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Equitable Seneca

In FY2022-23, goals included: 

  • Starting the distribution of proceeds from The Jane Fund to support EDI-focused student initiatives 
  • Developing and implementing plans to embed EDI principles across all schools in their 
    curriculum, decision-making and stakeholder relations 
  • Building EDI practices into Seneca Innovation by identifying barriers to equity-deserving groups in HELIX and applied research enterprise and initiating practices to remove such barriers 
  • Creating a physical symbol of the path to reconciliation by building a walking path at King Campus around Lake Seneca, using technology to engage participants with education vignettes on Indigenous and broader EDI issues 
  • Launching a new student support called Student Navigator that focuses on helping students from equity-deserving groups succeed at Seneca by navigating them through academic and non-academic resources at Seneca and in the community 

Year-end outcomes:

  • Phase 1 funding of $250,000 from The Jane Fund distributed to several initiatives supporting students from equity-deserving groups, including navigators in Student Services, full-tuition bursaries, emergency funds and projects recommended by the Seneca community 
  • Review of policies and procedures for students and employees continues 
  • Curriculum-integration framework developed and piloted; expanding framework to include other priorities, such as EDI, with a plan to launch in FY2023-24; program development and review processes now include EDI criteria 
  • Phase 2 of HELIX’s Gender-Smart Entrepreneurship Education and Training Plus initiative launched 
  • The HELIX RISE Summit, designed to help women at all stages in their careers, was delivered to more than 250 participants  
  • A Women’s Initiatives subcommittee was struck to advise on how to make entrepreneurship more equitable 
  • All NSERC funding applications now include EDI best practices; Seneca Social Innovation Research Fund requires applicants to describe EDI implications in their research projects  
  • Surveys provided to more than 300 faculty who have worked with Seneca Innovation to gain insight on barriers faced by equity-deserving groups 
  • Plans for the construction and refurbishment of the reconciliation path are complete and include considerations for accessibility, educational resources, and various look-out points for reflection; construction will commence in FY2023-24 
  • Student Navigators hired and trained, supporting hundreds of students by: 
    • Providing complex case management and support, human skills development and navigation of Seneca resources and supports 
    • Supporting students experiencing emergencies, homelessness and financial instability 
    • Assisting Ukrainian and Iranian students with no access to funding and experiencing family trauma  

Highlights of 2022-23

Transformative gift in support of nursing students

The Nanji Foundation committed to a multi-million-dollar donation to the School of Nursing to support financial aid, simulation technology and community engagement. The gift is the largest donation in Seneca’s history, and the school has been renamed the Seneca Nanji Foundation School of Nursing.

Good things come in three

Seneca earned three 2023 Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Awards of Excellence: gold in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion category and bronze in the Applied Research and Innovation and the Faculty Leadership categories. These awards were distributed at the annual CICan conference in Montréal.

SSF making a difference in the community and on campus

The Seneca Student Federation (SSF) donated $10,000 to the Food Bank of York Region to help battle food insecurity in the community. On campus, the SSF Food Bank served 950 students a month, and their breakfast program supported 2,700 students weekly across three campuses.

Transgender athlete inspires teammates and policy changes

Practical Nursing student CL Viloria was the first Seneca varsity athlete to identify herself as transgender. Seneca’s Sport & Recreation, Student Services and the Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion appealed on her behalf to the CCAA and OCAA to update their transgender policies, which allowed Ms. Viloria to compete on Seneca’s volleyball team.

Bringing eyecare to those who need it

A pilot project between Seneca and Essilor Canada took place in fall 2022 at Yorkgate Campus and helped to improve the vision of more than 100 students. The I-Care project was designed to prioritize vision health by making screening and eye exams accessible to Seneca students, while educating the community on how to prevent sight loss.

Researchers enhance tax filing system for low-income residents

An applied research project has evaluated ways to make Canada’s tax filing system more accessible for vulnerable populations. The project saw research assistants from the schools of Human Resources & Global Business and Management & Entrepreneurship collaborate with the City of Toronto and Prosper Canada, a national charity that helps Canadians living in poverty.  

After fire, Indigenous flight school students soaring in Seneca planes

A fire in spring 2022 destroyed all 13 planes used by a unique Indigenous aviation program at the First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI), located in the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville, ON. Seneca’s School of Aviation answered the call to help FNTI students continue their flight training by leasing the institute two Cessna 172s. The loan of the aircraft allowed the students to complete their flight training.

Free career support and training designed for women

Women looking to advance their career, start their own business or return to the workforce were provided with a new way to obtain skills and support through Seneca’s HERizons program. HERizons offers programs and services tailored to help women make achievable plans for the future they want.

