As a public research university, the University of Toronto is privileged to be situated in the Greater Toronto Area. Our location in this vibrant multi-cultural metropolis is a major source of strength. It allows us to draw upon a local student population that comes from just about every nation on earth. It is a strong attraction for faculty from all over the world who want to live, teach and research in an environment rich in diversity of cultures, languages and ideas.
In a recent address, the Rector of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Dr. Juan Ramón de la Fuente, said the single most important skill to acquire in the twenty-first century is “inter-cultural competence.” There is no better place to gain this competence than at the University of Toronto.
Our annual survey undertaken to monitor accessibility to the University of Toronto asks undergraduate students to describe their ethno-cultural background. The survey shows that about 50 per cent identify themselves in categories generally described as “visible minorities.” To remain accessible to students of various means, our financial aid policy guarantees that no student admitted to the University of Toronto will be unable to enter or complete his or her program due to lack of financial means. We provide $30 million in need-based student aid to undergraduate students each year and an additional $8 million in scholarships. We are exploring ways to improve student aid so our students are not left with unmanageable debt loads upon graduation. We also continue to engage in outreach programs to communities that are not well represented at the University of Toronto. For example, the President’s Office has recently undertaken to work closely with the Pathways to Education Program associated with the Regent Park Community Health Centre. Our collaboration is designed to help make the University of Toronto accessible to the economically disadvantaged young people living in Regent Park, some of whom are at risk of dropping out of high school.
While the diversity of our faculty has been slower to change, we are seeing clear signs of improvement. Of our current faculty, about one in ten is a visible minority; however, on average, one in four of our new hires over the last three years is a visible minority. As we reach out to a worldwide pool in our searches for new faculty, we expect this proportion to increase over time. In preparation for a turn-over of about 40 per cent of our faculty this decade, we have been helping our departments become more innovative and broad-based in their faculty searches. We do not endorse “affirmative action” plans that involve quotas because some of the excellent scholars and students who are also members of visible minorities and whom we seek to recruit rightly want to know they have been hired on the merits of their work, as they deserve to be. We believe that by drawing on the largest possible pool of candidates and by pro-actively recruiting potential faculty members from visible minority cohorts, we will simultaneously guarantee diversity and excellence. We believe we can meet the goal of having a more diverse faculty by integrating diversity into everything we do. As we go forward with a new academic planning exercise, achieving greater diversity in faculty hiring will be one of our major challenges.
With respect to our administrative staff, we hire members of visible minorities at a rate that exceeds their representation in the external pools in those employment categories from which we draw our staff. At present, about 25 per cent of our staff self-identify as visible minorities.
The University of Toronto is a mirror of the world itself. In such a multi-cultural environment, misunderstandings can easily arise. The many tensions that exist around the world can be reflected on campus. I am especially proud of our measured responses to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. As the world faces ever-growing dangers, I am confident our diversity will help us continue to build on our campuses a community of tolerance, understanding and respect. As an institution that aspires to be among the best public research universities in the world, we will fulfill our role as a leading university by letting diversity be our strength.
