°ÄÃÅÓÀÀû

°ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s Vision for Postsecondary Education

°ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s colleges and universities will drive creativity, innovation, knowledge, and community engagement through teaching and research. They will put students first by providing the best possible learning experience for all qualified learners in an affordable and financially sustainable way, ensuring high quality and globally competitive outcomes for students and °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s creative economy.

University of Toronto’s Vision/Mandate

Mission Statement: The University of Toronto is committed to being an internationally significant research university, with undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs of excellent quality.

Preamble

This Strategic Mandate Agreement between the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (the Ministry) and the University of Toronto outlines the role the University currently performs in the postsecondary education system and how it will build on its current strengths to achieve its vision and help drive system-wide objectives articulated by the Ministry’s Differentiation Policy Framework.

The Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA):

• Identifies the University’s existing institutional strengths;
• Supports the current vision, mission, and mandate of the University within the context of the University’s governing legislation and outlines how the University’s priorities align with °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s vision and Differentiation Policy Framework; and
• Informs Ministry decision making through greater alignment of Ministry policies and processes to further support and guide the University’s areas of strength.

The term of the SMA is from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2017. The SMA proposal submitted by the University to the Ministry has been used to inform the SMA and is appended to the agreement.

The Ministry acknowledges the University’s autonomy with respect to its academic and internal resource allocation decisions, and the University acknowledges the role of the Ministry as the Province’s steward of °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s postsecondary education system.

The agreement may be amended in the event of substantive policy or program changes that would significantly affect commitments made in the SMA. Any such amendment would be mutually agreed to, dated, and signed by both signatories.

University of Toronto’s Key Areas of Differentiation

The University of Toronto is a globally recognized, comprehensive, and research-intensive institution with a distinct leadership role in °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s postsecondary education system. The University of Toronto’s broad range of program offerings and research activity have a major economic and social impact, locally and globally.

Alignment with the Differentiation Policy Framework

The following outlines areas of strength agreed upon by the University and the Ministry, and the alignment of these areas of strength with the Ministry’s Differentiation Policy Framework.

1. Jobs, innovation, and economic development

   This component highlights institutions’ collaborative work with employers, community partners, and regions, or at a global level, to establish their role in fostering social and economic development, and serving the needs of the economy and labour market.

   1. Areas of institutional strength

      The University of Toronto (U of T) focuses on jobs, innovation, and economic development in the areas of:

      • U of T’s unique strengths create unparalleled economic benefit for Province. Its distinctive size and status as Canada’s leading research university attract talent and resources to the Province that have long-term economic and social benefits.
      • U of T is a leader in knowledge translation and entrepreneurship: spawning 81 new start-up companies over the past five years.
      • U of T considers students to be key to knowledge translation and fostering entrepreneurship is a central institutional priority.
      • To further support job creation, innovation, and economic development in °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû, the University of Toronto will expand entrepreneurship opportunities for students across its three campuses. Supports for entrepreneurship and economic development include:
        • The Innovations and Partnership Office, in collaboration with MaRS.
        • Four leading accelerators focusing on student entrepreneurship: The Impact Centre (Faculty of Arts & Science); The Hatchery (Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering); The Creative Destruction Lab (Rotman School of Management); and UTEST (The Innovation and Partnerships Office).
        • The Banting and Best Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (BBCIE), which will operate as an umbrella accelerator to coordinate entrepreneurship activities across three campuses.

   2. Additional comments

      Institutional strategies

      • Two new for-credit course offerings to expand the base of students exposed to entrepreneurship:
        • In 2013: 2^nd year "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" course open to Arts & Science students in any discipline. Growth plan: 2,000 students per year.
        • In 2014: 3^rd year course "Internship in New Ventures" which will place students at start-up companies within the University of Toronto network for four months in the summer.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics	System-Wide Metricsfootnote 1[1]
      Number of new invention disclosures Number of new start-up companies Number of students receiving early exposure to entrepreneurship Number of students enrolled in entrepreneurship courses	Graduate employment rates Number of graduates employed full-time in a related job

2. Teaching and learning

   This component will capture institutional strength in program delivery methods that expand learning options for students, and improve the learning experience and career preparedness. This may include, but is not limited to, experiential learning, online learning, entrepreneurial learning, work integrated learning, and international exchange opportunities.

