Update: in a previous version of this article, The Varsity quotes a member of the TYP Alliance who said TYP’s budget was cut in half last year. In fact, TYP’s budget has remained constant for the past three years and for this year—at $1.46 million. The Varsity regrets the error.
The proposal to establish the Transitional Year Programme in Woodsworth College under the Faculty of Arts and Science has been withdrawn, to the delight of students and TYP’s supporters. Vice-president and provost Cheryl Misak informed TYP director Rhonda Love of the decision in an email Tuesday morning, the day after a motion to establish the TYP under Arts and Science was adjourned during a Faculty of Arts and Science Council meeting. TYP will continue to report directly to the provost.
“In light of the opposition expressed at the Arts and Science Council yesterday, I am again taking it off the table, but remain open to a formal request from TYP to re-engage the proposal,” Misak wrote.
TYP is a bridging program for full-time students who do not have formal academic qualifications. U of T first proposed in March that TYP move to Woodsworth College, which has its own bridging program for part-time students, and that a single office run both programs. The proposal brought strong reactions from students, staff, and alumni, who said the two programs served different communities and protested that TYP would lose its autonomy as a result of the move.
The proposal cites a 2006 review of TYP conducted by a provost-appointed advisory committee, where the program was found to lack “institutional linkages” that would connect it to other units at U of T.
“It’s a weak promise,” said Jennifer Taves, co-founder of the TYP Preservation Alliance. “Every aspect of the proposal weakens the program because TYP needs specialized support.”
The FASC meeting on Monday afternoon was filled to capacity, and the protests of TYP supporters outside were clearly audible inside the Munk Centre’s conference room. Around 50 protestors came and went during the two-and-a-half-hour meeting. The council was to vote on moving TYP under Arts and Science jurisdiction, but council member Hossein Moghtaderi moved to adjourn the motion, with Jeff Peters seconding. The adjournment passed by a vote of 19 to 16, which meant the issue would have been taken up at the next scheduled FASC meeting on Nov. 2.
Following the decision, the Woodsworth College Council Committee withdrew a motion from its Oct. 21 meeting, which would have called for a vote that TYP be established in Woodsworth College by Jan. 1, 2010. The motion would have been directed to Governing Council subcommittees and finally to Governing Council on Dec. 10.
Advocates are happy the transfer proposal has been withdrawn, but say that TYP still faces challenges.
In her email to Love, Misak wrote that “were the program to move administratively to Arts and Science, there would be opportunities for resource optimization and advancement, as well as for new and improved space.”
“We share common goals in terms of equity and access,” said Joe Desloges, principal of Woodsworth College. He added that the transfer proposal had been in the works for nearly two years, with the aim of improving access for non-traditional students.
