Impact of Trimestering at UTSC

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Impact of Trimestering at UTSC

• Challenges and Opportunities for the Non-teaching
  Staff
• in Student Affairs
• By Tom Nowers
• Associate Principal,Student Affairs
• Planning Budget, April 23, 2002.

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Six Primary Non-teaching Areas Affected

• 1. Student Affairs, including Registrars
  groups, AccessAbility, Athletics, Academic
  advising, Career and Student success, Health
  Wellness, Housing Rez life, Office of Student
  affairs, Student Development and Student
  relations
• 2. Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
  Human Resources, Facilities Management, Parking
  Grounds, Financial Services, Hospitality and
  Retail (includes food, bookstore,
  conferencing,etc.), Police Services.

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3. Academic Resources Library, Teaching
learning , Printing, A-V , Photography, Graphics,
Computing Services 4. Advancement
Fund-raising, community profile building, special
events, communications etc. 5. All
administrative staff working in Academic Units
Admin. assistants, secretaries, Co-op personnel,
laboratory technicians (sessional), other
clerical staff. 6. Office of the Principal
Associate Dean, Campus Development
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Trimestering at UTSC begins as of May , 2003

• A consequence of moving substantially to Co-op in
  almost all disciplines
• Academic year divided into three equal sessions
• Summer May to August
• Fall September to Dec.
• Winter January to April
• Each term 12 weeks instruction, followed by a
  study break and final exam period (including
  summer)
• 40 of annual instructional activity will occur
  in each of the Fall and Winter session and 20
  during Summer
• Almost all Y-courses will cease to exist by May,
  2003
• UTSC will remain the only U of T campus
  trimestered.

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Implications in General ---Comments

• It will continue to be true that most staff
• will want their vacation entitlement during the
  summer
• Air conditioning for gymnasium
• Implies major changes to collection of incidental
  fees, Student Society fees
• Significant increase in inter-session activity
  academic standing 3 times
• probation/suspensions 3-times
• Space increased summer activity relieves
  pressure on Fall and Winter

• Planning and/or incentives
• In progress - student fees / operating
• In Progress
• Provides early detection of students in
  difficulty
• A theory under study

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AccessAbility Services

• Anticipate disproportionate increase in summer
  client load due to migration of UTSC students
  from St. George to expanded UTSC course offerings
• Costs are difficult to regulate but we are
  obligated to meet needs governed by Human Rights
  Act
• Requires additional TAs for invigilation during
  summer for all special exams mid-session and
  final.
• All costs not provided by the Ministry are borne
  by the operating budget

• Have already increased staff so we may be
  basically prepared
• Need to re-assess tri-campus funding formula
• Function of TA Collective Agreement
• Student fees cannot be used to support this

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Physical Education and Athletics

• Fee implications unclear if intra-mural league
  competition cannot happen in summer must
  compensate
• More evenly distributed work terms will create
  continuity issues with team membership and league
  rules
• Threat to summer community-based programming
  (e.g. kids camps, community leagues (revenue
  generators).
• Increased summer activity may diversify athletic
  programming baseball or soccer.
• Air-conditioning in gym and change room areas
• Staffing deployment will need to be re-visited
  day/student evening/community

• May substitute in other programming
• Need to discuss this at the Council on Athletics
  Recreation (CAR)
• Increased incidental fee income may off-set this
  financially
• Could favour UTSC as home of Varsity Blues
  Baseball if we invest in more outdoor venues

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Student Housing Rez Life

• Increased summer enrolment may trigger increased
  revenues, greater room use efficiency
• As Co-op percentage of student pop. increases,
  irregular vacancy patterns will challenge dept.
  in many ways
• If summer Dons are required, an additional don
  training may have to be put in place.
• Ability to schedule summer maintenance/ major
  renovation projects - constrained.
• Staffing implications around workload/ holidays
  with a third application, assignment and
  check-in/check-out cycle
• Student leadership disruption w/ more work terms
  challenges Dons, SVC, Mentors, Links, etc.

• Implications for Conferencing??
• Room mate matches, student leadership
• Usually one full week
• E.g. need to diversify into family housing
• Labour intensive and time sensitive
• Year round programming creates more
  living/learning opportunities!

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Registrars Services

• Cross-training only works strategically
• Need to study impact on Records and Academic
  advising, timely faculty grading.
• Will this conflict with
• common exams at St.George?
• Study implications Academic Committee

• Staffing challenges- particularly in small depts.
  with increased activity and fewer vacation
  opportunities.
• Inter-session statistical reports, registration
  adjustments based on prior session results, more
  irregular requests for admission, third
  calculation of academic standing triggers various
  responses and impacts other areas.
• third formal summer exam period, increased
  financial aid summer requests
• Regularizing academic standing with Y courses
  taken at other campuses?

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Academic Advising, Career Student Success Centre

• Deferred exams, 3rd academic standing calculation
  and response to students on probation/suspension
  a retention issue
• Course cycling, educational plan development and
  consistent central advising/ career counselling
• Summer already busy with 15 Getting Started Days
  for new students course selection and advising
  program changers for returning students
• If summer becomes a significant point of
  admissions, overlap between new student
  orientation and graduating student employment or
  graduate school options.

• Principal has invested in an additional FTE
  academic advisor and clerical support
• Students have invested in 1.4 FTE additional
  career support.
• collaboration among Depts. and space in ARC may
  help here.

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Health Wellness Services

• All services will increase over current levels
  during summer nurses, physicians, counsellors
• 3rd calculation of Academic standing will
  introduce a third cycle of crisis response.
• Space problems will be partially alleviated with
  move into Student Centre (2004)
• May be some collaborative opportunities with
  Centennial to improve revenues and services
• May be opportunities for community
• Health programming with Centennial and local
  hospitals

• Difficult to attract physicians over summer.
• Already increasing summer services
• May help students earlier and proactively
• Centennial offers massage therapy
• Centre of Excellence initiative

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Key Observations

• 1. Any significant new admissions apart from our
  current September norm will introduce
  organizational challenges and require detailed
  and collaborative planning.
• 2. The intro. of a 3rd calculation of academic
  standing triggers significant new educational
  opportunities as well as workload response
  issues.
• 3. Small units are more vulnerable to the
  challenges of trimestering and therefore, within
  Student Affairs all units will be affected but
  perhaps the Registrars areas,Advising, Career
  Student Success Services as well as the Office of
  Student Affairs, will be most challenged over
  present day practices.

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Key observations - continued

• 4. Any thorough discussion of trimestering must
  also take into account enrolment growth and the
  degree to which this growth actually occurs in
  Co-op which this does not.
• 5. We must be fully cognizant of any implications
  arising from the fact we are the only U of T
  campus going trimester.
• 6. The effects will differ significantly
  depending on which of the six non-teaching areas
  one examines.
• 7. While it is easy and natural to focus on the
  -ve challenges re. workload, vacation etc, in
  Student Affairs there exist real opportunities to
  improve our tracking of student success with
  better and more frequent measures of curricular
  progress within an institution which is becoming
  more flexible and innovative.

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Have a great summer

• And a great vacation!!