#WomenFreedomLife

Dr. Haideh Moghissi, Canada’s leading scholar in gender and Islam, delivered a virtual talk to the Seneca community on the ongoing uprising in Iran. Dr. Moghissi is a Professor Emerita at York University and a founder of the Iranian National Union of Women. Several graduates at the November convocation ceremonies paid tribute to the protesters in Iran as they walked across the stage with a gesture that indicated they were cutting their hair – a symbol of protest and mourning that has become a sign of solidarity since the death of Mahsa Amini.

Honouring Black history

The Seneca community welcomed award-winning journalist Garvia Bailey on campus for an Ask Me Anything event. Ms. Bailey is the host of Historica Canada’s Strong and Free podcast, which tells stories of Black Canadians throughout history. Seneca employees also took part in Strong and Free discussion groups leading up to Ms. Bailey’s visit.

Paving the way for equity-deserving youth in Edmonton

Andrel Wisdom, a graduate of Seneca’s Real Property Administration program, is paving the way for equity-deserving youth in Edmonton through a non-profit social impact enterprise called The REET Institute. REET offers free programming designed to train, develop and mentor high school students to become the next generation of investors, owners and leaders in commercial real estate.

Sustainable Seneca

In FY2022-23, goals included:  

  • Developing and implementing sustainability as a core literacy in academic programs, 
    including developing meaningful learning experiences for students and professional 
    development for faculty to assist integrating sustainability into curriculum design 
  • Developing and implementing sustainability approaches in stakeholder partnerships and 
    procurement of goods and services 
  • Implementing the framework of the UN’s PRME, focusing Business programs on 
    sustainability in five areas: curricula, research, educational frameworks, partnerships and thought leadership 
  • Completing an energy audit to get a baseline data set to allow us to develop a GHG emissions reductions plan with a primary objective for net zero emissions 
  • Developing a GHG and Energy Reduction Plan to reduce energy and GHG emissions across campuses 

Year-end outcomes:

  • The multi-year curriculum-integration framework developed and piloted with further implementation taking place each year of the Strategic Plan 
  • Faculty members in Seneca Business and the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering Technology participated in workshops to integrate sustainability principles into curriculum 
  • Procurement policy amended to include sustainability principles and takes effect FY2023-24 
  • Projects involving sustainable development practices in Kenya, Tanzania and Caribbean are on schedule 
  • PRME accomplishments include: 
    • Sustainable Business Fundamentals microcredential in collaboration with Canadian Colleges for Resilient Recovery 
    • Faculty workshop, “Introduce Sustainability to Your Course” 
    • Networking event ‘Let’s Talk Sustainability and Business’  
    • International partnership with another PRME signatory – University of Rosario 
    • Student Reward & Recognition program, with more than 1,000 students certified  
    • Activities to engage the Seneca community 
  • Completed the energy audit and a report is being analyzed 
  • Development of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction plan will begin in FY2023-24 and will be based on the energy audit outcomes  
  • Waste management plan developed, outlining high-level waste reduction and recycling objectives, timelines for respective goals and annual benchmarks for improvement 
  • Multi-year plan for naturalized and sustainable landscape development implemented; next phase of the Newnham Campus naturalized landscaping plan will be carried out in FY2023-24 
  • Launched Seneca’s first sustainability plan, Our Path Forward, developed through broad consultations across the institution and community input 

Highlights of 2022-23

CITE honoured for innovative and sustainable design

Seneca’s Centre for Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship (CITE) won a 2022 Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence in the Medium-Scale Public Landscapes category. This award acknowledges CITE’s innovative and ecologically focused landscape design, which promotes sustainability.

A conversation about climate justice

Seneca welcomed Naomi Klein, professor, award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author, to discuss climate justice. The conversation was part of Seneca’s annual Green Citizen Symposium, sponsored by TD Insurance and supported by the Seneca Student Federation. More than 1,400 students, employees, faculty and community members participated.

Fulfilling our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals

Seneca has submitted our first progress report as a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an international initiative with nearly 900 management and business schools committed to raising the profile of sustainability in their programs. The report documents Seneca Business’s many accomplishments over the last two years, while implementing the six principles of PRME.

Ever greener thanks to the City of Toronto

For the third time since 2020, the City of Toronto added to the green spaces on campus. Seneca received $75,000 from the City of Toronto’s Greening Partnership Grant, which will help with the planting of 642 shrubs and 28 trees in the courtyard at Seneca@York. Funding will also support ongoing naturalization work at Newnham Campus, where 490 shrubs and 105 trees will be planted in 2023.

Applied research leads to Canadian-sourced skincare products

Students from the School of Biological Sciences & Applied Chemistry helped develop environmentally friendly formulas for Céla’s anti-aging facial oil and moisturizer as part of applied research projects conducted through the Seneca Centre for Innovation in Life Sciences.

