University Family Housing

A former boxer and fitness trainer, U of T grad finds his calling in academic research

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 20:55:55 +0000

A former boxer and fitness trainer, U of T grad finds his calling in academic research

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 11/10/2022 - 15:55

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Kyle Farwell, pictured here with his son Logan, graduated this week with a bachelor of kinesiology degree and is already pursuing his graduate studies (photo courtesy of Kyle Farwell)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Our Community

Convocation 2022

University Family Housing

Graduate Stories

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Kyle Farwell devoted most of his 20s to amateur boxing, hoping to one day qualify for the Olympics.

“It consumed my life,” he says. “It was all about getting in the boxing gym before work, after work, on the weekends.”

He qualified for the Commonwealth Games, but eventually decided not to pursue a boxing career further. Instead, he turned to personal training, which occupied the next 13 years of his life – and ultimately led him to study kinesiology at the University of Toronto.

“I was still working as a certified personal trainer full time when I started my undergraduate degree,” says Farwell, who graduated this week from the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE).

He says wanted to learn more about the knowledge and research that underpinned his industry.

“I worked really hard to be good at my job and felt rewarded when my input was required to assess clients and train new staff, but I always wondered, ‘Why are we doing things this way?' For example, if somebody’s knee goes, how do we know that it’s this muscle that’s failing, that we need to strengthen? The fitness industry can sometimes speak in absolutes.”

On top of having an inquisitive mind, Farwell had personal reasons for going back to school. After undergoing back surgery several years ago, he decided working in a gym wasn’t helping his recovery. He also had a young family to think about: a wife and son.

“Coincidentally, the Ontario government was starting to supplement OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) with more grants towards mature students,” Farwell says. “I didn't want to ask myself later in life – or have my son ask me – ‘What were you doing when they were giving away free education?’ I wanted to have a good answer for that.”

So, he applied to kinesiology at U of T and never looked back – even applying to do research over the summer months.

“I had such a great time in my first year that I didn't want to just take two months off or work over the summer,” he says. “I knew I would miss being on campus, so I jumped at the opportunity to apply for undergraduate research.”

He worked with Associate Professor Katherine Tamminen from KPE’s Sport and Performance Psychology lab to explore athletes’ emotional responses to injury. Not only could Farwell personally relate to the research, he says he was soon “hooked on it” and credits Tamminen for helping to launch his academic research career. “I love running into Professor Tamminen and telling her that when I see her,” he says.

Another highlight: a cadaver anatomy dissection project with Assistant Professor David Frost that was co-supervised by Associate Professor Judi Laprade from U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, KPE Assistant Professor Timothy Burkhart and Tyson Beach, now a lecturer in biomechanics at the University of Waterloo.

“That was an incredible experience,” says Farwell. “I was literally working with spines every day. There was so much to take in.”

(Image via University of Toronto)

Beyond his coursework and research, Farwell has fond memories the three years he spent living in Student Family Housing on Charles Street.

“It was such a cool time in our life,” he says. “My son Logan had daycare across the hall from one of my classes, so I’d bring him to daycare and then just walk across the hall to my class and everybody got to meet him and talk to him and give him high fives.”

The only challenge during his studies was time, “but there’s nothing unique to that,” he says. “It was hard to balance everything, but the [KPE] offers tremendous resources – you just have to use them.”

His advice to students coming behind him? “Do ordinary things really well. There’s nothing unique to me, but what I did well is I showed up to every class. I don't think I missed a class in undergrad. I sat in the front row. I asked questions when I had them. I didn't care what people thought of me, even though everybody was great. I did the readings. Anybody can do that.

“This is a good program and everybody worked hard to get here, so don't take your foot off the gas now that you’re here.”

Farwell certainly didn’t. He’s already working on a master’s degree in kinesiology with Frost as his supervisor.

“I’m loving it,” he says. “Because of the research I did in my undergrad, I already have some data to back up some of the things that I plan to investigate for my master thesis – specifically, how certain constraints affect different movement features in an individual.

