Message from the Chair:

The Advisory Committee to the Chair (ACC)  is now meeting on a weekly basis to discuss how to manage various student needs during this disruption.

The Department is purchasing an institutional subscription that will allow multiple, simultaneous Zoom meetings. Until then I encourage faculty to sign up individually and use this platform for lab meetings as Zoom is offering its services for free. Please contact Ayesha Glover if you have any questions.

The remaining graduate student seminars. These will begin, online, starting on March 25th. The time will be as per usual: 12-1 Wednesdays via Zoom. Instructions to follow.

The 1st Talk symposium. The logistics are just currently being worked out, but we do intend to move forward with this online, possibly after a short delay though before the transfer and qualifying exams start at the end of April. We are consulting the students and will have the details for you by early next week.

Transfers/qualifying exams/MSc defenses/PhD defenses, supervisory committee meetings. These will go ahead online as well. It is our hope that in most cases we can stick with the original times and dates however we can reschedule them by a week or two for those students who feel that they need more time. Again, these will be conducted online using Zoom. Please contact Carrie Harber if you have any questions.

Graduate courses. Several of these were initially postponed however the organizers of one of them have decided to move forward at the regularly scheduled time. I will be approaching the organizers of the other two to set up times for them to run. If your students were enrolled in one of these classes and they need to fulfill their elective credits by the end of the summer, they should contact Alex Palazzo and Carrie Harber as soon as possible.

One outstanding issue is summer undergraduate research opportunities. I will report back as soon as I know anything for certain.

This is a stressful and uncertain time for everyone and the more support and normality we can offer the better. Feel free to contact me if you have any thoughts or questions about the graduate program or other departmental activities during this time.

-Justin Nodwell

 

For more on the University of Toronto’s response to the Covid19 Pandemic, click here.