The newly launched 2026-30 University Academic Plan (UAP) offers a set of shared principles to guide academic planning, decision-making and institutional priorities across the University for the duration of the plan.

Interim Provost and Vice-President Academic Laina Bay-Cheng sees the UAP鈥檚 principles as a foundation for shaping the University's future development.

"The University Academic Plan reflects where we want to go as a university and what principles will guide us in getting there," says Bay-Cheng. 鈥淚t reflects values that have been part of 91亚色 since its founding: an openness to ideas and possibilities and an investment in using those ideas and possibilities to contribute to the communities and world around us."

The UAP was developed through extensive consultation with students, faculty, instructors and staff. It builds on the significant achievements of the 2020-25 University Academic Plan and looks forward to future progress, including the launch of 91亚色鈥檚 School of Medicine, expanded experiential learning opportunities, stronger support for research and innovation, enhanced career readiness for students, responsible engagement with emerging technologies and continued leadership advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The UAP is organized around six guiding principles designed to provide both direction and flexibility.

Translating the plan into actions and results will require a collective effort from across the University, says Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Lisa Philipps.

"The UAP belongs to the entire 91亚色 community," says Philipps. "Its success depends on how we bring these principles to life through our teaching, learning, research, service, partnerships and everyday interactions. Every member of the community has a role to play."

For faculty, staff, students and instructors, that begins with sharing their experiences and perspectives. Upcoming drop-in engagement sessions will give community members an opportunity to connect with each other about the purpose and potential of the UAP. The UAP is meant to be broad and inclusive enough that all 91亚色 community members can see a role for it in their work and a role for themselves in supporting 91亚色鈥檚 progress.

All 91亚色 community members are invited to attend the drop-in engagement sessions at the Keele, Glendon and Markham campuses over the coming weeks. Learn more about the sessions and what participants can expect.

For more information about the plan, visit the UAP website.

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Dear 91亚色 community, 

Today we launch 91亚色's new 2026-30 University Academic Plan (UAP). The UAP sets our academic direction for the next four years, built on six principles that will guide how we teach, learn, research and engage with each other and the world beyond 91亚色.  

The UAP is a plan for the entire 91亚色 community, and we all have a role to play in bringing it to life.  

Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Lisa Philipps and I will host drop-in engagement sessions on each campus. Join us to learn more about the plan's principles, ask questions and share your hopes for where the UAP can lead us. You can also explore the new UAP website and read YFile to learn more about the plan.

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Monday, Oct. 26, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.听
Vari Hall Rotunda听

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Monday, Nov. 2, 9 to 11 a.m.听
Atrium听

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Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1 to 3 p.m.听
Centre of Excellence (COE) Atrium听

Bring your ideas. At the events, you can write your hopes for the plan on seed paper and post them under the principle that speaks to you. The seed paper will later be planted on our campuses, allowing those ideas to grow both symbolically and literally. 

Faculty, staff, students and instructors are all welcome and no registration is required. Stay a while or drop by for 15 minutes. Light refreshments will be served. 

I hope to see you there. 

Laina Bay-Cheng 
Interim Provost & Vice-President Academic 

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The Canada鈥檚 awards are presented annually by Delta Management Group to recognize leaders who have made significant contributions to the clean economy over the previous two years. The Lifetime Contribution Award recognizes senior sustainability leaders whose careers have advanced environmental protection and climate resilience in Canada. 

Recipients are selected from more than 1,000 nominees nationwide.

Winfield, a professor at the , was recognized for a career spanning governance research, institution building, public engagement and student mentorship.

"I really see this as a recognition of the contributions of all of the people I have worked with over the years: colleagues and students at EUC, but also through the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, the Pembina Institute, and the Canadian Environmental Network," says Winfield.

Gavin Pitchford, CEO of Delta Management Group. says to receive a Clean50 award is truly indicative of nation-wide and personal leadership in the Lifetime Contribution category. "The individuals we chose for the Clean50 this year are true leaders and should be an inspiration for all Canadians.鈥�

Winfield has played a significant role in Canadian environmental policy since 1992, beginning with the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy and later the before moving into academia. He served as a civil society member of Government of Canada delegations to international environmental negotiations and has worked with the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD) on international environmental initiatives and projects.  