“I love the research process, but my real interest is in applying that knowledge to the general population in a meaningful way.”

U of T explores university housing development at Bloor and Spadina

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 21:49:32 +0000

U of T explores university housing development at Bloor and Spadina

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 03/16/2022 - 17:49

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The proposed development of “Site 1,” visible at the southeast corner of Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue, would provide academic space and housing for U of T students, faculty and staff, as well as their families (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

City & Culture

University Family Housing

Four Corners

Scott Mabury

Cities

Faculty of Arts & Science

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

School of Continuing Studies

St. George

The University of Toronto is in the early stages of exploring how the northwest corner of the St. George campus can be revitalized to provide much-needed and attainable university housing, including academic and amenity space – all while supplying carbon-friendly energy and advancing Indigenous place-making.

The proposed development of “Site 1” – bounded by Bloor Street West, Spadina Avenue, Huron Street and Washington Avenue – would provide hundreds of apartment-style units for students, faculty and staff, as well as their families. It would also provide academic space for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and the School of Continuing Studies, and would continue to host the University of Toronto Schools, which is a current occupant of 371 Bloor West.

Envisioned as a major gateway into the northwest quadrant of the St. George campus, the proposed development also aims to better link the university with the surrounding neighbourhood and provide more open spaces for community-geared activities.

Scott Mabury, U of T’s vice-president, operations and real estate partnerships, said the Site 1 project exemplifies U of T’s Four Corners Strategy, which seeks to advance the university’s mission to build much-needed university housing and innovation space while also contributing to the university overall and enhancing the vitality of city life.

“This site, located at a prominent downtown intersection, represents a unique opportunity for U of T to help address its growing need for housing, provide renewed academic space and enrich the surrounding neighbourhood,” Mabury said.

He added that the site would also house an energy centre and electrical distribution hub that would make important contributions to U of T’s ambitious goal of achieving a climate-positive St. George campus by 2050.

“This site serves as an ideal location from which to supply the northwest quadrant of the St. George campus with energy derived from high-efficiency, zero-carbon technologies,” he said. “As such, it will play a vital role in helping us meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets.”

The project is currently in its nascent stages and has not yet gone to the university’s Governing Council for consideration. Consultation is underway through a working group – led by the local city councillor and involving neighbourhood associations, student groups and campus stakeholders –as the university seeks early input on how the property can advance the university’s mission while supporting local planning goals and reinforcing the neighbourhood’s character.

Due to the complexity of the project, the university plans to seek the expertise of the development industry to help support its project delivery and aims to select a development partner this summer. Selection of the design team will follow in late 2022 or early 2023 and there will be ongoing consultation throughout the design phase leading to the project’s development application and municipal approval process. It is expected that construction on the project could begin near the end of 2024 and be completed by 2028.

Shannon Simpson, U of T’s director of Indigenous initiatives, said the project will establish an engagement process to help members of the Indigenous community share their thoughts on how design choices, landscaping and common spaces can be harnessed to foster Indigenous acknowledgement and placemaking at the site.

“There was a time when the Indigenous community wouldn’t be brought into conversation early enough – so we would have ideas, but it would be too late to implement a lot of them,” she said. “Now, people at U of T are really embracing bringing us into the conversation early on.”

To that end, Simpson said First Nations House is being engaged to help amplify student voices while consultations are also being planned with Indigenous faculty, staff, Elders and Knowledge Keepers.

She noted the commitment to Indigenous engagement is important given that the Bloor and Spadina area is home to the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council, Wigwamen Terrace housing and the Spadina Road branch of the Toronto Public Library – reputed for its strong collection of Indigenous literature.

“It’s a little piece of Indigenous community in Toronto, so it’s a special corner,” Simpson said, adding that the proposed redevelopment stands to benefit both Indigenous Peoples and the broader U of T community.