   1. Areas of institutional strength

      The University of Toronto has a number of initiatives in place to support teaching and learning for students, and to enhance the student experience. Initiatives include:

      Enhance student support

      • “Embedding” professional staff in colleges, faculties, and libraries such as a learning strategist located in Woodsworth College; Counsellors with dedicated hours in Faculties; a First Nations Advisor at Social Work and the °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû Institute for Studies in Education (OISE); and Career Counsellors assisting Registrars during the selection of major programs.
      • The “Big-Small” strategy, offering a variety of opportunities for first year students to participate in small learning communities.
        • The model used in the “Vic One” and “Trin One” foundational programs has been expanded across the University.
      • Small learning community foundational programs in all of our Arts & Science colleges and at the Mississauga and Scarborough campuses.
      • First-Year Learning Communities where senior students meet with a group of 24 students to share strategies that support their success.
      • Co-Curricular Record (CCR), allowing students to document learning experiences outside of the classroom.

      Technology-assisted learning

      • Currently offers 90 for-credit courses online.
      • Innovations in Online Learning initiative uses online materials to enhance learning outside and inside the classroom.
      • Part of Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) Consortia developing widely accessible postsecondary education courses.
      • Over 420,000 people have registered in the University of Toronto’s MOOCs over the past 12 months.
      • The University of Toronto’s Department of Computer Science and the Department of Statistical Sciences will continue to use materials developed for MOOCs as resources for courses using the inverted classroom model.
      • The largest on-one-server user base of Blackboard in the world.

      Experiential learning

      • Work-integrated learning opportunities for students through co-op activity (1500+ students at University of Toronto Scarborough).
      • Professional Experience Year programs (600+ students, mainly in Engineering and Computer Science).
      • Internship/practicum arrangements (100+ programs).
      • Work-Study positions (2000+ students).
      • Opportunities for students to earn credit through placements in community settings.
      • Undergraduate Research Opportunities.

   2. Additional comments

      Institutional strategies

      • Six U of T MOOCs are being planned on either the Coursera or edX platforms.
      • The University of Toronto has put a number of new initiatives in place that are helping to make gains in the areas of providing a Supportive Campus Environment and Active & Collaborative Learning.
      • Co-curricular record to enable students to develop a certified record of their accomplishments.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics	System-Wide Metrics
      Number of students with experiential learning experiences (e.g., co-op, Professional Experience Year, internship/practicum) Number of undergraduate students with a research opportunity experience NSSE benchmark scores 7 year graduation rates and 2nd year retention rates Number of online credit courses, programs and registrations (asynchronous and synchronous)	Student Satisfaction Survey results Graduation rates Retention rates Number of students enrolled in a co-op program at institution Number of online course registrants, programs, and courses at institution

3. Student population

   This component recognizes the unique institutional missions that improve access, retention, and success for underrepresented groups (Aboriginal, first generation, students with disabilities) and francophones. This component also highlights other important student groups that institutions serve that link to their institutional strength. This may include, but is not limited to, international students, mature students, or indirect entrants.

   1. Areas of institutional strength

      The University of Toronto’s student population consists of:

      • 78% of first year undergraduate students reported that they have ethno-cultural backgrounds other than white.
      • 16% responded that they are first generation postsecondary students.
      • More than 15% of students are international.
      • 40% of undergraduate students come from low income families.

      The University aims to maintain accessibility to its programs. Examples of supports include:

      • Coordination by accessibility service departments of over 19,000 tests and examinations for over 3,300 students.
      • Over $165M in scholarships and bursaries for students.
      • Student Access Guarantee (SAG) expenditures per recipient that exceeded those of any other university.
      • First Nations House (FNH), focused on strengthening academic supports to students, student development programming (mentoring, leadership, transferable skills), and acting as a resource for the University to advise and assist in the development of Aboriginal programming and supports in faculties and departments.
      • A recruitment officer assigned to the recruitment of Aboriginal students into undergraduate programs.
      • Advising programs for international students.

   2. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics	System-Wide Metrics
      Number of international students enrolled and proportion of °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû enrolment – by undergraduate and graduate	Number and proportion of Aboriginal, first generation, students with disabilities, and francophone students at an institution Number and proportion of international students enrolled in °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû (as reported in annual institutional enrolment reporting) Proportion of an institution’s enrolment that receives OSAP

4. Research and graduate education

   This component identifies the breadth and depth of institutional research activity (both basic and applied), and will identify institutional research strengths from niche to comprehensive research intensity.

