October 2026: VPFAL Action Guide

This post contains some reminders of key deadlines and administrative tasks related to academic HR. Please share with faculty or staff who would find this information relevant.  

Please contact the VPFAL Programming team at vpfal.prof.dev@utoronto.ca to be added to the distribution list, or with any questions.  

Academic HR

Recruitment

  • Academic searches are ongoing at this time. Chairs may find it helpful to review Strategies for Recruiting an Excellent & Diverse Faculty Complement.
  • 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 Status Review for Teaching Stream Faculty (Continuing Stream Teaching Stream Faculty)

  • “The continuing status review should be completed and the candidate notified by December 31st.” (PPAA, VII.30.x).
  • For reviews currently underway, VPFAL encourages submission of the files by October 31st where possible, to allow time for processing before the December 31st deadline (keeping in mind the University’s holiday closure).
  • Deans Offices please submit your continuing status files to VPFAL through the VPFAL Document Submission Portal.
    • MDF units please submit CSR files to your Deans Offices directly.

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-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.

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).
  • Single Department Faculty Deans should be aware that promotion files sent to VPFAL by January/February may allow for review and response by our Office before tenure season begins in April.
  • 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, emphasis added).
  • Single Department Faculty (SDF) Deans should be aware that promotion files sent to VPFAL in February/early March may allow for review and response by our Office before the submission of tenure files ramps up in April.
  • See the AAPM Section on Promotion for Teaching Stream Faculty.

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)
  • For details on leave information, eligibility, and requests, please see the Research & Study Leave section of the AAPM and the Research & Study Leave Tool.
  • 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.
  • You should be aware of the following to assist with the RSL/Admin leave process:
    • The Research and Study Leave Report is available to specific users in Fiori. Instructions for the report: HR Systems Training & Support Centre and then HRIS Support Materials > Fiori Launch Pad.
    • Leave Request Form: Dean’s Offices must submit leave requests using the RSL request form. Note: there is a separate form for Multi-Departmental Faculties (MDFs) and Single-Departmental Faculties (SDFs).
      • Please be reminded that MDFs should separate exceptional RSL/admin leaves in annual omnibus submissions. Requests that do not conform to policy will receive additional review. A reminder to please submit supporting documents for all exceptional requests. Standard requests will not be given further review. The MDF-specific form reflects this process.
      • All SDF leave requests will be thoroughly reviewed by VPFAL. A reminder to please submit all leave documentation including leave proposals. The SDF-specific form reflects this process.
    • Please be reminded that support materials (guides and video tutorials) will continue to be available on the HRIS Support Materials > Academic> Leave- Paid & Unpaid. In addition, the RSL request form has sample tabs with direct links to the “how-to” materials.

Reminder: 2026 Part-Time Data Collection

  • A reminder for Dean’s Offices to submit their 2026 information with respect to part-time continuing appointments, e.g. part-time faculty members who were considered for a continuing appointment during the previous academic year (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026). Dean’s Offices may have access to the template we shared last year.
  • Please submit the spreadsheet with data for the period July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, to jamie.ryckman@utoronto.ca by October 26, 2026.

2027 Provost’s Leadership Academy – Call for Applications

Please share with eligible faculty

  • Applications are now open! Apply by October 30, 2026.
  • The Provost’s Leadership Academy is a program intended to identify, engage, and support mid-career faculty members in the tenure stream and continuing stream teaching stream with interests and capacities for future University leadership.
  • The program offers a cohort-based leadership curriculum to approximately 24 fellows selected from across the six multi-department and eleven single-department Faculties.
  • Applications for the 2027 cohort of the Provost’s Leadership Academy cohort are now being accepted. The deadline for faculty members to apply is Friday October 30, 2026, by 5pm.
  • More information, including eligibility and application instructions, are available on the Provost’s Leadership Academy webpage.

Academic Administrators Programming: October & November 2026

Highlighted below are the sessions occurring in the next few months. To see the complete list of scheduled workshops, please visit the VPFAL programming page.

Managing Teaching Assistants and Sessional Lecturers

Date: October 8, 2026, 10.00am-12.00pm (online)

Audience:  Chairs, Directors, Associate Chairs, Vice/Associate Deans, TA Coordinators, and Administrative Staff responsible for the administration of CUPE 3902 appointments.  