“Whether if it’s a common room or study space that’s named after one of the Indigenous host territories, or a bench that has elements of Indigeneity, or native plants and medicines in and around the area – those kinds of things are important and meaningful for Indigenous students,” Simpson said. “The Indigenous community will obviously, 100 percent benefit from that, but I think everyone – every student, staff, faculty and community member – will benefit from being a part of these spaces.

“So, I don’t think it’s something that U of T or the City of Toronto are just doing for the Indigenous population. It really is for everyone.”

At present, Site 1 envisions the construction of two taller residential towers that would be integrated with the heritage building at 371 Bloor Street West. With 600 to 700 apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms, the new buildings would help meet the growing demand for attainable university housing – accommodation that enables U of T community members and their families, including those coming from abroad, to live close to campus without having to participate in the competitive Toronto housing market.

While housing arrangements are crucial for students, they are also important for faculty members making the transition to U of T and Toronto.

“The fact that the university is able to provide some new faculty with a place to live as they take up their research and teaching at U of T enables them to embed themselves immediately in the community they are joining,” said Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science, which is U of T’s largest faculty.

“Just as with students, faculty members living on campus will have the opportunity to absorb the vibrant energy of the U of T community and reap the benefits of being steps away from their home departments, their peers and colleagues, and the students they can expect to engage with daily.”

At the same time, the creation of new academic space for OISE would ensure that it maintains its longstanding relationship with the University of Toronto Schools, while continuing the more than 115-year history of teacher education programs at 371 Bloor St. West. The space provided to the School of Continuing Studies, meanwhile, would support the university’s commitment to lifelong learning.

The surface parking lot that currently dominates the block would be moved underground, allowing for increased open space. The proposed development envisions a passageway to connect Matt Cohen Park to the Huron Washington Parkette – and then onward into campus via the campus open space network. It also envisions the house forms along Washington Avenue being integrated into the proposed development to maintain the streetscape. On all sides, the development would be designed to transition appropriately to the surrounding area, from the Huron-Sussex and Annex neighbourhoods to the south and west respectively to the more urban character of Bloor Street to the north.

The redevelopment would also create new accessible open spaces for pedestrians and enhance the public realm.

When it comes to supporting U of T’s climate-positive campus plan, Site 1 would play a key role by housing energy facilities discreetly integrated into the fabric of the 371 Bloor Street West building. That includes an underground nodal plant or energy centre, which would provide low-temperature heating water, chilled water and carbon-friendly energy to the immediate facility as well as campus buildings in the Huron Sussex neighbourhood.

The nodal plant will utilize a proposed geo-exchange field located under the facility to store surplus heat generated by building systems in the summer to be used for heating in the winter. The field will improve the efficiency of the heating and cooling systems while decreasing carbon emissions significantly.

Finally, the facility would be home to a central electrical distribution substation – one of five on the St. George campus.

Going forward, Mabury said the Site 1 project planning team looks forward to working with the community and its development partners to re-imagine a key part of the St. George campus for the future.

“From providing more attainable housing and sustainable energy to forging better connections through the neighbourhood and providing welcoming spaces for Indigenous Peoples, this project seeks to advance the many shared goals of the university and the community around it,” Mabury said.

“We want this corner of campus to stand out as a jewel – not just for the university, but for the entire city.”

‘A wonderful community’: U of T students on the benefits of university family housing

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 21:53:40 +0000

‘A wonderful community’: U of T students on the benefits of university family housing

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 02/10/2022 - 16:53

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Master's candidate Yasmin Aboelzahab (centre, right) is pictured with her husband Samir, as well as their children Salma and Adam, outside of U of T's family housing at 30 and 35 Charles Street West (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

University Family Housing

Scott Mabury

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology

Mathematics

St. George

Translational Research Program

Raising a young family while pursuing a graduate degree isn’t easy. Doing it in a new country far from home – and in a city with sky-high housing prices – is even more complicated.

For Yasmin Aboelzahab, a mother of two and master of health sciences candidate at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the challenges have been alleviated by living in U of T’s Student Family Housing, which provides attainable downtown accommodation for U of T students and their families.

