Faculty Council approves new JD/MSW field of study and hears updates on financial aid and mental health
Dean Jutta Brunnée kicked off the March 22, 2023 Faculty Council Meeting by announcing that on March 2, 2023, the Government of Ontario extended its current tuition framework to 2023–24. This freezes tuition for domestic in-province JD students for another year and allows universities to raise tuition for domestic out-of-province students by up to five percent year-over-year (YOY).
Dean Brunnée says U of T Law intends to raise 2023–24 tuition for domestic out-of-province students by three percent YOY. She cautioned that the Government of Ontario also appointed an expert panel on post-secondary financial stability which may recommend a tuition increase for domestic students for 2023–24. She said U of T Law’s budget assumed a zero percent increase in tuition for 2023–24 and then “modest annual increases” thereafter (about three percent per year).
Dean Brunnée said while she understands the tuition freeze is welcome to many students, it is challenging because U of T Law’s budget already has a deficit and is facing pressure from high inflation.
As the first order of business, the minutes of the February 8, 2023 Faculty Council meeting were approved.
Students’ Law Society (SLS) President Meaza Damte (3L) gave brief remarks. She thanked Dean Brunnée for the update on 2023–24 tuition, and staff and faculty for their participation in Law Follies. She said Law Follies and Law Ball were both great successes. SLS President Damte asked faculty to continue a “culture of compassion” as we move into exams.
Professor Anthony Niblett and Interim Assistant Dean, JD Program Eleonora Dimitrova presented the Financial Aid Committee’s 2021–22 Final Report. Professor Niblett said the Financial Aid Committee received six requests for reconsideration of financial aid awards this year, which is historically low. He credited the Financial Aid Estimator and Financial Aid Office’s efforts to explain the financial aid eligibility criteria for this decrease.
Professor Niblett highlighted that the Financial Aid Committee worked this past year to improve the financial aid website, communications with students, and financial aid eligibility criteria. For 2023–24, the criteria will be changed to better reflect current spousal/partner income, the cost of living away from home, and students’ deemed amount of government funding.
Assistant Dean Dimitrova presented a summary of U of T Law financial aid statistics and trends. The presented statistics were not distributed at Faculty Council and will not be published.
In 2022–23, 215 students received financial aid and 36 students who applied for financial aid did not receive any. Assistant Dean Dimitrova said there was a slight decrease in JD students who applied for and received financial aid this year but did not know why. She said students are generally disqualified from receiving financial aid because of high parental income, assets, or 2L summer income.
She said total financial aid disbursements in 2022–23 increased nine percent YOY mostly due to an increase in funding from donors. The average student who received financial aid in 2022–23 received $21,003, an 18 percent YOY increase.
The Financial Aid Committee plans to do a review of the Post Graduation Debt Repayment Assistance Plan (PDRAP) in 2023–24. The PDRAP provides law school loan repayment assistance to JD graduates who have “low-incomes” (generally less than $69,900 per year). There has been a significant decrease in applicants to PDRAP in 2022–23 and the Committee wants to explore why.
Professor Martha Shaffer gave an update for the Clerkships Advisory Committee. She said the Committee received an unusually high amount of strong applicants this year. 28 individuals who applied through the Committee got clerkships this year, including eight at the Ontario Court of Appeal and five at the Supreme Court of Canada. Given the unusually strong applicant pool, Professor Shaffer encouraged applicants who were not successful this year to apply for clerkships again next year..
Assistant Dean, Academic Sara Faherty presented a proposal to add an Indigenous Trauma and Resiliency field to the JD/MSW program. There are currently five fields of study in the JD/MSW program. The proposal was approved unanimously and the Faculty will seek approval from the University of Toronto Governing Council to launch it in September 2023.
Professor Andrew Green presented the Mental Health and Wellness Committee’s Final 2022–23 Report.The Committee’s mandate was to monitor the implementation of the law school’s Mental Health Action Plan, review mental health training options, and look at creating a “culture of compassion” at U of T Law.
Professor Green said there is a lot of work to do to improve mental health at U of T Law but there is a solid base to build on noting the work of Student Mental Health and Wellness Program Manager, Chantelle Brown-Kent, the Peer Mental Health Support Program, and the Elder-in-Residence, Elder Constance Simmonds.
He highlighted four of the Report’s recommendations: (1) establishing benchmarks to evaluate the student mental health program, (2) adding mental health as a session topic in the 1L Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Series, (3) strongly encouraging 1Ls to take the Identify, Assist, Refer mental health training, and (4) offering more Lunch and Learns on mental health and wellness. There was a mental health session in the 1L EDI Series in 2021–22 but not 2022–23.
Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs Emily Orchard sought a motion for Faculty Council to delegate authority to Associate Dean, Graduate Programs Larissa Katz to make curriculum changes over summer 2024. Approval of courses for 2023–24 are planned to be voted on at the March 29, 2023 Faculty Council Meeting but there may need to be curriculum changes over summer 2023 (e.g., adding or removing courses or changing credit weighting of courses). Faculty Council does not meet in the summer. The motion was approved unanimously.
Dean Brunnée ended by stating that she expects the final Faculty Council Meeting of 2022–23 on March 29 to have a packed agenda.