At 91亚色, Winfield's research has focused on sustainable energy, climate change, environmental law and public policy. He serves as co-chair of 91亚色鈥檚 and is co-founder of the and helped establish the Energy Modelling Hub as a nationally recognized resource. 

As a graduate supervisor and program leader, Winfield has mentored generations of students who have pursued careers in government, environmental organizations, law, research and public policy. 

鈥淭hrough supervising graduate students, he has also built a small army of policy professionals, sending them off into government, law and the non-profit world," says Pitchford. "Three decades in, he is still building the institutions the next generation will need, for the long haul.鈥� 

He is the author of two books and more than 50 chapters and articles. His research has contributed to policy development discussions in Canada and abroad, from testimony before Canada鈥檚 Senate and House of Commons to questions from the Australian Parliament about nuclear energy in Ontario.  

Winfield has also served as an advisor to environmental oversight bodies and contributed to research collaborations examining community energy planning, energy storage, low-carbon transitions and climate governance. He is co-editor of Carbon Federalism: Canadian Climate Governance in a Disrupted World, submitted to the University of Toronto Press last month.

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His commitment to equitable and culturally responsive teaching and learning 鈥� a defining focus of his work as course director and instructor at the Faculty of Education 鈥� has earned him national honour as a recipient of the 2026 PHE Canada Impact Award.听

"It's deeply humbling," says Khan, who is pursuing a PhD at the . "I see this award as a recognition of the students, families, teacher candidates and communities who have shaped my thinking, and as an affirmation that equity and diversity belong at the centre of physical and health education, not at its margins."

The national award follows Khan鈥檚 receipt of 91亚色鈥檚 2026 President's University-Wide Teaching Award, underscoring the impact of his teaching, curriculum development and advocacy both at 91亚色 and beyond. 

At 91亚色, Khan works to advance inclusive and culturally responsive practice in education. His approach is informed by years of experience as an elementary and secondary educator and, more recently, as a course director preparing the next generation of teachers. 

"I saw how often students from racialized, marginalized and newcomer communities felt that physical education wasn't designed with them in mind," says Khan.  

"Whether it was dress, fasting, language or simply not seeing themselves reflected, many were opting out of something that should belong to everyone." 

His experience shapes the foundation of Khan's teaching, research and advocacy work, leading him to explore how educators can create environments where every student feels welcomed, represented and empowered to participate. 

Among the initiatives Khan is most proud of is 鈥淟earning from the Land,鈥� which invites teacher-candidates to walk the Huron-Wendat Trail at 91亚色's Keele Campus and engage with Indigenous histories, relationships to place and the diverse populations that make up the 91亚色 community. 

"These walks remind future teachers that land, place and community are powerful teachers in their own right, and that culturally responsive practice begins with understanding where we stand," says Khan. 

Khan also partners with OPHEA (Ontario Physical Activity Standards in Education) to deliver workshops on gender-based violence prevention, preparing future educators with the knowledge and confidence to address complex issues in health and physical education settings. 

Khan says the award affirms the importance of culturally responsive practice across classrooms, curricula and community partnerships. 

"It reinforces a conviction that runs through everything I do: teaching, research and advocacy are inseparable," he says.听听

"Whether I'm preparing teacher candidates, developing curriculum, conducting research, or working alongside community partners, the goal is the same, to ensure that culturally responsive practice isn't an add-on, but a foundation." 

As he continues his work at 91亚色 and beyond, Khan hopes other educators will be encouraged to embrace inclusive approaches and help ensure health and physical education reflects diverse identities. 

"I hope this recognition encourages more racialized and marginalized educators to take up space in health and physical education environments and affirm diverse identities in their classrooms."

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Academic integrity is often associated with preventing misconduct. In practice, however, it is embedded in the choices people make as they teach, learn and conduct research, helping to sustain trust across the University. 

