Vice Dean — Faculty Affairs & People

What advanced this year

Workload & teaching planningAll faculty participated in the new workload-planning process used to inform 2026/27 teaching assignments. Feedback from the first cycle identified opportunities to make the process clearer and easier to use, and further refinement is planned.

MentorshipThe existing framework is moving into structured implementation across career stages rather than being redesigned from scratch.

Faculty developmentDevelopment work is becoming more closely connected to mentorship and to priorities identified through Faculty engagement.

RecognitionFaculty Affairs is expanding recognition beyond a narrow awards model toward broader contributions and more proactive nomination support.

Faculty Affairs renewed. The committee is clarifying a mandate spanning Culture of Care and well-being, faculty development, mentorship, orientation, professionalism, collegiality, service/workload and recognition, with a more predictable annual meeting cycle.

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Vice Dean — Faculty Affairs & People

Year 2 moved several People & Culture initiatives from initial design into implementation, testing and refinement. Following the Vice Dean transition in January 2026, work continued on workload and assignment practices, mentorship, professional development, Faculty Affairs governance, and recognition of faculty contributions.

What advanced this year

Workload & teaching planning: All faculty participated in the new workload-planning process used to inform 2026/27 teaching assignments. Feedback from the first cycle is shaping refinement.
Mentorship: The existing framework is moving into structured implementation across career stages.
Faculty development: Development work is becoming more closely connected to mentorship and Faculty priorities.
Recognition: Faculty Affairs is expanding recognition toward broader contributions and more proactive nomination support.

Faculty Affairs renewed: The committee is clarifying a mandate spanning Culture of Care and well-being, faculty development, mentorship, orientation, professionalism, collegiality, service/workload and recognition.

Where this work is taking us

Foundations established
Workload guidance
Mentorship framework
Faculty Affairs structures
Issues-sharing pathways

→

Year 2: using, testing & refining
Workload-informed planning
Mentorship implementation
Recognition work
Governance refinement

→

Moving toward
Fairer academic workload
Stronger career support
Clearer governance
A culture where contributions are valued

The technical roadmap mapping remains in the monitoring data for auditability, but this brief communicates the underlying strategic direction in plain language.

What we heard from faculty and staff

The Faculty did not repeat the Faculty & Staff Survey in 2026. The March 2026 engagement process instead invited faculty and staff to work with issues that had emerged from the earlier survey and a new strategic priority. For this portfolio, the engagement reinforced three especially relevant areas: feeling valued and recognized; mentorship and professional development; and clarity of reporting and decision-making.

How the 2025 survey fits. The 2025 results remain the last quantitative faculty/staff measurement and can provide historical context where useful, but they are not treated as a 2026 trend.

How we're tracking progress

Workload planning reached all facultyAll faculty participated in the 2026/27 workload-planning process used to inform teaching assignments. First-cycle feedback is helping shape a clearer and more sustainable approach.

Building stronger indicatorsAs mentorship, faculty development and recognition initiatives mature, we will establish meaningful indicators that help us understand their impact—not only whether activities occurred.

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Vice Dean — Faculty Affairs & People

Where this work is taking us

Foundations established → using, testing & refining → moving toward

Foundations established: workload guidance, mentorship framework, Faculty Affairs structures and issues-sharing pathways.
Using, testing & refining: workload-informed planning, mentorship implementation, recognition work and governance refinement.
Moving toward: fairer academic workload, stronger career support, clearer governance and a culture where contributions are valued.

What we heard: Faculty engagement reinforced feeling valued and recognized; mentorship and professional development; and clarity of reporting and decision-making.

How we're tracking progress: All faculty participated in the 2026/27 workload-planning process. As mentorship, development and recognition initiatives mature, we will establish meaningful indicators that help us understand their impact—not only whether activities occurred.

More detail behind this update

Teaching workload and assignment process

All faculty participated in the workload-planning process used to inform 2026/27 teaching assignments. January planning established a staged assignment process using a trial workload template. By late April the first draft of teaching assignments had been completed using workload forms; by late May assignments were nearing completion. In August, FAC reviewed the first iteration and proposed a more sustainable confidential longitudinal workbook approach to reduce duplication and clarify expectations.

Mentorship and professional development

March FAC records show implementation efforts underway for new hires and explicit use of recent engagement feedback. In August, FAC chose to move the existing 2023 mentorship framework into implementation, including mentor recruitment/matching, resources, check-ins, recognition of mentorship as service and access across career stages. Faculty development is increasingly being considered alongside mentorship rather than as a completed standalone framework.

Recognition and Faculty Affairs governance

Faculty Affairs work expanded from administering existing teaching recognition toward a broader recognition framework and proactive support for external nominations. The committee also began renewing its mandate around Culture of Care, well-being, development, mentorship, workload, collegiality and recognition.

How this update was assembled

This update brings together the previous strategic-plan monitoring record with Faculty Affairs, DEC, Academic Staff and Faculty Council records, Faculty newsletters, and the March engagement materials. Earlier information is used only where it helps explain how the work developed over time; it is not counted as new progress for this reporting period.