Student Mental Health

Overview

The Final Report of the Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health (PDF) was submitted to the President and Provost in December 2019, and was released on January 15, 2020 along with an Administrative Response (PDF).

The Response accepted all of the Task Force’s recommendations and announced a new partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), whose expertise will help guide the implementation of recommendations. 

Implementation

Track the status and implementation of the recommendations arising from the Presidential and Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health. 

Background

In a letter to students, faculty, and staff on March 28 2019, President Gertler announced that the University will implement a four-part plan of action on student mental health and wellness: 1) convene a Presidential and Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health; 2) utilize the Undergraduate Student Educational Experience (USEE) Expert Panel and School of Graduate Studies (SGS) consultations on student experience as a foundation for enhancing the culture of support for students; 3) engage with our partners in the health system in the Toronto region to better serve students with mental illness; and 4) redouble efforts to impress upon the provincial government the need to provide significantly more resources for university student mental health.

To initiate part one of this plan, the University convened the Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health. The Task Force built upon the progress underway on the priorities identified in the Student Mental Health Framework. The full mandate of the Task Force is outlined in its Terms of Reference.

Task Force Outreach & Engagement

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Outreach & Engagement activities. We truly appreciate your feedback.

To support our work and engage the University of Toronto community, the Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health embarked on an extensive consultation plan in July 2019. Phases 1 and 2 of the Outreach & Engagement Plan involved in-person focus group and open campus listening sessions; an online feedback form; and student-led Innovation Hub feedback sessions. In addition to this, the Task Force visited the three campus health centres.

Phase 3 of the Outreach & Engagement Plan: “This is what we heard, did we miss anything” involved sharing a summary of broad themes that we heard during the consultations so far and inviting all members of the University community to provide further feedback in November 2019.

The final Summary of Themes is posted on this site and is included in the final report of the Task Force.

Task Force Membership

Chair:

  • Professor Trevor Young, Vice-Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine

Students:

  • Egag Egag, MSW Student, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
  • Jayson Jeyakanthan, University of Toronto Mississauga
  • Corey McAuliffe, PhD Candidate, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
  • Aurora Nowicki, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering

Faculty:

  • Chloe Hamza, Assistant Professor, Applied Psychology & Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
  • William Ju, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Human Biology Program, Faculty of Arts & Science
  • Ruth Ross, Chair and Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine

Administrative Staff:

  • Elsie Obeng-Kingsley, Student Welfare Case Coordinator, University of Toronto Scarborough
  • Melinda Scott, Dean of Students, University College, University of Toronto
  • Sherry Yuan Hunter, Associate Registrar, Student Success, University of Toronto Mississauga

Senior Assessors:

  • Professor Sandy Welsh, Vice-Provost, Students
  • Professor Joshua Barker, Vice-Provost, Graduate Research & Education and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies

Project Support:

In addition to the Task Force core membership, Bonnie Kirsh, Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, and Caroline Rabbat, Director, Critical Incidents, Safety & Health Awareness, Faculty of Arts & Science agreed to serve as Outreach and Engagement Co-Leads. They chaired in-person outreach and engagement sessions that took place throughout the summer and fall 2019.

Staff members in the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, provided support for the Task Force: Katie Bobra, Assistant Director, Health Promotion and Strategic Projects, Jeff Burrow, Manager, Assessment & Analysis, Student Life, and Cheryl Gibbs, Assistant Director, Office of the Vice-Provost, Students.

Related Documents & Resources