Dwayne Benjamin

Dwayne’s World – September 2024 Goodbye Summer, Hello New School Year It’s hard to believe that another academic year is upon us. September is a month imbued with a sense of anticipation, as we fall into familiar back-to-school rhythms and the campus becomes more energized.  Of course, it’s hard not to feel a sense of […]

Dwayne’s WorldA Season of Celebration As I noted last year, June is typically the month when things start to slow down, and summer is enticingly near. This is not true for all VPSEM teams, of course – and now that the Office of Convocation has joined the portfolio, June will never be a “quiet” month […]

Removing Barriers to EducationThe Importance of EquitableStudent Financial Aid In February, we submitted the 2022-23 Annual Report on Student Financial Support to the university’s Committee on Academic Policy & Programs. Financial support plays a critical role in realizing U of T’s mission of accessible academic excellence. It is foundational to how we perceive ourselves as […]

Reflections from the Annual Meeting of AAU Chief Enrollment Managers In late January, I travelled to Laguna Beach in Orange County for the annual meeting of Chief Enrollment Manager Officers of the Association of American Universities (AAU). The AAU is a consortium of 71 leading research-intensive universities. Membership is by invitation only and is linked […]

Learning isn’t just for Land:Canadian Leaders at Sea (CLaS) Last month I had the privilege of participating in the Canadian Leaders at Sea (CLaS) program aboard the HMCS Winnipeg, a frigate based out of CFB Esquimalt, sailing two days off the coast of Vancouver Island. CLaS is an outreach program of the Royal Canadian Navy […]

DWAYNE’S WORLD After a busy summer, a new school year begins For those of us who work in an academic institution, September feels like a new year more than the one that January ushers in: our rhythms are driven by the academic calendar. With September comes a quickening of pace, within and around us: Students […]