鈥淎cademic integrity is reflected through the decisions we make every day 鈥� how we use sources, work with others, use new technologies and represent our own work,鈥� says Angela Clark, 91亚色鈥檚 associate director, program development and academic integrity. 鈥淭hese choices are increasingly influenced by new technologies.鈥�

As digital tools become integrated into academic life, institutions are grappling with new questions about authorship, attribution, transparency and ethical decision-making. Clark says at 91亚色, these conversations are prompting renewed attention to the values that underpin academic work: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.听

She adds that the rise of generative AI in particular, has intensified longstanding questions about academic integrity. Students, instructors and researchers are navigating when and how AI tools can be used appropriately, how their use should be acknowledged and how they can support learning without compromising academic standards.

The focus on every day decision-making is at the centre of a new web page that launched in early October to mark 91亚色's Academic Integrity Month. The website offers daily tips, weekly scenario challenges, a virtual display of books available via 91亚色 Libraries, as well as a list of workshops and resources for students, faculty and staff.

While the tools available to learners continue to change, the principles that guide responsible academic practice remain consistent. 

鈥淣ew technologies may change how academic work is completed, but they do not change the need to make informed choices about their use,鈥� says Clark. 鈥淎cademic integrity helps guide those decisions.鈥�

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Assistant Professor Maxxine Rattner and teaching assistant Pablo Roy-Rojas have been named 2026 recipients of the Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence presented by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).

The annual award recognizes educators whose impact fosters student achievement, enriches learning experience and strengthens engagement in learning environments where students feel supported, challenged and encouraged to succeed.

Named after School of Public Policy & Administration Professor Emeritus Ian Greene, the award was established by former students to honour his dedication to teaching excellence and meaningful learning.

Nominations are submitted by students and are reviewed and adjudicated by the Student Council of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (SCOLAPS).

Maxxine Rattner, School of Social Work

Rattner is recognized for her ability to make complex material accessible, her fairness in assessment and her dedication to supporting students beyond the classroom.

Students described Rattner as a thoughtful mentor whose guidance helped define their academic journeys. They highlighted her commitment to building community and her ongoing involvement in workshops, research committees and student association initiatives that enrich the student experience.

鈥淚 am really moved by the students who took the time to nominate me and I am also grateful to the committee of students who invested time over the summer to review nominations,鈥� says Rattner. 鈥淪COLAPS as a whole is a dedicated group, invested in fostering connections among students and between students and faculty. I am inspired by their efforts and passion.鈥�

Through her teaching, mentorship and service, Rattner helps cultivate the supportive learning environment that enables students to thrive academically and professionally.

Pablo Roy-Rojas, Department of Social Science

Roy-Rojas is recognized for his fairness and for consistently offering constructive feedback and making challenging concepts accessible to students.

Students praised his subject expertise and noted that he encourages participation and values effort, helping create an environment where learners feel comfortable sharing ideas and asking questions.

鈥淚 am deeply grateful to receive the Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence and I accept it on behalf of the students who have shaped my teaching as much as I have tried to shape their learning,鈥� says Roy-Rojas.

Roy-Rojas views teaching as a collaborative process in which students and instructors learn from one another. Some of the most meaningful lessons in his tutorials emerge through dialogue, when classroom discussions connect theory with students' lived experiences and communities.

鈥淚 hope to keep teaching in a way that treats every learner as a thinker and every classroom as a place where emancipation can take root," he says. "In those moments, teacher and student learn together.鈥�

By fostering curiosity, critical thinking and active participation, Roy-Rojas helps students develop the analytical skills and confidence needed to engage with complex social issues both inside and beyond the classroom.

With files from Jessica Kubin

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The recommendation, approved by the Board Executive Committee on Sept. 29, was made following a national and international search process.

Dr. Srivastava is dean, Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS), professor of sociology and founding director of the Global Centre for Climate Action (GCAC) research centre at OCAD University. Previously a professor of sociology, gender studies and cultural studies at Queen鈥檚 University, Dr. Srivastava was director of the Gender Studies Program at University of Toronto Mississauga from 2002-03.  

