St. Michael’s College Academic Plan, 2010-2015
Mission and Vision: In accordance with the official Mission and Goals of the University of
St. Michael’s College (22-11-2000), St. Michael’s College, “federated with the University of
Toronto, seeks to be Canada’s leading English-speaking Catholic University … [it]
welcomes faculty and students from every background who want to participate in its life …
[it] seeks to provide an environment that fosters the intellectual, moral and spiritual
development of its members. It encourages an understanding and respect for the values of the
gospel and their implications for individual and social life. … Its students and faculty are
members of the University of Toronto, whose dedication to academic excellence the College
fully shares.” In the tradition of being a liberal arts college, dating from its founding in 1852,
SMC endeavours to foster excellence in teaching and research in its interdisciplinary
programs within the Faculty of Arts and Science. In the spirit of its founders in the
Congregation of St. Basil, SMC attempts to embody their motto “Teach me goodness,
discipline, and knowledge,” in all of its activities. Therefore the College encourages and
advocates a student experience that fosters intellectual excellence, balanced by co-curricular
activities, and underscored by service to the community.
Academic Programs and Initiatives: Undergraduate Programs
St. Michael’s College hosts four interdisciplinary programs. They are at the heart of the
intellectual and teaching life at the College. In aggregate terms the 7.49 FTEs and sessional
instructors in the programs have a score of 6.1 out of 7.0 on Question 11 of the Faculty’s
student evaluation form. Two professors have been awarded Faculty of Arts and Science
Teaching Awards and three have been the recipients of St. Michael’s College teaching
awards. The College programs pride themselves in offering small group learning
opportunities (ratio of 0.83), wherein the students are known by name and where they can
enjoy an enriched teaching environment, highlighted by close contact with their teachers.
Founded in 1977, the Celtic Studies program was recently described by external examiners
as “a jewel to be treasured” at the University and as one of three such programs in North
America “it is a model of effective interdisciplinarity and of effective teaching” (January
2007). The unit consists of two full professors, one senior lecturer (Irish language) and a
CLTA. With an average of approximately 302 FCEs per year, there are 80 students registered
as majors, minors and specialists in the program. Full time and sessional faculty provide a
breadth of courses in history, literature, folklore, culture, three levels of Irish language, two
levels of Welsh, and one of Scots Gaelic. The program hosts a visiting Celtic scholar each
year, an Irish Artist-in-Residence, an annual scholarly conference, and a well established
Speakers’ Series. Students participate through the Celtic Students Association and publish,
Garm Lu, an annual journal of essays and poetry, primarily from undergraduate students. The
program has very strong ties to the local Irish, Scottish and Welsh communities and is given
strong financial support for its activities by the Ireland Fund of Canada and private
donations. Evidence of the esteem in which the program is held, internationally, was
witnessed recently when the Program became one of the Canadian recipients of a visiting
Irish language tutor, financed by the Ireland-Canada University Fund and the Irish
Government.
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The Christianity & Culture Program was founded in 1979 and now has five full time
teaching faculty (financed primarily from SMC endowments) covering the areas of history,
arts and culture, theology and intellectual traditions, science, and law and institutions. The
Principal, the historian in the program, was removed from full-time teaching duties, when he
was appointed to his current office, in 2002, and sessional instructors have been filling in the
gaps since that time. Over the past five academic years the program has witnessed an average
of 409 FCEs per year. Currently, 2009-10, C&C has 121 majors, minors, and specialists,
including a cohort in the Concurrent Teacher Education Program. CTEP is a partnership with
OISE, Victoria College, Physical & Health Education, Music, UTM and UTSC and the St.
