Appointment of Professor Mark Schmuckler as Acting Vice-Provost, Academic Programs and Innovations in Undergraduate Education (PDAD& #74)

From: Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President and Provost
Date: May 7, 2020
Re: Appointment of Professor Mark Schmuckler as Acting Vice-Provost, Academic Programs and Innovations in Undergraduate Education (PDAD& #74)

As indicated in 2019-2020  PDAD&C Memo #40, Professor Susan McCahan has been appointed for a second Term as Vice-Provost, Academic Programs and Innovations in Undergraduate Education and will be taking an administrative leave during the 2020-2021 academic year, resulting in the call for nominations for an Acting Vice-Provost PDAD&C Memo #47.

I am very pleased to announce that the Executive Committee of Governing Council has approved the appointment of Professor Mark Schmuckler who will serve as the Acting Vice-Provost, Academic Programs and Innovations in Undergraduate Education from January 1, 2021 through to June 30, 2021. 

Professor Schmuckler will also serve as Vice-Provostial Advisor from July 1 to December 31, 2020.  As the Vice-Provostial Advisor, Professor Schmuckler will work closely with Vice-Provost McCahan in her role of Vice-Provost Academic Programs and Innovations in Undergraduate Education, and provide leadership and guidance to colleagues across the University regarding academic program review.

Professor Schmuckler has served as Vice-Dean Undergraduate at the University of Toronto Scarborough since July 2013. As Vice-Dean, Professor Schmuckler has been responsible for overseeing all aspects of undergraduate programs and curriculum, student appeals and petitions; teaching and learning innovations; and curriculum renewal projects. He has also had responsibility for undergraduate student support provisions; course evaluations review; and academic integrity. As Vice-Dean, Professor Schmuckler also served on a variety of committees that provided him with additional strong experience relevant to the acting roles, such as UTSC’s Course Evaluations, Quality Assurance, Dean’s Advisory, and Dean’s Committee on Petitions.

Professor Schmuckler is currently a Member of the Quality Appraisal Committee of the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance; has previously served as Interim Vice-Principal, Research at UTSC; and has previously served as Chair of UTSC’s Academic Affairs Committee. 

Professor Schmuckler has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses since joining the Department of Life Sciences, now the Department of Psychology, at UTSC. He specializes in the areas of infant perceptual-action coupling and the perception of pitch structure in music.  He currently serves as Editor of the journal Psychomusicology, and is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Cognition and Development.