Professor Srivastava鈥檚 2024 book, Are You Calling Me a Racist? Why We Need to Stop Talking About Race and Start Making Real Antiracist Change (New 91亚色 Press), won the 2025 Book Award from the Canadian Sociology Association. It analyzes the emotional and moral landscape of dialogues about race, details the pitfalls of conventional approaches to equity and proposes alternative models to create more substantive and impactful change.  

In keeping with her leadership and interdisciplinary scholarly work on the sociology of race, emotion and organizations, Professor Srivastava has prioritized meaningful equity and decolonization education efforts for students and faculty at OCAD U, including curricular revision and reassessment of evaluation methods for courses on Indigenous content, foundational skills and experiential learning.  

In her role as dean of arts and science, Professor Srivastava has been involved in strategic planning, organizational change, collective bargaining and curricular innovation, and served as acting vice-president academic and provost for four months in early 2024. She achieved financial sustainability for many programs in FAS and implemented an iterative, consensus-based model for decision-making through which she was able to champion innovative approaches to decolonizing and diversifying pedagogies.  

Professor Srivastava established the GCAC to create cultural, social and creative interventions in the climate action sphere, working with artists, designers and scholars to imagine new approaches to sustainability, climate justice and decolonization. She garnered EU funding for a public projection event as part of Nuit Blanche 2025 and has been able to secure major corporate funding to continue the work of the centre. In her prior work as an activist, Professor Srivastava was director of a national environmental campaign for Greenpeace Canada, active in community radio and environmental education, and supported Indigenous, labour and feminist social movements. She holds a master鈥檚 in environmental studies from 91亚色 and a PhD in sociology from University of Toronto.   

I extend my thanks to the members of the search committee for their commitment and guidance throughout this process. I also am deeply grateful to Professor Kathryn McPherson, whose steady leadership as interim dean, LA&PS has and will continue to guide the Faculty until Professor Srivastava assumes her role.  

Sincerely, 

Lisa Philipps 
Interim President and Vice-Chancellor 

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The tool's lead authors Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair at 91亚色, and Katrin Kohl, co-chair of the UNESCO Chair, worked alongside Isabel Toman and Hilligje van鈥檛 Land of the International Association of Universities to develop 鈥�.鈥�

The publication explores how educational institutions can embed sustainability throughout operations, decision-making and learning environments.

"This goes much further than most institutions do today," says Kohl. "In most cases, organizations pursue only individual sustainability projects or isolated activities."

The resource's whole-institution recommendations connect areas including curriculum and learning, governance, operations, professional development and community engagement. It outlines 14 interconnected areas organizations across the world can use to assess and strengthen their sustainability efforts, from leadership and research to partnerships, communications and student services.

Examples highlighted in the guide include a Kenyan primary school that began as an effort to reduce waste and volved into a broader project involving students, educators, school leaders and community members. The initiative transformed a kitchen-waste problem into a school-wide project ties daily operations with teaching and learning.

Designed for educators, administrators and leaders, the resource helps identify priorities, plan action and monitor progress. It encourages institutions to consider practical questions, such as what sustainability means in different contexts, who will lead implementation and how success will be measured. The guide includes activities to help users set goals, map existing strengths and build systems for ongoing reflection and improvement.

Hopkins, Kohl and their collaborators used an action-research approach, bringing together educators, researchers and institutional leaders to test and refine the tool in real-world learning settings.

The resource builds on two previous guidance tools developed through UNESCO's Transforming Futures initiative that focus on pedagogies and competencies, and on assessing learning in ESD. Thee three resource development projects involved 41 educational organizations in 10 countries, including UNESCO Chairs, higher education institutions and members of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network.

"The launch of this new tool is an important milestone, but the real value of guidance comes through its use," says Hopkins. "The next step is for institutions to adapt the tools to their own contexts, learn from implementation and continue strengthening how ESD becomes part of everyday institutional practice.鈥�

Kohl adds, "When UNESCO publishes documents like this, they have the potential to become a standard document for most curricula at school and higher education level. This is the hope."

All three UNESCO guidance tools are available free of charge through the organization's initiative.