Michael’s contribution is dedicated to the training of teachers in religious education for
secondary schools. It is the only concurrent education program that trains teachers in
religious education for Ontario’s Catholic schools (which serve close to 40% of Ontario’s
school-aged children).Collectively the various units of the C&C program explore Christianity
and its diverse traditions through a variety of intellectual disciplines. Unlike Catholic Studies
programs located in universities across Canada and the United States, C&C provides a
breadth and ecumenism in its focus, while promoting robust research and scholarship from its
faculty members. Notable in the program are its service learning courses, the Rabanus
Project (student association), its undergraduate online journal Saeculum, community and
university partnerships, and the Intercordia international development and social justice
seminar, which provides an intensive academic seminar for students coupled with a threemonth experiential learning placement in the “two-thirds world.”
The Mediaeval Studies Program has recently undergone rejuvenation after the report of its
Task Force in 2003. New partnerships, involving new courses, graduate teaching assistants,
and faculty participation have been forged with the Centre for Medieval Studies and the
Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies. With the PIMS and Kelly Libraries, the program’s
undergraduates have access to primary documents and print resources unparalleled in most
North American Universities. In 2005-6 the program had only 78.5 FCEs and 53 majors,
minors and specialists; in 2009 it can boast 158.5 FCEs and 80 subject Posts. The program
has greatly benefitted from the partnership with CMS, including a joint appointment, in 2007,
of a Latinist and paleographer. The presence of Professor Alexander Andrée has helped to
expand teaching offerings in the program and offered stability and continuity within the
teaching cadre. Mediaeval Studies is also indebted to the Department of History, which has
cross-listed courses and provided faculty to teach in the Program’s foundational courses.
The newest program at SMC is Book and Media Studies. Inspired by the legacy of Marshall
McLuhan, the media guru and former SMC professor, BMS allows undergraduates to explore
the development of print culture, the evolution of the book, and the transition from
typographical cultures to broadcast media and cyberspace. It is the only program of its kind
for undergraduates (combining books, printing, and new media) in the English language, in
the world. From its humble beginning in 2003, with 19 minors registered, BMS now has 301
majors and minors, with an average FCE over the past five years of 342.8. There are no FTEs
in BMS and so the College depends largely on co-operative relationships with the
Department of French, Italian Studies, Massey College, the Book History & Print Culture
Graduate Program, Comparative Literature, the other College programs, and sessional
lecturers to staff its courses. With its
Book/Print stream of the program well
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established, BMS has now developed three new media courses (newspaper, broadcast media,
new media) to keep up with the student demand and to fulfill the dual content trajectories of
the curriculum. Strong contacts have been built with University of Toronto Press, which cosponsors a student internship, and Penguin Canada, which has co-sponsored a book
collecting contest for undergraduates. BMS faculty, in conjunction with partners in the Kelly
Library and its Sablé Centre for 19th Century Literature, have created a print room, where
students can acquire hands-on experience with a variety of 19th and 20th century presses.
The Program has also produced, with these same partners, three beautiful brochures (written
by students) on different collections in the Kelly library.
Research and Scholarship: Professors in the College programs are active in scholarship and
research and are often found delivering keynote addresses at both Canadian and international
conferences. Each is tenured through a Department or Centre in the Faculty of Arts &
Science (Religion, History, CMS, and IHPST) where they participate actively in graduate
teaching. Collectively the seven tenured/tenure stream professors (since 2005) have
supervised 4 doctoral dissertations to completion, currently have 18 primary doctoral
supervisions, and are members of 10 doctoral committees. Since 2005, the seven
tenured/tenure stream professors have produced a total of: 6 monographs, 3 edited
anthologies, 1 scholarly booklet, 4 critically edited texts and translations; 1 co-edited critical
text, 29 scholarly/peer reviewed articles, 22 chapters, 1 trade book, and 2 books in press. One
faculty member holds an SSHRC grant and another has been awarded a Humboldt
Fellowship, which is currently “on hold.” Another holds a Connaught Start-Up Grant and an
Academic Initiatives Grant. One of the junior faculty members was recently awarded a Lily
Endowment worth $19,999.
Enhancement in the Past Five Years: The programs are supported in various ways.