She, her husband and their two children live in one of the roughly 700 apartments at U of T’s high-rise student family housing at 30 and 35 Charles Street West. Tenants are full-time U of T students who are living with a spouse or common-law partner, or who have custody of one or two children.

“Living here is very convenient, mainly because of the location,” says Aboelzahab, who is originally from Egypt and is in the Translational Research Program in the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology.

“It’s downtown, so it’s walking distance from all the places you want to go: grocery stores, the pediatrician, the TTC and the university.”

Aboelzahab and her family originally moved into their Charles Street West unit when her husband was doing his PhD at U of T. At the time, her daughter was only one year old. Now aged seven, her daughter attends a school in the neighbourhood while Aboelzahab’s three-year-old son goes to the daycare centre located in the building, which offers priority to student families who are residents.

They are also regulars at the building’s free drop-in centre, which organizes programs and services aimed at helping students and their children socialize.

Aboelzahab says easy access to such amenities has been a huge help, but the biggest advantage of family housing is living among a supportive and diverse community.

“I’ve had the chance to meet people from a wide range of cultures. It’s a mirror image of what Canadian society looks like,” she says. “This is really helpful when this is your first contact when you’re in Canada and moving from another country to Canada, and [people] should take the benefits of living in such a community.

“It’s a wonderful community for me.”

Unsurprisingly in a city as expensive as Toronto, the demand for accommodation for students and their families is high. As of late 2021, the wait list for family housing at U of T’s Charles Street West apartments and smaller units in the Huron-Sussex neighbourhood stood at 995 – a figure that would likely be higher if not for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel.

As demand continues to grow, U of T has been exploring ways to build more family housing units through projects such as laneway infill housing. Two laneway homes and a single-family dwelling on Huron Street were recently constructed as part of a pilot project in Huron-Sussex, where U of T plans to build more low-rise infill housing for university families.

Scott Mabury, U of T’s vice-president, operations and real estate partnerships, said that housing is among the most important factors for students and faculty who are considering bringing their talents to U of T, particularly if they're coming from abroad – but it's also one of the most difficult things to arrange.

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of attainable and conveniently located accommodations for student families and faculty coming to the University of Toronto,” Mabury said. “That’s why we’ve made housing one of the pillars of our Four Corners Strategy, which aims to provide the spaces the university needs to advance its mission.

“We quite simply have to deliver more housing options and we are absolutely committed to leveraging our significant real estate assets and building partnerships to do so.”

Sujata Mishra

Like Aboelzahab, Sujata Mishra, a PhD student at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health who also lives at Charles Street West, also sees community as one of the biggest advantages of U of T’s student family housing.

“These buildings mostly house international students who don’t have social capital – they don’t have parents, they don’t have families and they just recently moved,” says Mishra, who is originally from India. “So it allows us to make friends with people from different cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities. It gives you a sense of belonging in that everybody’s in a similar boat.

“Everybody’s trying to finish up their studies, and they have families. The problems and the struggles are fairly similar, so you can build a support system around that.”

Mishra notes that residence management takes a proactive role in developing programming to forge a sense of community among residents, even if it has been temporarily curtailed by the pandemic. “You can develop a sense of community, friendships and talk to each other. So there is this social interaction that happens, which is great.”

She says the extent and importance of her social interactions increased “many-fold” after she gave birth to her daughter, who is now three.

“This was my first child, and I’m away from home,” Mishra says. “So, I was constantly needing support to understand how the daycare system in Toronto works, how the subsidy system works, where do I send her to school, how does the schooling work – because of all these things are quite different than where we come from.

“It really helped me build community and have friends with whom I could talk, discuss and get information.”

U of T is also looking to grow its stock of faculty housing, which offers a limited number of unfurnished rental units to newly and recently appointed faculty. At present, new faculty can expect to wait a year or more before they can be offered an apartment.

Yun (William) Yu

Yun (William) Yu, an assistant professor in the department of mathematics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, says the opportunity to live in faculty housing on campus helped ease his transition to U of T in 2019 after completing his post-doctoral work at Harvard University.

