I am delighted to share my 2017-18 President’s Report.
A celebration of York University’s bold vision, this report links all that we have accomplished this past year through the four pillars on which we are building the University’s future – access, connectedness, excellence and impact. Throughout the report you will find stories demonstrating these pillars and reflecting how, by opening our doors to all eligible students, deepening our ties to the communities we serve, and striving for excellence in our scholarship, research and creative activities, York’s impact is magnified many times over.
Among the achievements featured in this year’s report are the appointments of six of our professors to the Royal Society of Canada, and a pioneering partnership with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory that saw York become the only Canadian university currently involved in the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment collaboration. We have made key enhancements to our student services and supports, advanced pedagogical innovation and research, and expanded the scope of our innovation and entrepreneurial activities. An increasing number of our students are engaged in experiential education, we are breaking down barriers to education through our “Dreamers” program by enabling young people with precarious immigration status to study for a degree tuition-free, and thanks to the opening of two TTC subway stations on our Keele Campus, we are better connected to the communities we serve than ever before.
York’s local and global impact is a testament not only to the excellence of the students, staff, faculty, alumni, partners and supporters who make up our community, but also to a shared commitment to our long-standing values of equity, diversity and inclusion.
The best part is we’ve only just begun. As we move toward the University’s 60th anniversary in 2019 and the opening of our Markham Centre Campus in 2021, our capacity to mobilize an inclusive response to the complex problems facing the world grows ever stronger. With each promising new student, new graduate, new program and new discovery, we take another step closer to realizing our incredible potential as individuals and as a progressive, engaged university for the 21st century.
I am proud to share my first President’s Report with you. Thank you for your support.
Rhonda L. Lenton
President and Vice-Chancellor