Christianity & Culture has five endowed professorships and a separate endowment fund. (See
Fundraising). The Faculty of Arts & Science has added $58,000, for three years commencing
in 2008-09, to sustain CTEP co-ordination and teaching. Three positions in Celtic Studies are
funded directly by the Faculty of Arts and Science, while the CLTA position is provided
from the SMC Celtic Fund. The .49 FTE in Mediaeval Studies is provided by the Faculty. All
other teaching, TAships, and promotional materials are drawn from the annual Instructional
Grant from the Faculty, (roughly $138,000 in 2008-09), the Quality Enhancement Fund, the
Centre for Comparative Literature (TAs for BMS), and a variety of small endowments under
the auspices of USMC. The University of St. Michael’s College provides the Principal’s
Office with about $20,000 per year for special initiatives, events, academic symposia, student
support (Model UN & G-8). From the existing budget, all programs will be assisted in their
meeting Curriculum Renewal guidelines by the recent creation of SMC385H Numbers and
the Humanities, a course focused on quantitative reasoning.
Student Experience
Registrarial Services: The Office of the Registrar and Student Services is responsible as
“the friendly first stopping point” for the
4,509 students registered at St. Michael’s.
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With a staff component of 8.0, in 2007-08, the office handled 4,461 drop in and scheduled
appointments. In 2008-2009 this number was up by 14.4% at 5,101, but the office
complement had not changed. The ORSS is a very busy place helping students navigate their
academic programs, while advising and helping them through health, domestic, financial and
vocational difficulties which may have an impact on their academic programs. In addition to
numerous tasks performed on behalf of students—ranging from course and subject POST
selection, transfers, financial aid, scholarships, bursaries, petitions & appeals—the office
manages about 8,500 active/semi-active student files per year. The ORSS also manages the
SMC mentorship and FLC programs and organizes convocations and awards ceremonies.
The office is a critical communications centre, providing e-updates to students on a biweekly basis, while handling thousands of inquiries by email and telephone. The ORSS is in
year two of managing a pilot project with the Faculty of Social Work and Victoria College.
In order to alleviate long waits for counseling at the Koffler Centre, registrars can refer
students to MSW students on site at SMC, or they can engage in cyber-counselling. The
initiative is managed by Dr. Deborah Levine and financed by the Faculty of Social Work,
with the assistance of Bell Canada. This project has allowed for quick attention being given
to students with emotional and psychological needs.
Extra-Curricular Programs: Through the Office of the Dean of College numerous
intramural leagues and teams are managed. SMC currently has championship teams in
several UofT leagues, including the Mulock Cup in men’s rugby (four out of the past five
years). The St. Michael’s College Students Union accredits and supports financially over 16
student clubs and associations ranging from drama, ethnic clubs, spiritual societies, and
student associations linked to SMC academic programs. SMCSU organizes dances, coffee
houses (Kelly’s Corner), pubs (off campus), special on-campus events for day students, trips,
and a College Forum at the end of the academic year. SMC has had its own student
newspaper, The Mike, since 1947.
Student Space and Library: Brennan Hall is the SMC student centre, consisting of a large
lounge, study centre, a battery of student club offices, the USMC Chaplaincy and, in January,
a brand new coffee kiosk. In addition to the student hub at Brennan, the Kelly Library is
home to the bustling “Kelly Café” where hundreds of patrons gather each day, when not
seeking resources among the library’s 300,000 volumes, in the humanities, languages, and
the social sciences. Every SMC student is assigned a personal librarian to help them
navigate through their research projects, in addition to its Research Help Centre which is
open Monday to Friday. The Kelly also provides students with two large computer commons
areas and research opportunities in its special collections: Pontifical Institute Library,
Nouwen Collection, Multi-cultural History Society of Ontario Collection, the Sablé Centre
and Zola Archives, and the Sheila Watson Archive, just to name a few. For Faculty members,
the Kelly Library provides a “premium document delivery service” called InfoExpress; this
service retrieves books, articles and other materials from the UofT system libraries, internet,
and inter-library loan and delivers it to the faculty member’s office. The library sponsors
numerous conferences and special events and is a significant employer of SMC students. The
SMC Web master is supported at the Kelly Library, with the co-operation of all units at
USMC.
