The Role of Alumni

Focus on listening to and learning from alumni on topics important to the UTS school community, including career development and discussion around what makes a good school, as well as anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion implementation supports.

The UTSAA Board is fully invested in finding ways to work with students, staff, parents and community to embed their expectations into the fabric of the school and build upon work underway. Events to increase diversity and connect alumni to current and prospective students is a continued aim of UTSAA. These include:

• On November 15, the Black Equity Committee hosted their first Community Connections event. There was a strong turnout and great feedback from families about how open UTS is to welcome and engage with families, recognizing who they are and their identities, and speaking honestly, not only about what UTS has to offer, but also the journey and transition. Leslie Allen ’78, the first Black woman to graduate from UTS, joined virtually to share her experience at UTS with the prospective families.

• Fourteen UTS alumni have stepped forward as Timeraiser StartUp Accelerator Mentors. To produce mentorship opportunities, the Innovation team runs the UTS Timeraiser StartUp Accelerator that gives M3 to S6 students a structure to test out new ideas for social or technological innovation, and potentially start a real for-profit or notfor-profit venture.

Curriculum and Pedagogy

To focus on ensuring that diverse and inclusive perspectives and pedagogy are reflected in the curriculum and are taught to raise consciousness of anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion issues and strategies.

Actions to support teacher growth and development related to anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion that are underway include:

• Professional Development sessions tied to culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy (CRRP), which emphasizes creating learning opportunities that centre student voice and choice as well as creating opportunities for students to see themselves reflected in learning while also learning about and from others.

• Every department is working on an Equity Goal and Implementation Plan tied to curricular and learning objectives for their courses and department areas.

Culture, Climate and Organizational Effectiveness

To focus on policies, programs and procedures to ensure that the school is upholding Human Rights and creates a culture that is brave and open to learning and change.

Working with students, UTS is revamping the “Report It” tool to provide a way for students to get help when they witness situations of harassment and/or discrimination, focused not to get someone in trouble, but out of trouble.

The Anti-Racism and Equity Policy was updated by the Human Resources department, with input from the school lawyer to ensure a streamlined process for reporting infractions, with clear consequences and learning.

Conclusion

Although it has only been a few months since we began our journey of implementation, we are proud of the progress made so far.

Of the 59 recommendations, the school leadership is proceeding with 43 recommendations. Two are already complete and 15 are substantively underway.

Thank you to the UTS student, alumni, parent and guardian and staff communities for their willingness to dig in and engage in the work to make UTS an even more inclusive space where everyone knows and feels they belong.

26 Total approved recommendations