About & Contact

VPFAL Contacts

If you are in a Multi-Department Faculty, please first contact your Dean’s Office for Academic HR-related questions.

VPFAL Staff Directory

About the Office

The Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life (VPFAL) is responsible for policies and practices that relate to faculty and the distinctive elements of the academic life cycle at the University of Toronto. Specifically, the Office:

• provides advice and guidance and coordinates provostial approval on a wide range of matters, including: recruitment plans, academic job postings, appointment files, work permits, tenure and continuing status review, promotion, research and study leave, and retirement and emeritus status;
• serves as a resource for chairs, deans, directors, and administrative staff working with faculty in responding to questions and queries distinct to faculty and their role at the University;
• supports divisions in understanding and implementing policies and guidelines relating to faculty;
• offers programming and resource materials for faculty, academic administrators, and staff as they move through or support academic HR processes and the academic life cycle.

Additionally, VPFAL is involved in the development of new and revision of existing policies and guidelines on a wide range of academic matters. In these and other issues or projects related to academic life and academic policy, VPFAL works closely with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Academic Programs; the Director, Academic Affairs; and with senior legal counsel and other portfolios across the institution.

About the Vice-Provost

The Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life is responsible for all academic human resource matters concerning the University’s faculty members and librarians, as well as academic integrity across the institution. The Vice-Provost liaises with the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA), and serves as decision-maker in grievances brought by faculty members under the terms of UTFA’s Memorandum of Agreement with the University.

Professor Heather Boon serves as the University’s Vice-Provost, Faculty and Academic Life. Her primary area of responsibility in this role is academic personnel issues, including policy development. The Office of Faculty & Academic Life has responsibility for the development and oversight of a wide variety of policies and programs to support the institutional goal of appointing, promoting, and retaining the best educated, most intellectually creative faculty it can identify. The Provost has designated authority over all academic integrity matters to Vice-Provost Boon.

Former Dean of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, Professor Boon is a licensed pharmacist and holds cross-appointments with the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the safety and efficacy of natural health products and related regulatory and policy issues. Her research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the SickKids Foundation, and the National Centres of Excellence program, among others. Professor Boon has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles, as well as numerous book chapters, policy reports, and textbooks. Professor Boon received her BScPhm and her PhD from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.

Divisional Academic HR Contacts & Resources

In addition to institutional information, many divisions have their own academic human resources policies, guidelines, and practices. For more information about academic human resources materials specific to your division, please visit the websites or contact the offices linked below.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Information

Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education

Faculty of Law

Rotman School of Management

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

• Faculty appointments
• Senior promotions
• Named chairs and professorships

Faculty of Music

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

University of Toronto Scarborough

University of Toronto Mississauga or contact the office of the Vice-Dean