Residential Experiences and Activities: SMC has two residence complexes, Loretto
College, an independent women’s residence operated by the Loretto Sisters for 101 students
(of whom 37 are first year), and SMC
Residences, a co-ed operation which houses
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460 residents and 15 dons (255 males; 220 females). Approximately 62.6% of students in the
SMC residences are in first year. The Residence Council organizes a variety of activities for
residents including, mixers, pub nights, charity drives, intra-residence sports leagues, and
formal dinners and ceremonies. Each year, the Dean’s Cup is presented to the “floor” that has
accumulated the most points through co-curricular activities organized under the auspices of
the Council. Loretto organizes many similar activities but is distinguished by its “green
program” and the refit of its building to reduce its carbon footprint. Loretto also has unique
interfaith celebrations in Advent, Diwali, and Eid, recognizing the diversity of its residence
community. It provides Halal cuisine to those who request it.
Writing and Math Aid Centres: The Kelly Library contains both Writing and Math Aid.
The Writing Centre employs Mr. Steve Hoselton (senior lecturer), three teaching assistants,
and one volunteer. They handle such issues as writers block, second-language issues, basic
essay writing techniques, time management skills, and periodic workshops on writing and
other survival skills needed in academic life. In 2008-09, the Writing centre handled 1,628
appointments, but still recorded 427 students who could not get appointments. The Math Aid
Centre is co-ordinated by the Department of Mathematics and provides one-on-one
remediation, at a cost to SMC of $16,000 per year.
Outreach: Initial SMC outreach comes from the ORSS (see above) and its representation at
the Ontario University Fair, Fall Campus Day, March Break Open House, Early Admissions
receptions, on campus visits, school visits, and on campus events for school administrators.
SMC is also involved in a variety of projects in the local community—Out of the Cold (every
Tuesday students marshal a team to feed the homeless); Baycrest Centre (a service learning
component that links C&C students studying interfaith relations with Holocaust survivors);
Three Faiths Forum (dialogue between Jews, Muslims & Christians hosted by SMC);
Furlong Lecture (bi-annual, fostering Muslim-Jewish-Christian Understanding); Transitions
(SMC partnership with credit recovery students at J Clarke Richardson High School, Ajax,
Ontario; they spend their second semester at SMC, finishing their high school diplomas and
auditing SMC courses).
Fundraising: As a federated College, SMC relies heavily for all of its fundraising on the
USMC Office of Development and Alumni Affairs. Christianity & Culture is sustained
through six independent endowments, the most recent of which was the Sorbara-Tanzola
Endowment of $2,000,000, which would assist the entire program, including its CTEP
option. In the past two years programs were supported in the following ways: Book and
Media Studies: in 2007/08 $2,824.7, in 2008/09 $3,469.13, Celtic Studies: in 2007/08
$99,118.12, in 2008/09 $35,675.16, Christianity & Culture: in 2007/08 $1,203,069.26 in
2008/09 $100,653.49, and Medieval Studies: in 2007/08 $2,564.86 in 2008/09 $3,794.93. In
addition the Office provided undergraduate student aid: in 2007/08 $403,303.38, in 2008/09
$160,888.48.
Priorities & Strategies: Achievement with Current Levels of Resources and Beyond
Unquestionably St. Michael’s highest priorities are to maintain the high levels of student
experience in College life and ameliorate them whenever possible, particularly as the
economy improves and the draw upon our many endowments can be used more fruitfully.
The primary academic priorities for St.
Michael’s College, however, are directed to
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the four College programs so that they continue to serve the academic and co-curricular
needs of students, foster teaching excellence, and inspire research excellence in both faculty
and undergraduate students. In the short-term, each program will be preparing to meet the
criterion of the new faculty Curriculum Renewal Initiative, in expectation of submitting the
“reinvigorated programs” in October 2010.