“The faculty housing accommodation was incredibly helpful in making the logistics of moving to Canada so much easier,” says Yu, who lives in a rowhouse unit in Huron-Sussex. “The Toronto rental market is quite difficult, and not having to think about that meant one less item that I had to check off.”

Yu says housing is a “reasonably large bonus” for faculty who are offered positions at U of T.

“Just the convenience of not having to think about logistics while moving – and it is in a brilliant location,” says Yu, who notes that the Bahen Centre, where he does his graduate teaching, is only a 10 to 15-minute walk from his home.

“Living on campus did make me feel more welcome. It really allows me to feel like a part of the university.”

As for Aboelzahab, she is actively taking steps to ensure others enjoy the same sense of community that has embraced her family. Since September 2020, she has been serving as a residence adviser and is responsible for orienting new residents, educating community members on policies and running programming.

“I was so impressed by the resources and services provided to me and my family,” she says. “I thought it’s time to give back and take an active organizational role in the community.”

U of T staff recognized at annual OREP BBQ & Awards

ksoobria — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 16:50:39 +0000

U of T staff recognized at annual OREP BBQ & Awards ksoobria Wed, 10/20/2021 - 12:50

The 6th annual Operations & Real Estate Partnerships (OREP) Thank You BBQ & Awards event took place at Varsity Stadium on October 5 to recognize and celebrate exceptional staff and team contributions over the past year and a half.

Over 470 OREP staff had RSVP’d, and guests were entertained throughout the event with music from the Faculty of Music’s steel pan band as they enjoyed food prepared by the culinary team at U of T’s Food Services. The names and award citations for the 119 individual and team recipients of awards were noted on the jumbotron, which also served to convey social distancing rules throughout the event. Staff were clearly excited to be able to gather together as a team, safely but socially, for the first time since the 2019 BBQ & Awards event.

Since its inception in 2015, the OREP Award ceremony has honoured over 400 OREP and shared services staff for their exceptional contributions to their particular OREP unit, the OREP portfolio and the university.

“It’s important to celebrate the efforts of our staff members that often happen behind the scenes, particularly during the pandemic,” says Professor Scott Mabury, vice-president, operations and real estate partnerships. “Our folks have gone above and beyond to keep our people safe and facilities operational. These awards are one way to recognize the incredible talent, compassion and dedication of our staff.”

Using the Event Assessment Tool (EAT) to apply COVID-19 exposure-reducing controls, strategies and precautions, the event was a great example of how teams can work within the restrictions to host morale boosting, fun events to celebrate staff and to herald the return to campus by many of our staff. .

The awards were divided into three categories: Outstanding Individual Employee Awards, Distinguished Service Awards and Outstanding Team Awards.

Recipients of the Outstanding Individual Employee Awards were recognized for their outstanding contributions that went beyond the ordinary fulfillment of their positions’ duties. Examples included adapting and creating children’s programming for virtual platforms for University Family Housing, leading groups to revise the Food Services’ operating procedures in response to COVID-19, supporting students concerned about their housing and getting home to their families during the mass move out in March 2020.

Distinguished Service Awards were given to six employees with more than 15 years of service at the university who have also made outstanding contributions beyond their ordinary duties. Among the recipients at this year’s ceremony, several had been with the university for more than 30 years.

The Outstanding Staff Team Awards were presented to teams who took on time-limited projects. Recipients included the Proactive Disinfection Team which coordinated almost daily cleaning of spaces across the St. George campus, the cross-portfolio Quarantine Housing Program team for developing and managing a program to support the safe entry and reentry of the university’s international students, and the Community Policing Initiatives teams for organizing their Holiday Toy Drive for under privileged children and Spring Sock Drive the homeless. In total, 11 teams, including 93 members from across the university, were recognized.

Read the recap and full list of winners on the Vice President Operations and Real Estate Partnerships website.

U of T staff recognized at annual OREP BBQ & Award

Photo by Jackie Shapiro

Kevin Soobrian

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