Nominations are now open for the 2018 Green Ribbon Awards!
Nominations are now open for the 2018 Green Ribbon Awards. Nominations can be made through the online form. Deadline to nominate an individual or group is February 5th, 2018! The Green Ribbon Awards recognize outstanding achievements in campus sustainability. Each year, one award to an individual or group is made in each of the five categories: Student Student Group Faculty Staff External Honourary In celebration of the Sustainability Office’s 10th year on campus, a new category was added – The Beth Savan Honourary Green Ribbon Award. Beth Savan, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, School of the Environment, has been an integral part, not only of [...]
2017 University Operations Award Winners announced at the 3rd Annual UO Than-Q BBQ!
Over 600 University Operations members (almost 40% of our team!) enjoyed delicious food - supplied by our very own Food Services culinary team, and cooked up by leads from all UO units - as well the seasonal music from steel band JK Pan Vibrations, during this, our 3rd Than-Q BBQ & Awards event. This is our opportunity to celebrate our entire team, and to honour our often unsung heroes for the great work they do in creatively, efficiently and dedicatedly furthering our mission through our three levels of UO Awards. Our thanks once again to University College for inviting us [...]
2017 University Operations Outstanding team Award winners
Team Awards Congratulations to all our winners! Kronos Team (ITS and central HRE) Brenda Bannis Nicholas Prashad Kelly Gao Barbara Der Christina Tsang Parvis Moinipour Zac Ryan Joy Li all from ITS and from Central HR: Sheryl Vitug What started out as a grassroots application to get rid of a whole lot of paper and stress around payroll deadlines, has now turned into a movement. We are talking about the university wide enthusiasm for a new HR application called Kronos which uses electronic timesheets to conveniently record hours worked for biweekly paid staff. Seamless transfer of this information to the [...]
2017 University Operations Distinguished Service Award Winners
Distinguished Service Awards Congratulations to our winners: Fatima Costa, Area Manager, Caretaking, Facilities & Services Fatima started with the University of Toronto more than 26 years ago as a cleaner in the Caretaking Department. Through her hard work and customer service orientation, Fatima has been successively promoted to Lead Hand, Supervisor and Area Manager. When she was transferred to Robarts Library as a new Supervisor, Fatima gained a reputation as being tough but fair and was able to achieve a dramatic improvement in the quality of cleaning in the building. As a key member of the Caretaking management team, Fatima [...]
2017 University Operations Outstanding Individual Award winners
Outstanding Individual Award Congratulations to all winners! Peter Johnston, Grounds Supervisor, Facilities & Services Peter is deeply committed to our outdoor environment on campus. He has worked extremely hard to make the campus grounds both beautiful and the Grounds operation efficient and sustainable. He was instrumental in upgrading the campus irrigation system to a modern computerized system that saves the University more than 50 million gallons of water every year. He has transitioned much of the grounds equipment, such as push mowers, hedge trimmers, line trimmers and chain saws, from gas powered to battery electric units, that produce zero emissions. [...]
Christine Burke, Director, Campus & Facilities Planning, honoured by the Urban Land Institute
Christine Burke, Director, Campus & Facilities Planning, has been selected to the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) Women's Leadership Initiative (WLI) Championship Team 2017 in recognition of her leadership role in the real estate and development industry. Christine was selected based on her: Exceptional leadership and skill in the real estate development and land use disciplines; Dedication to, and success at, building thriving communities across the Toronto region; and Capacity to inspire others in the industry Launched in 2014, the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) Toronto is part of a global Urban Land Institute (ULI) network promoting the advancement of women in [...]
Simcoe Hall Vice-Presidential Staff Awards winners announced – and 3 of them are part of the UO team!
Our winners (l-r): Ken, (Scott Mabury, VP UO), Blair and Kristina (photo: Lisa Sakulensky Photography The Simcoe Hall Vice-Presidential Staff Awards recognize outstanding performance in the portfolios reporting into the Offices of the President, Vice-President & Provost, the Simcoe Hall Vice-Presidents, and the Office of the Governing Council. We are delighted that this year, 3 members of the University Operations portfolio have been honoured with the Award: Ken DeBaeremaeker Manager, Enrolment and Tuition Fees Planning and Analysis, Planning & Budget Ken was recognized for his many years of dedicated professionalism, service orientation and teamwork as a member of the Planning and [...]
2017 University Operations Staff Achievement Awards
In 2015, the Vice-President University Operations established the annual Staff Achievement Awards Program in order to recognize exceptional staff contributions to the success of their particular unit, the University Operations portfolio and the University. The program provides University Operations with another opportunity to thank staff for the valuable work performed throughout the year. Three types of achievement-based awards will be presented at the 3rd Annual Than-Q BBQ and Awards event on August 23, 2017. Outstanding Individual Employee Award Presented to an individual staff member (regardless of length of service) involved in any area of staff work who has made [...]
U of T named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for 2017
Recognized for the fourth year! The Canada’s Greenest Employers award recognizes the employers who are leaders in creating a culture of environmental awareness in their organizations. “Being named as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for the fourth year is fabulous news,” says Ron Swail, chief operations officer of Property Services & Sustainability at the University of Toronto (U of T). “It once again confirms the University’s commitment and deeply embedded culture of sustainability. “Our community of passionate and actively engaged students, world-class academics and researchers, innovative incubators, supportive network of alumni, and talented employees across all three campuses work collaboratively and creatively together to [...]
Congratulations to Anne Macdonald, Influential Leader and 2017 Chancellor’s Award winner
Anne Macdonald, Director, Ancillary Services, has been awarded this year's Chancellor’s Award: Influential Leader category. Described as “visionary” by Yves Roberge, Principal, and Ron Vander Kraats, CAO, New College, Anne has, since taking the helm of Ancillary Services in 2002, quietly and determinedly led a team which has been responsible for several transformative accomplishments. Acquisition of the Toronto Colony Hotel and its transition to a university residence (89 Chestnut) Implementation of responsible procurement initiatives: bottled water ban, Bangladesh Accord requirement for merchandise manufacturing, local sustainable food partnerships Financial and relationship turn-around of university’s program in the Huron-Sussex neighbourhood, which set [...]