The highest priority is the establishment of a Chair in Book and Media Studies, with a new
tenure stream faculty member who specializes in the transition from typographical culture to
the “new media.” The BMS Chair, announced by USMC President Anne Anderson in
October 2008 and reaffirmed in November 2009, would be financed through the fundraising
of USMC’s Office of Alumni Affairs and Development. The new appointment would be
made in conjunction with a tenuring department in the Faculty of Arts and Science, without
cost to that unit. While the specific department holding tenure would be determined at the
time of the search, there is a preliminary agreement in principle with the Department of
History. In addition, the Department of French has agreed to support the BMS foundations
course “Elements of Material Bibliography,” with one of its own personnel, beginning in
2011-12. Italian Studies will also strengthen its sponsorship of SMC219Y, “Mass Media in
Culture & Society”. Negotiations have also commenced with the Faculty of Information for
additional teaching support. These efforts should provide more permanence and consistency
in course instruction, something desperately needed in this successful, but still fledgling
program.
A second priority will be to replace our Mediaeval Celtic specialist, who is scheduled to
retire from the Celtic Studies Program in 2014. Inspired by the recommendation of the
recent external review (January 2007), SMC strongly wishes to preserve and nurture our
longstanding undergraduate teaching strength in the Mediaeval Celtic world, in the Celtic
Studies program, while augmenting the College’s commitment to undergraduate teaching in
Mediaeval Studies. The retention of this position should have a positive effect on graduate
teaching, as has been confirmed by the Director of the Centre for Mediaeval Studies, who has
identified the mediaeval Celtic world as a scholarly priority for the Centre. SMC has engaged
in discussions with the Centre, with the long-term aim of securing an appointment in the
Mediaeval Celtic World, which would be of benefit to both units, while cementing an already
growing bond between the undergraduate and graduate units of Mediaeval Studies at the
University. With this in mind, St. Michael’s College reaffirms its recently formed partnership
with CMS, as outlined in “The Road Ahead”, a groundbreaking document in which CMS
provides teaching support to the undergraduate division, while having its graduate students
be given priority for teaching assistantship, particularly in a new 100-level general
introductory course to the Middle Ages. Moreover, through the financial assistance of CMS,
upper level research seminars are now being offered to undergraduates, providing invaluable
small group teaching experience for senior undergraduates. SMC has also broadened this
partnership to include the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies, which is providing
teaching support and research mentorship to our undergraduates, and Classics, with whom
there will be greater co-operation in the teaching of Latin. Through all of these growing
partnerships, SMC will continue to nourish excellence in its Celtic Studies and Mediaeval
Studies Programs.
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Our third priority is to continue to strengthen the many partnerships between the
Christianity & Culture Program, its CTEP component, the Centre for Community
Partnerships at UofT, and many other community partners including the Baycrest Centre,
Intercordia, the Durham District School Board, the Multi-Faith Centre, the Toronto School of
Theology, and the Centre for the Study of Religion. In an effort to grow in FCEs and subject
POSts, the Program will encourage greater interaction and collaboration between its
tenured/tenure-stream faculty and other academic units at the University and among the sixty
Fellows and professional librarians at SMC. The program seeks to build on its current
partnerships and increase its commitment to experiential and service learning, building upon
the foundations currently laid by Intercordia and its other service learning options. In CTEP
the religious education component, currently offered only to candidates seeking secondary
school qualifications, may be expanded to those aiming to become teachers in elementary
schools. Currently, the CTEP program receives about $58,000 per year from the Faculty. As
the program ramps up to include over 120 students each year for the duration of the next
academic cycle we would like to see this sum retained, for the purposes of providing teaching
stipends and teaching assistants. CTEP will once again draw on the Tanzola-Sorbara
Endowment, once the financial markets have climbed out of their recessionary doldrums.
The College remains committed to maintaining its full time senior lecturer in its Writing
Centre and will pursue renewing the agreement with the Faculty of Arts and Science
wherein a just apportioning of funds for Writing Centres is distributed to all seven colleges
beyond 2012. Moreover, SMC wishes to pursue a more structured, organized, and coherently
financed approach to Math Aid, across the faculty, with the Writing Aid as a possible model.
