bees. His lab integrates community ecology, chemical ecology, and physiology, using a combination of field work, mesocosm and greenhouse experiments, and lab studies. He teaches undergraduate courses in Population Ecology and Community Ecology, with an emphasis on data analysis and critical thinking. At the graduate level, he has taught the seminars Critical Skills in Ecology and Evolution and Current Topics in Ecology and Evolution. Gordon is currently supervising four MSc students, three of which will graduate this year. His mentorship emphasizes career stage-appropriate development of independence as a researcher and a strong professional network both within and beyond academia. Gordon received his PhD from the University of Michigan, and was a US National Science Foundation postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Prior to becoming an ecologist, Gordon worked as an environmental educator and high school science teacher, and he is committed to public engagement, advocacy and activism that promotes the equitable flourishing of ecological and human diversity.

Divya Sharma, Graduate Programs in Health, and Mathematics & Statistics
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at 91亚色, with cross-appointments at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and as a Scientist at the University Health Network (UHN). I lead the , where my research focuses on interpretable deep learning and multimodal AI for complex healthcare data. My work has been published in journals including Nature Communications and The Lancet Digital Health and supported through more than $4 million in competitive funding from CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC as PI or co-PI. I was honoured to receive the 2025 Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award at 91亚色.

In addition, I regularly provide consultations across UHN clinical teams on machine learning/ statistics and am a founding member of the Bias in AI and Oncology initiative at UHN. I am also affiliated with Connected Minds, the Centre for AI and Society, and the Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for Public Health Advancement (AIPHA) at 91亚色. I serve as an adjudicator for national funding competitions including CIHR and NFRF and participate in Knowledge Mobilization Grants adjudication within Connected Minds, as well as tenure adjudication in my department at 91亚色. I have experience mentoring graduate students across 91亚色 and the University of Toronto across multiple disciplines. Through these roles, I have developed a strong appreciation for evaluating excellence across diverse disciplines and forms of scholarship. I would be pleased to contribute these perspectives to the FGS Awards Committee. 

James Simeon, Graduate Program in Public Policy, Administration & Law
Dr. James C. Simeon is a Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA), Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, and a former Head of McLaughlin College, Director of the SPPA, and a former Acting Director and Deputy Director at the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS), at 91亚色, Toronto, Canada. James serves currently as the Vice-President of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS). He is also a past-President of CARFMS, a member of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC). James鈥檚 areas of research include international refugee law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and public policy and administration and he has published widely in these areas. He is on the Editorial Board of the online journal Laws. And he is a graduate of King鈥檚 College and a life member of Clare Hall, at the University of Cambridge.

Prior to joining the faculty at 91亚色, James served as the first Executive Director of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges, now the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges (IARMJ). He is currently an Associate Member of the IARMJ and serves as the Coordinator of its Inter-Conference Working Party Process. He is also one of the founding members of the IARMJ Americas Chapter.

N.B.: This meeting will be held in person.

1. Welcome and Chair鈥檚 Remarks

Chair Mike Zryd

2. Supporting Indigenous Graduate Students

Presentation
Gasw茅帽dah 鈥� A Framework for Graduate Supervision with Indigenous Graduate Students (.pdf)
Dr. Ruth Green

3. Minutes (Minutes of Previous Meeting March 5, 2026) (.docx)

4. Business Arising from the Minutes

5. Dean's Remarks

Dean Alice MacLachlan

6. Changes to Faculty Regulations: Leave to Appeal

For approval
Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs Wes Moir
Motion (.docx)

7. Changes to Faculty Regulations: Oral Examination Guidelines and Reporting of Results

For approval
Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs Wes Moir
Motion (.docx) New file as amended at the meeting

8. Reports from Faculty of Graduate Studies' Representatives to Senate Committees

Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, Senate Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee
Anne MacLennan, Senate Academic Policy, Planning and Research Committee
Naomi Couto, Senate Executive Committee

9. Senate Synopsis

Summary of Senate meeting of February 26, 2026 (URL, .pdf)

10. Other Business

This meeting will be held remotely via Zoom. The link and password to join the meeting may be found via the meeting鈥檚 email notice.

1. Welcome and Chair鈥檚 Remarks

Chair Mike Zryd

2. Division of Equity, People and Culture

Presentation (.pdf)
Parissa Safai, Vice-President Equity, People & Culture

3. Launch of the Graduate Student Certificate in Decolonization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEDIA)

Presentation
Guests: Dalia El Farra, Advisor, Education & Communications, and Oliver Martin, Director Workplace Restoration & Culture, Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Inclusion

4. Minutes (Minutes of Previous Meeting February 5, 2026) (.docx)

5. Dean's Remarks

Dean Alice MacLachlan

6. The Graduate Supervision Capacity-Building Professional Development Fund

Associate Dean Academic Cheryl van Daalen-Smith
Supervision toolkit capacity-building fund (URL, pdf)

7. Changes to Faculty Regulations: Leave to Appeal

For discussion
Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs Wes Moir
Motion (.docx)

8. University Academic Plan

For discussion
Presentation (.pptx)
Dean Alice MacLachlan
University Academic Plan 2025-2030 Consultations聽(URL, pdf)

9. Reports from Faculty of Graduate Studies' Representatives to Senate Committees

Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, Senate Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee
Anne MacLennan, Senate Academic Policy, Planning and Research Committee
Naomi Couto, Senate Executive Committee

10. Other Business