Staff Announcement – Personal Safety, High Risk, and Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Portfolios (PDAD&C #43)

One year ago, the University of Toronto took an important first step towards improving and integrating the services and supports for those affected by sexual violence and to broaden the way we, as a community, think about safety. The University approved a new Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment, and developed a new unit to lead all efforts related to personal safety, high risk, and sexual violence prevention and support. During the past year this new team, under the leadership of Terry McQuaid, has worked to integrate the new Policy, launched within a complex legislative framework, into the fabric of the University community so that it serves as a living example of the University’s commitment to issues related to sexual violence prevention and support.

The work of the portfolio has evolved over the course of the year as new areas of need have emerged. As a result, the breadth of the portfolio, much larger now than originally anticipated, has required us to take a second look at both our structure and some of our internal processes. This reexamination has confirmed for us that the unit as currently configured is unsustainable. In order to rationalize workloads, streamline workflows, and ensure the highest level of service to our community, the following changes are being made effective immediately.

Terry McQuaid will continue to lead tri-campus response to sexual violence and continue to oversee the development of policies, procedures, and training related to sexual violence, for faculty, staff, and students, ensuring the University has effective response and prevention strategies in place. Terry will continue to report to the Vice-President & Provost and to the Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity. Angela Treglia will also continue as a key member of Terry’s team, managing tri-campus sexual violence prevention and support operations.

Laura Bradbury will continue in her role, now reporting jointly to the Vice-President & Provost and to the Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity. Laura will oversee the management of personal safety for the University and will work as part of a team coordinating the University’s response to, and management of, individual cases of perceived and identified risk; her team will lead in the identification, assessment, and management of high risk cases and threats of violence within the University community. Laura will oversee process components of sexual violence investigations, issues related to emergency response management, as well as the operations and outreach mandated of the Community Safety Office.

Given this change, Campus Police at UTM, UTSC, and St. George will continue to report into their divisional leads, with a dotted line to the Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity on issues related to institutional safety.

We feel that creating dual leadership positions for both sexual violence and safety/high risk will allow distinct issues that arise within these two portfolios to be triaged and managed as efficiently as possible, while continuing to leverage the expertise of both Terry and Laura across all functional areas and in collaboration with each other when required.

It is important to note that while the overall structure and central points of contact will shift slightly, the impact on members of our community and those who access these services as clients will be minimal. We will continue to support all members of our community out of our tri-campus Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre, and provide timely services and referrals to those affected by sexual violence and to respondents. We will continue to take a case-management approach to high risk issues that is collaborative and responsive to the needs of our tri-campus community. The University of Toronto is, and will continue to be, a leader in these areas.

We continue to be exceptionally proud of the work done by Terry, Laura, and Angela, as well as the rest of the team, during this first year. We would like to thank each of them for their extensive work, dedication, support, and commitment to implementing this new, streamlined structure as effectively and smoothly as possible.