2024–25 Annual Report: Dean's Advisory Committee on Indigenous Research, Teaching and Learning

PTR Consultations and Pilot

Academic HR, in partnership with the Centre for Indigenous Studies, will launch a revised Annual Activity Report (AAR) as part of the PTR process for all CIS-appointed and cross-appointed faculty in spring 2024. The pilot revisions, which are anticipated to roll-out for all academic units in 2025/2026, are based on consultations and regular dialogue over two years between the IRTL, Vice-Dean, Faculty and Academic Life, and Academic HR. These consultations served to identify ways in which the PTR process could be amended to better reflect the scholarship, service and teaching contributions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty engaged in Indigenous research and teaching. The revised AAR is accompanied by compendium guidance to explain evaluation criteria that has been revised or expanded upon. Early feedback, particularly from Indigenous and non-Indigenous teaching-stream faculty, indicates that the changes bring clarity and an opportunity to better reflect their teaching and scholarship.

Indigenous Curriculum Working Group (ICWG), January–December 2024

Comprised of current and past members from the IRTL and Indigenous curricular experts from the wider university community, the ICWG was tasked with developing a strategy to effect five-of-the-twenty Calls to Action related to: curricular transformation and related resources (Call to Action 11, Call to Action 19); experiential learning and Indigenous language revitalization (Call to Action 16, 17); and communicating opportunities (Call to Action 12).

The Working Group’s extensive consultation resulted in recommendations that address a range of issues, including gaps in curriculum development supports, the reflection of priorities related to Indigenous teaching and learning in unit-level planning and quality assurance processes, the evaluation of new and redesigned programs, and aligning support for Indigenous language priorities in partnership with the Centre for Indigenous Studies. All recommendations were accepted by the Faculty Management Table in January 2025, and implementation is ongoing.

The full list of the ICWG’s recommendations is included as Appendix I.

Launch of Indigenous Experiential Learning Fund

The Office of Experiential Learning and Outreach Support (ELOS), in close partnership with the IRTL has restructured and thereby expanded upon Indigenous experiential and land-based course offerings through the Indigenous Experiential Learning Fund (IELF), a suite of four programs designed to enhance opportunities for Indigenous experiential learning at A&S and support respectful reciprocal experiential learning partnerships with Indigenous communities and organizations.

Results from the first round of funding in 2024 are promising with the fund supporting nine courses, reaching approximately 120 students. The IELF is also supporting partnership development with four Indigenous partners that have the potential to bring more curricular experiential learning opportunities to A&S students in the future. These results compare favorably to the relatively limited efficacy of previous funding programs offered between 2015–23, which led to a total of 52 students participating in Indigenous-related experiential learning during that period.

Launch of Fund for Indigenous Research Excellence

The Arts & Science Fund for Indigenous Research Excellence (A&S FIRE) launched in Spring 2024 following discussions with A&S Research Services and the IRTL in 2023–24. A&S FIRE supports faculty-led research taking place in partnership with Indigenous organizations and communities, on Indigenous territories and/or about Indigenous lands.

Features of A&S FIRE that either augment or address gaps in other research funding opportunities, include:

• Support for partnerships in various stages of development, including early engagement with Indigenous peoples and communities.
• Funding for costs unique to Indigenous community engagement not covered by other research grants.
• An emphasis on supporting Indigenous faculty members applying for the fund, including Indigenous teaching-stream faculty.
• Application review by external Indigenous community members, recognizing that relevant expertise exists outside U of T, and that Indigenous faculty are often over-prescribed with committee work.

Recruitment

As a major area of focus, the IRTL convened several discussions on Indigenous student, staff and faculty recruitment in 2024–25. A key action item arising from these discussions was the implementation of an upper-year Indigenous student residence guarantee for all A&S college residences, which went live in May 2025. This guarantee is intended to help address concerns around safety and security for Indigenous students and their families following feedback received by students as part of the Sharing Circles Report: Impacts of Covid-19 on Indigenous Undergraduate and Graduate Students. As a recruitment tool, it may be promoted by both central and A&S recruitment and admissions teams, as well as colleges, and complements the Indigenous Tuition Initiative by supporting the fulfilment of Indigenous students’ basic needs once they arrive on campus. The guarantee enables A&S to standardize and promote a practice already in place at many of the colleges.

Indigenous Undergraduate Peer Mentorship Program at First Nations House

In 2024, the Dean’s Office offered to provide financial support to establish an Indigenous undergraduate student peer mentorship program at First Nations House, Indigenous Student Services (FNH) for period of two years. This followed discussions with the IRTL and A&S leadership about the fulfilment of ITL Call to Action #9, concerned with expanding the “network of available Elders and Traditional Healers who are knowledgeable in their Indigenous languages and cultures to provide spiritual and cultural support for students.” Our analysis showed that this Call to Action did not align operationally, in terms of existing student services at A&S, or more broadly, in terms of how the division understands its responsibilities in relation to our Indigenous partners, especially those in student services.

