UTSC to hire new Vice-President and Principal

The search for the Vice-President U of T and Principal UTSC position has begun with the development of an advisory committee. The hired individual will begin their term on June 30, when current Vice-President U of T and Principal UTSC Bruce Kidd ends his term.

Hired on January 1, 2015, Kidd has expressed that he does not wish to seek reappointment.

According to Althea Blackburn-Evans, U of T’s Director of Media Relations, the committee will be responsible for the advisory process of appointing the new administrators. They will take into account input provided from the UTSC community to choose an appropriate candidate that will fit the needs of the campus’ diverse student population.

Blackburn-Evans explained that the committee “is involved fully in developing the position description, developing the long list and short list of candidates, and interviewing the candidates.” Following that, they will provide a recommendation to the President and Provost, who will be responsible for approving the final appointment.

The formation of the committee will follow U of T’s Policy on Appointment of Academic Ministers, which states that the committee should include U of T’s President, Vice-President & Provost, and the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies or representative, alongside members of the campus’ teaching staff, current students, and several qualified scholars outside the campus. Nominations for the committee were sought out earlier this month.

The university is striving to create a committee reflective of the student population at UTSC.

“We also want to ensure that a range of disciplines are represented (among both the academic and student members) as well as a range of full professors, associate professors and assistant professors,” wrote Blackburn-Evans. “We also aim to have members on the committee who have been engaged with UTSC and who have a commitment to the campus.”

Following the announcement of the committee, members of the UTSC community will be given an opportunity to express their input on the appointment. The committee will use the feedback from the community to develop position profiles for the new administration.

A list of the full membership of the committee will be released in the coming weeks, alongside the call for community input.