September 2026: VPFAL Action Guide

This post highlights upcoming academic HR deadlines and important administrative tasks for the month ahead. Please feel free to share it with faculty or staff who may find it helpful.

To be added to the distribution list or if you have any questions, feel free to contact vpfal.prof.dev@utoronto.ca.  

Recruitment: Sample Job Ads

Ask your Dean’s Office for a copy of VPFAL’s updated sample job ads. Basing your faculty ad on VPFAL sample ads will help ensure your ad conforms with immigration, institutional, and best practice requirements, increasing the speed with which your ad can be approved and posted.

Continuing Appointment Review (Part-Time Faculty)

  • Part-time faculty members are considered for continuing appointment “[d]uring the sixth (6th) year of a period of successive one year and/or two year and/or three[AP2.1]-year appointments…” (PtP, 7a)
  • “The review [is] to be conducted before December 31.” (PtP, 7b)
  • See the AAPM Section on Continuing Appointment Review: Part-Time.

Interim Review (Tenure Stream)

  • Tenure stream faculty members should have their performance “reviewed no earlier than May 1 of the third year of [their] contract … Normally no later than 30th June, the appointee should be asked to submit an account of research or creative professional activity which has been completed or undertaken since the time of initial appointment … The appointee will not normally be required to complete the submission prior to August 31” (PPAA, II.8, emphasis added).
  • See the AAPM Section on Interim Review.

Tenure Review

  • In units with faculty members coming forward for tenure review, candidates must be informed of the membership of the tenure committee: “This notification will normally happen in the fall.” (PPAA, III.14.iii, emphasis added). This correspondence and acknowledgement should be included in the tenure file.
  • See the AAPM Section on Tenure Review.

Promotion to Professor

  • “Each year the Department Chairman will place before the Promotions Committee for preliminary consideration the names of all Associate Professors in the Department, together with their curricula vitae. The Committee will advise the Chairman as to which staff members should receive more detailed consideration for promotion.” (PPP, 20).
  • “Associate Professors may request that they be considered for promotion in any given year. Such requests are to be made in writing to the Chairman of the department on or before October 15 of the calendar year preceding the possible promotion. In this case, the Promotions Committee is obliged to give the faculty member detailed consideration along with any other candidates under consideration.” (PPP, 21).
  • See the AAPM Section on Promotion to Professor.

Promotion to Professor, Teaching Stream

  • “Each year the Department Chair will place before the Promotions Committee for preliminary consideration the names of all part-time Assistant Professors, Teaching Stream with continuing appointments and all Associate Professors, Teaching Stream in the Department, together with their curricula vitae. The Committee will advise the Chair as to which faculty members should receive more detailed consideration for promotion.” (PPPTS, 18).
  • “Associate Professors, Teaching Stream may request that they be considered for promotion in any given year. Such requests are to be made in writing to the Chair of the department on or before October 15 of the calendar year preceding the possible promotion. In this case, the Promotions Committee is obliged to give the faculty member detailed consideration along with any other candidates under consideration.” (PPPTS, 19).
  • See the AAPM Section on Promotion for Teaching Stream Faculty.

Promotion Eligibility (Part-Time Faculty)

This is a reminder that part-time faculty members in both the non-tenure stream and the teaching stream are eligible for promotion.

Research & Study Leave (RSL)

  • Academic units should be receiving leave requests from faculty and librarians and preparing their leave request form for the 2027-28 leave cycle.
    • “A faculty member who wishes to take research leave shall request such leave in writing from his or her chair, dean, or principal no later than October 31 of the academic year preceding. Every request for research leave requires the approval of the Vice-President and Provost of the University of Toronto.” (MoA, 2016, Article 4)
  • Please note the following changes effective July 1, 2026:
    • Part-time faculty members taking their first Research & Study Leave following a successful continuing appointment review are eligible for Option C: 12-Month Leave at 90% of Salary.
    • The method for calculating Research & Study Leave compensation for faculty members with fluctuating FTE appointments during the years when service toward the leave is accrued has been revised.

Faculty Resources

U of T Libraries Support for Faculty

➡️ Please share with your faculty 

Please encourage both new and current faculty members to reach out to their University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) Faculty Liaison Librarian. Each liaison librarian can provide valuable research and teaching assistance. This includes research consultations on a wide variety of topics such as research impact, research data management, digital scholarship, and open access. Additionally, they can collaborate with you on Systematic and Scoping Reviews and provide instructional sessions to your students that are tailored to your course content. With AI tools proliferating, librarians can play a key role supporting students’ AI literacy. UTL also provides a Syllabus Service to support you with the management of course readings and reserves in a manner that respects Canadian copyright law and existing U of T licensing agreements and policies. Library Staff will retrieve, scan, license, and acquire eBooks where necessary to support instruction.

U of T Bookstore Support for Faculty

➡️ Please share with your faculty

  • As you prepare for the upcoming academic term, we encourage all new faculty members to connect with the University of Toronto Bookstore for support with sourcing course materials. The Bookstore works closely with instructors to identify the most suitable resources for each course, offering both print and digital formats to meet diverse teaching needs.
  • For courses that draw on multiple sources, the Bookstore collaborates with a licensed Access Copyright copy shop to help you create and distribute custom course packs tailored to your syllabus.
  • To ensure materials are available for students at the start of the Fall term, we kindly ask that all course material orders be submitted as soon as possible. Orders can be placed through Verba Collect, or by contacting your designated textbook buyer directly for assistance.
  • If you prefer to email your order or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our knowledgeable Bookstore buyers. Their contact information is available online.

Faculty Programming

2026 New Faculty & Librarian Orientation Resources

The “Your Academic Career at U of T: New Faculty and Librarian Orientation” was held on August 10 & 11, 2026. Tenure stream and continuing stream teaching stream faculty members and permanent status stream librarians with start dates between September 2, 2025 and September 1, 2026 should contact vpfal.prof.dev@utoronto.ca for access to materials if they were unable to attend.

NCFDD Webinars

➡️ Please share with your faculty

NCFDD offers on-demand access to programs and resources designed to help faculty members “achieve extraordinary writing and research productivity while maintaining a full and healthy life off campus”

Activate your UofT NCFDD membership to access webinars.