Overview:  This session, offered by Labour Relations will provide Chairs, Directors, Associate Chairs, Vice/Associate Deans, TA Coordinators, and Administrative Staff responsible for the administration of CUPE 3902 appointments with the tools and information necessary for managing employees under the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 and Unit 3 Collective Agreements.   

Topics will include performance management, accommodation, workload, leaves, and all other relevant processes under the Collective Agreements for the duration of an employee’s contract.  

➡️ Register Now  

Hosting International Collaborators: Special Session

Date: October 28, 2026, 10.00-11:30am (online)

Audience: Academic administrators, Dean’s office staff and unit support staff whose units may host international collaborators in the near future. 

Overview: Hosting international colleagues, researchers, expert knowledge holders, students, or visitors to campus requires advance planning and must include University policy and Canadian immigration considerations. This session will guide participants on matters that must be considered before the invitation letter is issued and where to seek assistance.   

We will provide an overview of the Canadian immigration system, offer information on ways to invite and host international collaborators, and answer general questions about immigration processes and options.  

➡️ Register Now 

Hosting International Collaborators: General Session #1

Date: November 11, 2026, 2.00-3.30pm (online)

Audience: Academic administrators, faculty members, principal investigators, and staff who may be considering inviting an international collaborator to campus.

Overview: Hosting international colleagues, researchers, expert knowledge holders, students, or visitors to your department, lab, or office requires advance planning and must include immigration considerations. There can be a variety of negative repercussions if there are errors or omissions in the process. This session will guide participants on what to consider and where to seek assistance. 

➡️ Register Now 

Hiring Teaching Assistants and Sessional Lecturers

Date: November 17, 2026, 2.00-4.00pm (online)

Audience: Chairs, Directors, Associate Chairs, TA Coordinators, and Administrative Staff responsible for the administration of CUPE 3902 appointments.

Overview: This session, offered by Labour Relations, will provide Chairs, Directors, Associate Chairs, TA Coordinators, and Administrative Staff responsible for the administration of CUPE 3902 appointments with the tools and information necessary for posting, hiring, and filling positions under the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 and Unit 3 Collective Agreements.

Topics will include subsequent appointment assignments, job security commitments, timelines, job postings, and navigating the hiring criteria.

➡️ Register Now

Advancement Process for Sessional Lecturers

Date: November 25, 2026, 2.00-3.00pm (online)

Audience: Chairs, Directors, Associate Chairs, TA Coordinators, and Administrative Staff responsible for the administration of CUPE 3902 appointments.  

Overview: This session, offered by Labour Relations, will provide Chairs, Directors, Associate Chairs, Vice/Associate Deans, and Administrative Staff responsible for the administration of CUPE 3902 Unit 3 appointments with the necessary information to manage and conduct the processes for advancement to Sessional Lecturer II, and advancement to Sessional Lecturer III. 

➡️ Register Now 

Faculty Progamming: October & November 2026

Please share with your faculty members.

Bias in the Context of Academic Reviews

Date: October 21, 2026, 2.00-4.00pm (online)

Audience: This workshop is intended for Provostial, SGS, and Decanal assessors; members of any committee that involves peer assessment (e.g., search, PTR, tenure, continuing status); as well as Deans, Principals, Chairs, and Directors.  

Please note that we are unable to accommodate staff, students, post-docs, sessional lecturers, or clinical faculty not serving on a faculty search committee, at this session. 

Session Leaders: 

  • Bojana Stefanovic, Director of Engagement, Toronto Initiative for Diversity & Excellence (TIDE); Professor, Dept of Medical Biophysics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine; Senior Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute 
  • Alison Keith, University Professor, Dept of Classics and Women’s Studies 

Session Goals: 

  • Provide you with the tools to identify bias 
  • Introduce you to some practical strategies to help you interrupt bias in the moment 
  • Discuss what a unit might consider/discuss/put in place to help mitigate bias in academic review processes and assessments 

Pre-work: It is recommended that all search, tenure, continuing status review, and promotion committee members, faculty on PTR committees, and assessors review these the online Unconscious Bias Modules before attending this session (unless you have previously attended TIDE’s Unconscious Bias 101 and 102 talks).  

➡️ Register Now  

NCFDD Programming

Spring 2027 NCFDD Faculty Success Program: Registration Open!

NCFDD Membership

  1. 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”
  2. Activate your NCFDD membership to access webinars