Re-enforcing the student experience: SMC will focus on strengthening the first-year
student experience through the introduction of a new initiative called St. Michael’s
Cornerstone which would provide a framework to encourage and train students to put their
intellectual and professional development in the University at the service of the greater
community. The pilot initiative would consist of a full year course for 100 students,
SMC180Y Cornerstones in Justice, Culture, and Community in which students would learn
the theory, history, development and application of the principles of social justice from a
variety of perspectives: sociological, political, philosophical, theological, and psychological,
among others. The course would be subdivided into four distinctive seminar groups in which
various service-learning applications of justice would be developed: (1) Life & Health; (2)
Environment and the Earth; (3) Politics and Society; and (4) Thought and Culture. In the 72
hours allotted for the course, the expectation would be that students attend a 1 hour lecture
and a 1 hour seminar per week, and have undertaken a minimum of 1 hour per week service
“in the field.” Experiential learning partnerships would be arranged in cooperation with the
University of Toronto’s Centre for Community Partnerships, with an emphasis on the City of
Toronto as visioned by 2030 and the co-operation foreseen between the University and the
cities around it. With one hundred students (twenty-five students per seminar), we would like
to launch a pilot initiative as early as 2011. We may find that certain areas attract a demand
and new sections would have to be opened. The USMC Office of Development and Alumni
Affairs will undertake the fundraising required for the teaching and administrative costs of St.
Michael’s Cornerstone.
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A second initiative follows from the allocation of money in the recently re-negotiated Block
Grant for the hire of a Campus Life Co-ordinator. Currently, SMC has undertaken a study
of such a position through a special “Task Force” representing all USMC divisions. Once the
CLC Task Force has reported and a new bursar is in place, in February 2010, the College will
pursue this most important component to enhancing the student experience. Already new
student facilities have been developed with the installation of a coffee bar (2010) in Brennan
Hall to complement the overflow activity in SMC’s highly successful Kelly Café. A special
room for FLCs is also under construction in Alumni Hall under the direction of the Office of
the Registrar and Student Services.
Graduate education and research excellence: SMC currently has no graduate programs
and does not plan to pursue any within the next academic cycle. SMC will continue to
encourage research excellence in our program faculty through our ongoing support by means
of SSHRC programs; special travel funds; SMC sponsorship of academic conferences, and
research grants through the Principal’s Office and President’s Fund.
Capitalizing on College assets: SMC wishes to create the “east campus” as a bastion of the
humanities and to that end wants to foster closer relationships with the language and culture
departments that are housed within our precinct; the foundations are already present in these
departments’ generous cooperation with BMS (note French/Italian above) and through the
new SMC385H “Numbers for the Humanities,” a research-intensive course designed to
develop quantitative reasoning among students in SMC programs and in the “resident
departments”; over the next five years we will be forging closer partnerships between the
college and these departments, seek ways of eliminating redundant cost centres, while
retaining each unit’s integrity and fostering greater dialogue, fellowship, scholarly exchange,
and common space for our activities.
Engaging with broader community: SMC will give priority to its existing programs of
outreach which include Intercordia (the international experiential learning program in
affiliation with Jean Vanier), Transitions (with the Durham District School Board), and
Ireland-Canada University Foundation which encourages Irish language instruction in the
Irish diaspora and Canadian students studying in Ireland. In addition, St. Michael’s
Cornerstone will be a major undertaking in local community outreach. Currently informal
partnerships for “exchanges” are being formed between SMC and the Katholic University of
Lublin (Poland) and the Orientale (Naples, Italy).
Dreaming: Should, by some happenstance, $100,000 be made available in base funding to
SMC, the College community would like to see it support the Cornerstone initiative, a
project that ties together academic life, the student experience, principles of service learning,
and the tradition of St. Michael’s College in its service of the greater community and the
enhancement of higher learning.
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