Access Connections Day Registration

Access Connections Day - Learning Across Contexts

Join colleagues from across U of T’s three campuses who provide Access programming! Share and learn from each other and build stronger relationships. Together, we can move toward our shared goal of increasing access to post-secondary education and providing equal opportunity for all students.

Date: March 4, 2020, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Location: Faculty of Law, 78 Queen’s Park, Toronto

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  • Registrant Details:

  • If you have any accommodation needs, require alternative formats to ensure access to materials prepared in conventional print to ensure your full participation, please inform us of your specific requirements so we can make any necessary arrangements in advance. In addition, please identify any assistance you may require in the event of an emergency evacuation. For more detailed information, contact Nancy Bakker at 416-978-1173 or via email at nancy.bakker@utoronto.ca

  • Breakout Sessions Registration

    Please rank the sessions in order from 1-5 (where 1 is your top choice) to indicate your attendance preference. Registrants will get a chance to participate in two (2) sessions – AM and PM.
  • Funding Access Programs - The Nuts and Bolts

    Whether you are developing and launching a new access initiative or enhancing an existing one, success is often dependent on resources and the sustainability of those resources. What are some of the funding options in the current climate? How can you effectively make your case when funding is often competitive and precarious? What funding models are successful and why? During this workshop we will explore strategies to secure support and resources.

    Developing Peer Mentorship to Support Access

    What is peer mentorship? Why is it an effective tool for supporting access? What are some strategies for creating, developing and fostering an impactful peer mentorship program? This session will explore these questions and more through an interactive and collaborative lens.

    Defining and Measuring Impact for Access

    Due to the complexity of issues that access programs address and the range of services they offer, it can be difficult to define 'success' and measure 'impact'. However, to demonstrate the impact and importance of this work, data, research, evaluation and measurements are critically necessary to sustainable access programs and to help tell the story of the participants and community. Participants in this breakout session will collaborate to define a common understanding of ‘success’ and ‘impact’ as it relates to access initiatives, while engaging in discussions of promising practices for researching & assessing impact.

    Is Being Here Enough for Success? Relevance and Importance of Wrap-around Services

    The African proverb states that it takes a village to raise a child. Successful access programs know that it takes a community to educate a student, and that community comprises people and services that support student success. This workshop will examine wrap-around supports from successful community organizations and post-secondary institutions, and how incorporating wrap-around services (i.e. health and wellness care to mental health services, parent and family programs to legal and economic supports etc.) into your access program can serve to bridge gaps between student, parents/guardians and schools, thereby, creating a stronger relationship between the university and a student’s education, which is critical to student success.

    Disrupting the Silo: Developing Partnerships with Internal and External Communities

    Partnerships are a critical component to well-rounded, impactful and successful access programs; they are intentional relationships between the university and the larger communities. As we partner to co-design, implement and facilitate access programs, the goal of these relationships should be to build a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources that can contribute to more sustainable, just and healthy communities. This workshop will discuss the importance of establishing, developing and maintaining community-university partnerships in realizing our access program goals. We will focus on “values-based, reciprocal-learning partnerships” and the “principles of partnership” that need to be in place to guide the development and implementation of effective collaborative access experiences.
  • Please enter a number from 1 to 5.
  • Please enter a number from 1 to 5.
  • Please enter a number from 1 to 5.
  • Please enter a number from 1 to 5.
  • Please enter a number from 1 to 5.