Harvesting great results in non-ideal growing conditions

Seneca Innovation and the School of Biological Science & Applied Chemistry collaborated on an applied research project with Just Vertical, an indoor vertical farming company in Toronto, to develop a series of crop recipes to determine ideal indoor light intensity and frequency for optimum growth. Just Vertical is now working with Seneca to renovate the vertical farm housed in the retrofitted shipping container at Newnham Campus to be a research site and provider of fresh greens to Seneca’s food services.

Addressing the mental health implications of the climate crisis

The Office of Sustainability, the Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Counselling & Accessible Learning Services hosted Seneca’s first-ever Climate Café. This initiative provided an inclusive space for the Seneca community to talk to peers about anxieties caused by the climate crisis and participate in a guided meditation.

Fighting diseases affecting the citrus fruit industry

Seneca Innovation and the School of Biological Sciences & Applied Chemistry are working in partnership with Ottawa-based Evik Diagnostic Innovations Inc. on an applied research project that could help save the valuable U.S. citrus fruit industry. The Seneca team is creating tests to detect a crop-killing disease that threatens oranges, grapefruits and lemons.

Don’t replace, repair

Seneca’s Office of Sustainability hosted a repair café at Seneca@York to reduce waste sent to landfills and help students and employees develop skills to fix items — not throw them away and buy new ones. The Seneca community brought damaged appliances, clothing and devices to be repaired by volunteer fix-it experts.

Indigenous cosmetic company benefits from applied research project

A face mist developed by a team of Seneca applied researchers brought Canadian-sourced cosmetic ingredients to a global market. The project with Cheekbone Beauty, an Indigenous-owned cosmetic company based in St. Catharines, Ont., was led by Sharon Robertson, Professor, School of Biological Sciences & Applied Chemistry, and funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

 

More virtual Seneca

In FY2022-23, goals included: 

  • Completing implementation of the new student service delivery model in the Registrar’s Office, Student Services and Academic Learning Services and identifying opportunities for extending the new service framework to other student-facing departments 
  • Implementing a hybrid service delivery model for all service departments 
  • Providing students across all faculties with greater choice to access learning through increased offerings of flexible delivery, extended reality (XR) modules and microcredentials 
  • Supporting faculty with supports related to flexible delivery, including professional development and mentorship 
  • Building dedicated, custom-built online teaching spaces at all campuses and completing upgrades to Flex learning classrooms  
  • Identifying and implementing CRM-type software to centrally manage Seneca-wide external corporate, social, alumni and other external connections   

 Year-end outcomes:

  • The Service Hub, a transformative approach to student services in Canada, originating through feedback from students and frontline employees, has been established; students can access The Service Hub through nine channels – from in-person to WhatsApp to chatbots – with plans to add additional departments in FY2023-24 
  • Continued increase in flexible delivery offerings for courses and programs, with an equally proportionate selection of courses in each of the four delivery formats: online, in-person, flexible and hybrid 
  • To support domestic enrolment, some programs are offered fully online 
  • One XR application has been completed, with two in progress 
  • The VR Lab at Newnham Campus has begun operations with VR headsets deployed to King, Peterborough and Seneca@York campuses 
  • More than 400 professors and instructors have taken “Fundamentals of Flexible Course Design and Delivery” which is now integrated into the Faculty Development Program 
  • Resources to support faculty in flexible course design and delivery continue to be developed and provided virtually 
  • More than 100 classrooms across four campuses equipped with flexible delivery technology 

Highlights of 2022-23

Welcome to The Service Hub

Seneca has introduced a transformative approach to student services in Canada that combines the latest technology with innovative practices in customer support. Through The Service Hub, students and employees can find clear, consistent information across an unprecedented nine channels: web, intranet, ChatBot, apps, social media, video, text, email and on site at Seneca’s campuses.

Applied researchers teach machines to help video editors

Thanks to Seneca Innovation’s artificial intelligence video categorization project with industry partner, Vubble, human editors can now tag video content more quickly. The applied research project was conducted through the School of Software Design & Data Science and received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform.

Digital Health Hackathon leads to scalable business solution

Seneca’s Digital Health Hackathon brought together Lorinda Lee, Chief Human Resources Officer at Oak Valley Health, Trinetra Systems Inc. and Seneca Innovation to create an AI-powered HR data management tool that can help large organizations in the health care sector. The tool can be adapted to support companies and organizations in other industries.

Leveling the playing field for traders

The Toronto-based fintech startup Featuremine Corp. has teamed with Seneca Innovation on an applied research project to develop AI that can be used by traders in all tax brackets to counter the expensive platforms used by major trading firms and hedge fund managers. This project benefited from a $25,000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.