   1. Areas of institutional strength

      The University of Toronto is a globally recognized, comprehensive, and research-intensive institution. This is demonstrated by:

      • The University of Toronto is ranked among the top 20 universities in the world.
      • The University of Toronto is the highest ranked Canadian university in the four most prestigious international rankings: Times Higher Education (THE), QS World University Rankings (QS), Shanghai Jiao Tong (Shanghai), and National Taiwan University (NTU).
      • Times Higher Education grouped the University of Toronto with Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, UC Berkeley and UCLA as the only institutions in the top 26 in all six broad disciplinary areas.
      • The University of Toronto’s professional masters programs are research-based, professionally relevant, and responsive to the rapidly changing needs of their industry or professional field.

   2. Additional comments

      System-wide metrics reflect the University of Toronto’s strength in this area.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics

      System-Wide Metrics

      International rankings (Times Higher Education, Shanghai, QS, NTU) Share of federal Tri-Council funding Research funding from industrial sources Number of publications Number of citations Citation impact (normalized by paper) Number of publications co-authored with partners outside of Canada Number of prestigious graduate awards/scholarships held by students Enrolment in Masters and Doctoral Programs

      Research Capacity Total sponsored research Number of research chairs Number of graduate degrees awarded Number of graduate awards/scholarships Research Focus Graduate degrees awarded to undergraduate degrees awarded Graduate to undergraduate ratio PhD degrees awarded to undergraduate degrees awarded Research Impact Normalized Tri-Council funding (total and per full-time faculty) Number of publications (total and per full-time faculty) Number of citations (total and per full-time faculty) Citation impact (normalized average citation per paper) International Competitiveness Ratio of international to domestic graduates (used by Times Higher Education Rankings) Aggregate of international global rankings

5. Program offerings

   This component articulates the breadth of programming, enrolment, and credentials offered, along with program areas of institutional strength/specialization, including any vocationally oriented mandates. This component also recognizes institutions that provide bilingual and/or French-language programming for students.

   1. Areas of institutional strength

      Current program areas of strength include:

      1. Education, Physical Education, Recreation and Leisure
      2. Fine and Applied Arts
      3. Humanities
      4. Social Sciences
      5. Agricultural and Biological Sciences
      6. Engineering and Applied Sciences
      7. Health Professions and Occupations
      8. Mathematics and Physical Sciences

      Proposed program areas for growth include:

      1. Biomedicine and Health-related
      2. Engineering/Architecture/Environment
      3. Global Affairs/Public Policy
      4. Business/Management/Finance
      5. Arts & Science – doctoral-stream
      6. Graduate Teacher Education

   2. Additional comments

      The Ministry notes that a large number of new engineering degree programs are proposed province-wide, which will have an impact on the Ministry’s review of new engineering program proposals.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics	System-Wide Metrics
      	Institution-specific and provincial KeyPerformance Indicators, includingemployment rate after two years,percentage of students completingthe degree, and OSAP default ratesfor each area of strength Program enrolment

6. Institutional collaboration to support student mobility

   This component profiles partnerships between institutions that ensure students have access to a continuum of learning opportunities in a coordinated system. This may include, but is not limited to, credit transfer pathways and collaborative or joint programs between or within sectors.

   1. Areas of institutional strength

      The University of Toronto focuses on improving collaboration, pathways, and student mobility in the areas of:

      University to University mobility

      • In partnership with six other universities, formed the University Credit Transfer Consortium (UCTC).
      • Students enrolled at participating UCTC institutions can count any first year arts and science course taken for credit at a UCTC university for general credit at their home institution.
      • Participating universities have agreed on course equivalencies and credit recognition across more than thirty of the most popular and highly enrolled undergraduate courses.

      College to University mobility

      • The facilitated transfer model provides intensive, personalized support before, during, and after transfer to U of T from a partner college.
      • The withdrawal rate for students entering via a facilitated pathway is significantly lower than for other college transfer students.
      • Facilitated transfer programs are in place at all three campuses: - Seneca-Woodsworth
        • Humber-Woodsworth
        • Seneca-U of T Scarborough
        • Sheridan-U of T Mississauga
        • Humber-U of T Mississauga

   2. Additional comments

      Building on the University Credit Transfer Consortium and existing partnerships with colleges, the Ministry encourages the University of Toronto to continue to develop partnerships with other °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû universities and colleges to facilitate student mobility.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics	System-Wide Metrics
      Total university transfer applications and registrations Enrolment in facilitated credit transfer programs	Number of college and university pathways and/or articulation agreements (college-college, college-university, university-college) Number of transfer applicants and registrants Number of college graduates enrolled in university programs

Aspirations

The Ministry recognizes the importance of supporting institutions to evolve and acknowledges the strategic aspirations of its postsecondary education institutions; the SMA is not intended to capture all decisions and issues in the postsecondary education system, as many will be addressed through the Ministry’s policies and standard processes. The Ministry will not be approving any requests for capital funding or new program approvals, for example, through the SMA process.

