The Office of the Dean invites new and continuing Arts & Science chairs, academic directors & principals to attend the Academic Leadership Sessions.

The 2025–26 session descriptions are below. Please register for any and all sessions you find of interest using the links below.

For more information, please contact the A&S Faculty Development team: facultydev.artsci@utoronto.ca.

Fall 2025 Academic Leaders’ Series

The sessions in this series focus on Arts & Science-specific practices and policies and provide relevant information at key points throughout the year. All sessions will take place in person on Friday mornings in the Dean’s Conference Room, Sidney Smith Hall, Room 2014 (unless noted otherwise).

Register for fall sessions

Budget and Finance at the Unit

This session will focus on Faculty budgeting mechanisms and their application to unit-level budget allocations. Copies of your respective unit’s budget will be shared. Please consider inviting your business officer to attend as well (however, the session is not intended for business officers alone).

While in-person attendance is preferred, this session will run in a hybrid format due to the new processes and wider relevance of this session for this year.

Facilitators:

  • Horatio Bot, Executive Director, Faculty Budget, Planning & Finance Office
  • George Taylor, Director, Faculty Budget & Finance
  • Lisa-Ann Leung, Senior Finance Officer, Base Budget & Financial Operations

Leading Practices in Faculty Recruitment

This session will discuss effective practices relating to recruitment and retention of faculty, with particular attention to recruiting and retaining diverse faculty.

Facilitators:

  • Mikael Swayze, Director, Academic HR
  • Bharat Saini, Director, EDI

The Faculty Appointments Committee (FAC)

This session will provide an overview of the role of the Faculty Appointments Committee (FAC), including a review of factors considered by the FAC in evaluating requests for new appointments and the Tableau data that inform the process.

Facilitators:

  • Mikael Swayze, Director, Academic Human Resources
  • Tamara Trojanowska, Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life
  • Mubin Merchant, Director, Planning, Data & Analysis

The Promotion Process

This session will review the promotion process, as well as the Chair/Director’s role in reviewing and communicating readiness for promotion to faculty members.

Facilitators:

  • Melissa Rotundo, Assistant Director, Academic Human Resources
  • Tamara Trojanowska, Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life

Tenure Review — Completing the Process

This session will focus on the latter half of the tenure review process. This includes convening the committees, documentation collection and dissemination, and compiling and submitting the completed tenure dossier to Academic HR.

Facilitators:

  • Mikael Swayze, Director, Academic Human Resources
  • Tamara Trojanowska, Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life

Supporting Teaching & Experiential Learning in Arts & Science

This session will provide an overview of the services and resources provided by the Faculty of Arts & Science's Teaching & Learning and Experiential Learning & Outreach Support teams, including support for pedagogical innovation and experimentation, grant and fellowship applications, teaching awards, and experiential learning supports and initiatives.

Facilitators:

  • Vicki Lowes, Executive Director, Experiential Learning & Professional Development
  • Erin Macnab, Director, Academic Operations & Strategic Initiatives
  • Colin McMahon, Associate Director, Experiential Learning
  • Alexandra Logue, Assistant Director, Teaching & Learning Initiatives

Continuing Status Review (CSR)

This session will review all parts of the Continuing Status Review (CSR) process.

Facilitators:

  • Mikael Swayze, Director, Academic Human Resources
  • Tamara Trojanowska, Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life

Winter/Spring 2026 Academic Leaders’ Series

The sessions in this series focus on Arts & Science-specific practices and policies and provide relevant information at key points throughout the year. All sessions will take place in person in the Dean’s Conference Room, Sidney Smith Hall, Room 2014.

Register for winter/spring sessions

Supporting Research in A&S

This session will focus on the role of the Vice-Dean, Research and Infrastructure in supporting Chairs and Directors with the achievement of academic unit research goals (i.e., related to funding, recruitment, retention, and research spaces and infrastructure), as well as outline the research resources & supports provided to A&S faculty members through the research portfolio (i.e., A&S research funding programs, and grant application/awards development services available within the A&S Office of Research Services).

Facilitators:

  • Vice-Dean, Research and Infrastructure
  • Lisa Rumiel, Director of Research Services

Progress through the Ranks (PTR)

This session will be divided into two parts:

  • The first hour will provide an overview of the PTR process, including the role of the chair/director, the support provided by the Academic HR office, the handling of leaves, timelines, and information about central PTR and the Dean’s Excellence merit pools.
  • The second hour will discuss the recent changes to the Annual Activity Report (AAR).

You may register for the whole session or only the second hour. While in-person attendance is preferred, the second hour will run in a hybrid format to accommodate a larger audience.

Facilitators:

  • Mikael Swayze, Director, Academic Human Resources
  • Tamara Trojanowska, Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life

Interim, Probationary, and Part-Time Reviews

This session will provide an overview of the interim, probationary, and part-time review processes. It will also discuss the Chair/Director’s role in communicating the outcome to the candidate and providing feedback relevant for their professional development.

Facilitators:

  • Mikael Swayze, Director, Academic Human Resources
  • Tamara Trojanowska, Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life

Tenure Review — Initiating the Process

This session will discuss the initial aspects of the tenure review process, focussing on the unit head’s role in reviewing candidate files, determining appropriate timing of the review, composing the committees, and securing external assessors.

Facilitators:

  • Mikael Swayze, Director, Academic Human Resources
  • Tamara Trojanowska, Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life

Additional Programming of Interest:

 

National Centre for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD)

The University of Toronto continues to maintain an institutional membership with the National Centre for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), a leading provider of professional development in higher education. Activate your membership in order to access on demand and live, webinars and resources.

Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life

You may also be interested in programming for chairs and directors that is offered through VPFAL.

The Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence (TIDE)

Please take advantage of the many resources offered by TIDE (The Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence). TIDE is a grassroots service group consisting of University of Toronto faculty members from across disciplines, with a focus on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion at U of T.