Although the peer mentorship role departs from a literal interpretation of Call to Action #9, it supports the findings of an environmental scan conducted by FNH. This scan of Indigenous student services at U-15 universities and beyond, showed that a more pressing student service need at FNH was for academic peer mentorship programming for Indigenous undergraduate students. The environmental scan outlined that the creation of such a program would complement existing staff positions and enhance capacity in other areas, such as academic and financial advising, and referrals to Elders and other services. With the establishment of an Indigenous peer mentorship program, Arts & Science has also supported the fulfilment of Weecheehetowin Call to Action 30 in partnership with Student Services and the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students.

The long anticipated new building project that will become a permanent home for the Centre for Indigenous Studies, Office of Indigenous Initiatives and First Nations House passed a major milestone in 2024: Terms of Reference for the Project Planning Committee were approved by the CaPS Executive on November 29, 2024. This makes the project an official project of U of T, bringing the vision for an Indigenous hub centrally located on the St. George campus much closer to being realized.

Improving Our Web Presence and Gathering our Little Shoes

An important aspect of Reconciliation commitments at A&S is public communication on progress towards fulfilling the ITL Report Calls to Action as these were catalyzed by a public inquiry into the Indian Residential School System and the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given this public dimension, it is incumbent on A&S to foster dialogue on our commitments and to motivate wider participation in the work of Calls to Action across the division. Access to this dialogue is key in both in-person and digital spaces. As a starting point, we have improved our web presence to ensure that faculty, students and staff have access to information about our progress and to resources that support Indigenous research, teaching, and learning.

In 2024, the IRTL partnered with University College to provide the Arts & Science community with an in-person update on our progress towards fulfilling the Calls to Action. The “Gathering Our Little Shoes” event on September 24, 2024, provided an opportunity to enact our commitment to ongoing, public-facing engagement. As part of a panel discussion, faculty, staff and students reflected on how engagement in the work of Reconciliation had transformed their awareness and commitment to embedding these priorities in their own work, programming and scholarship. Following the discussion, a Round Dance was held in the UC Quadrangle, led by Professor Verne Ross, with hand drummers Jordan Mowat, Nathan Roy and Jayden Wemigwans.

Many challenges remain that impact our ability to make progress on key issues, including:

• Indigenous faculty, many of whom are junior faculty, are oversubscribed in terms of committee work and other forms of service to the university.
• Faculty lines in Indigenous language revitalization were established as teaching-stream appointments, rather than as tenure-stream appointments, and therefore our students do not get the privilege of being able to have these expert faculty supervise their PhD dissertations.
• While there has been some progress on Indigenous faculty recruitment, Indigenous staff recruitment requires more attention and potential collaboration between A&S Human Resources and the Division of People Strategy, Equity and Culture.

1. Building on the 2020-25 A&S Academic Plan, the next iteration of the Academic Plan should clarify the distinction between divisional approaches to supporting Indigenous research, teaching and learning as matters of Indigenous self-determination and reconciliation and A&S initiatives in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). This will clarify for academic units, faculty and staff that divisional responsibilities and opportunities in relation to Indigenous research, teaching and learning are separate but equally valued matters of strategic importance.
2. The Dean’s Office and A&S units should leverage the Academic Planning review process to effect positive curricular transformation as it concerns Indigenous ways of knowing and engagement with Indigenous communities. Specifically, when units engage with the University of Toronto Quality Assurance Process (UTQAP), they should be encouraged by A&S Academic Planning to take the opportunity to use the Self-Study, Program Learning Outcomes and the Unit-Level Plan to address Indigenous-related curricular transformation in discipline-specific ways.
3. To support units in this endeavor during the UTQAP review process, A&S Academic Planning should provide units with opportunities to benefit from Indigenous expertise and feedback regarding their Indigenous curriculum initiatives. Currently there are gaps and limited coordination of Indigenous curricular expertise, which the next two recommendations aim to address (#4 & #5).
4. A&S Dean’s Office academic leadership and staff should partner with the IRTL to host a regular caucus on Indigenous curricular innovation in A&S, inviting partners from divisional and institutional offices as appropriate, to discuss existing and emerging needs regarding curricular transformation, including staffing needs and collaboration, and referral protocols.
5. The A&S Dean’s Office should institute a forum to collect information and share discipline-specific best practices on Indigenous curricular transformation at A&S. These best practices can be oriented by the “markers of success” noted in the proposed outcomes below, as these point to the material and relational impacts of curricular transformation.
6. The next iteration of the Academic Plan should align with Indigenous language revitalization priorities as articulated in the Centre for Indigenous Studies’ Unit-Level Plan.
7. Experiential Learning & Outreach Support should develop a program evaluation framework for the Indigenous Experiential Learning Fund in partnership with the IRTL, based on a four-year cycle.
8. When developing an A&S IRTL Communication Strategy, focus should be placed on raising awareness of relevant and up-to-date Indigenous-related courses, programs, experiential learning and other curricular initiatives for current and prospective students, at the level of faculty, departmental and program communications.