Enrolment Growth

The strategic enrolment and planning exercise is in the context of a public commitment in the 2011 Budget to increase postsecondary education enrolment by an additional 60,000 students over 2010-11 levels. This government has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to ensuring access to postsecondary education for all qualified students.

Baseline Projected Eligible Full-Time Headcounts

The University of Toronto’s planned enrolment forecast as expressed in this baseline eligible enrolment scenario is considered reasonable and in line with Ministry expectations, based on the current and projected demographic and fiscal environments.

Graduate Allocation

The Province committed to allocate an additional 6,000 graduate spaces in the 2011 Budget. The allocation of the balance of the 6,000 graduate spaces is informed by institutional graduate plans, metrics identified in the differentiation framework, and government priorities. Based on these considerations, the allocation for the University of Toronto is provided below.

In addition, in recognition of the differentiated role of the University of Toronto in the °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû and Canadian higher education systems, the Ministry agrees to convert the University of Toronto’s existing undergraduate teacher education enrolment into graduate spaces. This involves a conversion of the funding for the existing 1,167-teacher education undergraduate spaces into 502 Masters spaces for entry to practice teacher education effective 2015-16. This step supports the University of Toronto’s stated longer-term goal of raising its current graduate proportion at the St. George Campus.

Note: For a detailed breakdown of graduate space allocations, see Appendix.

Financial Sustainability

The Ministry and the University recognize that financial sustainability and accountability are critical to achieving institutional mandates and realizing °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s vision for the postsecondary education system. To this end, it is agreed that:

• It is the responsibility of the governing board and Senior Administrators of the University to identify, track, and address financial pressures and sustainability issues. At the same time, the Ministry has a financial stewardship role. The Ministry and the University agree to work collaboratively to achieve the common goal of financial sustainability and to ensure that Ontarians have access to a full range of affordable, high-quality postsecondary education options, now and in the future; and
• The University remains accountable to the Ministry with respect to effective and efficient use of provincial government resources and student resources covered by policy directives of the Ministry, or decisions impacting upon these, to maximize the value and impact of investments made in the postsecondary education system.

The Ministry commits to engage with the sector in spring 2014 to finalize the financial sustainability metrics to be tracked through the course of the SMAs, building on metrics already identified during discussions that took place in the fall of 2013.

Ministry/Government commitments

Over time, the Ministry commits to aligning many of its policy, process, and funding levers with the Differentiation Policy Framework and SMAs in order to support the strengths of institutions and implement differentiation. To this end, the Ministry will:

• Engage with both the college and university sectors around potential changes to the funding formula, beginning with the university sector in 2014-15;
• Update the college and university program funding approval process to improve transparency and align with institutional strengths as outlined in the SMAs;
• Streamline reporting requirements across Ministry business lines with the goals of
  1. creating greater consistency of reporting requirements across separate initiatives,
  2. increasing automation of reporting processes, and
  3. reducing the amount of data required from institutions without compromising accountability.

  In the interim, the Multi-Year Accountability Report Backs will be adjusted and used as the annual reporting mechanism for metrics set out in the SMAs;

• Consult on the definition, development, and utilization of metrics;
• Undertake a review of °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s credential options; and
• Continue the work of the Nursing Tripartite Committee.

The Ministry and the University are committed to continuing to work together to:

• Support student access, quality, and success;
• Drive creativity, innovation, knowledge, and community engagement through teaching and research;
• Increase the competitiveness of °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s postsecondary education system;
• Focus the strengths of °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû’s institutions; and
• Maintain a financially sustainable postsecondary education system.

Appendix

University of Toronto - Summary of Graduate Space Allocations to 2016-17, FTEs

Notes:

1. Adjustments to Graduate Targets (pre 2015-16) include:
   1. 2013-14 approved fungibility requests;
   2. 2014-15 final Master’s allocations;
   3. resets of graduate targets, if any; and,
   4. other Ministry commitments, including further conversions.
2. General Allocation Envelope includes all metrics-based space allocations for 2015-16 and 2016-17.
3. Priorities Envelope includes:
   1. Ministry and institutional priorities; and,
   2. approved spaces for identified niche programs.
      1. The 100 Master’s spaces allocated from the Priorities Envelope are provided to the University of Toronto in 2016-17 to help support the university’s goal to increase its proportion of graduate students.