Congratulations to our Environment Pathways Day Team who were recognized with a 2023-24 Excellence Through Innovation Award for launching the new annual event aimed at connecting students studying the environment with external community partners, enhancing experiential learning, enhancing collaboration and promoting access to professional development opportunities. Team members included Dana Nicola, David Powell, Emma Bernardo, Kiran Champatsingh, and Meghan Sbrocchi.
The Pathways Day Team did an exemplary job of addressing the daunting task of career exploration in an innovative, inclusive, insightful, and rewarding way. Moreover, the opportunity to meet with a range of professionals in different fields and to learn about the challenges as well as successes the invited speakers faced during their career journeys underscored how there is no one “right” path. Seeing how everyone faces bumps and challenges on their own unique professional and personal paths fostered a palpable sense of ease among students. In this way, the Pathways Day offers transformative value as well as a transferrable model for other units at U of T on how to effectively foster a diverse, inclusive, and accessible event that facilitates a sense of belonging and empowerment for students navigating a range of post-graduation anxieties.
The University of Toronto established the ETIA program in 2005. The awards recognize exemplary administrative staff and librarians and provide a platform for sharing outstanding practices across our tri-campus community. They are an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate ‘above-and-beyond’ contributions towards the University’s mission as one of the world’s foremost research-intensive universities.