UTogether: A Roadmap for the University of Toronto

As the University of Toronto moves forward from the past two years of pandemic management, we will begin shifting from a critical incident response to an approach that focuses increasingly on long-term adaptation and evolution. With this aim, the University has recently announced the establishment of the Resilience Project Team and will be phasing out the use of those tools that supported the University through the crisis phase of the pandemic, including the UTogether Roadmap as our guide to life on campus.

Background

In March 2020, the University of Toronto activated its Crisis and Emergency Framework to manage our coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Incident Leadership Team (ILT) was led by Vice-President and Provost, Professor Cheryl Regehr and then-Vice-President of Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives, Professor Vivek Goel.

In July 2020, as we moved from crisis response to more long-term planning, the ILT was disbanded and responsibility for COVID-19 issues shifted to a small Response and Adaptation Unit (RAU), housed in the Provost’s Office, and a larger tri-campus Response and Adaptation Committee (RAC). Both the RAU and RAC were led by Professor Salvatore Spadafora, Special Advisor to the President and on COVID-19, and Advisor to the Dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. On April 1, 2022, the RAU and RAC will come to an end.

This roadmap was created to provide guidance on the University’s adaptive response to the pandemic and our plans for a safe return to campus life. This roadmap will be phased out of use as of March 2022, as the Province lifts restrictions and the University shifts to long-term pandemic management.