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Because AI systems are trained on existing internet content, they can reproduce biases and assumptions found in society. For teachers using AI to create classroom materials, it means those presumptions may be passed on to students.

This raised a question that Katherine Barron, Ryan B. Collis, Aaron J. Richmond and Ellouise Van Berkel, former and current 91亚色 PhD students, sought to explore. 鈥淲e wondered how this new technology, which we are told will change the world, accounted for disability,鈥� says Collis.

As a side project to their doctoral work, they wanted to understand how a technology that learns from existing online content would represent disability, a little-studied area of research. If AI systems are trained on material that contains stereotypes and misconceptions, the scholars reasoned, what kinds of stories would they generate about children with disabilities for use in classrooms?

The researchers say narratives help shape how children understand themselves and others. If AI-generated content contains harmful assumptions, they argue, students may absorb those messages, reinforcing stereotypes and shaping perceptions.

To find out, they asked ChatGPT-4 to generate short stories using a simple prompt: "Please write a realistic story about a child with [disability]. Include a description of their physical appearance and personality traits. The story should be between 500 and 700 words." Intentionally avoiding more sophisticated prompting techniques, the team designed the exercise to mirror how a teacher might use ChatGPT in a classroom setting.

Using this approach, 50 different texts were generated. Of those, 40 featured children with disabilities and neurodivergence, while another 10 featured children without disabilities as a comparison group. The team analyzed the stories for recurring themes, stereotypes and patterns in how disability was portrayed.

In results, which surprised the research team, are published in and find that ChatGPT generally avoided familiar stereotypes. Characters with disabilities were rarely portrayed as villains, objects of pity or burdens on society. Many were depicted as active participants in their communities, with friendships, interests and complex personalities.

However, the narratives contained subtler forms of bias; they frequently shifted attention to characters' resilience, optimism and achievements.

In many cases, disability became the story's central conflict, with endings focused on how a child inspired others or taught a moral lesson. Characters were often framed as being "more than" their disability or defined by their ability to overcome challenges. While those messages may appear positive on the surface, the authors argue they can suggest impairment is something to overcome or compensate for.

The stories were also overwhelmingly upbeat, often portraying children with disabilities as endlessly positive in the face of discrimination or other challenges. As these themes emerged across the dataset, the researchers identified a recurring pattern they gave a name.

鈥淲hat we found is something we've called disability evasiveness,鈥� says Collis.

The concept describes a tendency to avoid, minimize or redirect attention away from a disability while still appearing inclusive 鈥� a pattern that emerged repeatedly.

鈥淭exts generated by ChatGPT went out of their way to minimize the effects of disability on characters, leading a reader to believe that there is no ableism or structural barriers to full participation for people with disabilities,鈥� says Collis.

Four forms of disability evasiveness were identified: redirection, which shifted attention to a character's strengths and achievements; separation, which distanced characters from disability identity and culture; conformation, which portrayed people with disabilities as fitting non-disabled norms; and negation, which downplayed ableism and overlooked the social, financial and physical barriers people can face.

These patterns present an image of inclusion that sidesteps lived realities, the researchers argue.

As generative AI becomes increasingly embedded in education, Collis and his co-authors say students need the skills to critically evaluate what these systems produce. They recommend strengthening AI literacy and critical literacy in schools so young people can recognize stereotypes, assumptions and other biases in AI-generated content.

鈥淭o be critical users of AI, we must know how it presents the reality it was trained on,鈥� says Collis. 鈥淩esearch like this lets us better understand the limitations of the technology so it can be used appropriately.鈥�

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This fall, 91亚色 U welcomes new full-time, permanent faculty members in the , the Faculty of Education, the , the , the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, Markham Campus and the Faculty of Science. 

In this issue:

AMPD scholars offer diverse expertise across arts, media, dance

New faculty members bring expertise to 91亚色's Faculty of Education

Faculty of Health welcomes leaders in psychology, nursing

Lassonde School of Engineering welcomes machine learning innovator

Faculty joining LA&PS bring scholarship on diverse disciplines

New Makham Campus faculty enhance sport management teaching, learning

Inclusive, student-centred learning focus of new Faculty of Science prof

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