In this blog, Brooklin reflects on the November Innovation Hour event which focused on engagement and belonging for diverse students. Discussions during the first event highlighted a shared belief that meaningful inclusion exists primarily in the services, spaces, and personal touch that shape support and belonging for diverse students.
Written by Brooklin Becker, Audiovisual Storytelling Team Lead, Master of Information, Knowledge & Information Management
On Monday, November 3rd, the Innovation Hub brought back Innovation Hour events — an informal coffee hour where faculty, staff and students come together to engage in meaningful dialogue around topics that impact students using design thinking methods and mindsets. In the Innovation Hub’s earlier years, we hosted these events to invite the U of T community into design thinking spaces and discussions. These Innovation Hours were where the U of T community brainstormed what the Innovation Hub would become using design thinking activities. By relaunching Innovation Hours, we hope to create spaces for discussion about how we can better address U of T students’ needs. For the first event, we focused on the factors that create a sense of belonging for equity-deserving and diverse student populations.
We used three of the Innovation Hub’s recent projects as inspiration for attendees to explore the theme of fostering support and belonging for diverse students: the International Students: Life After Graduation documentary short, the Supporting Student Parents mini-site, and the Engagement and Belonging for Students with Disabilities report. Attendees came together over conversation using design thinking methods to engage with key insights from the projects and share ideas. The instructions were simple: brainstorm and discuss potential ideas to address student needs that were proposed in the report and rotate to a new discussion every 15 minutes or stay and chat longer in the current discussion.
Accessibility is Essential
As the conversations unfolded, we noticed several trends emerge. Primarily, we heard that services on campus are not always evident or accessible to students. Attendees shared their experiences of feeling overwhelmed by unclear or complex information, which left them feeling unsure of where to find the help or resources they need. There was a clear emphasis on needing simplicity – accessible communication such as resource maps, improved website pathways, or outreach for existing programs. Attendees discussing the Supporting Student Parents project ideated around the need for circumstance-based accommodations for student parents, such as coursework extensions for when a student’s child falls sick. Additionally, attendees discussing International Students: Life After Graduation reflected the abrupt end of institutional support with housing and healthcare that occurs once a student has graduated, highlighting the need for transitional programming and guidance.
Spaces of Belonging
We also observed that attendees emphasized the role of physical and digital spaces in shaping a student’s sense of belonging. For Supporting Student Parents, belonging often starts with practical needs being addressed, such as caregiving spaces in academic buildings, infant-feeding friendly rooms or even stroller parking. For Engagement and Belonging for Students with Disabilities, it was clear that spaces designed with sensory needs in mind were impactful for students, such as nap rooms and quiet areas. International Students: Life After Graduation reflected on community spaces and how connecting with others who share similar experiences creates spaces of understanding, helping to ease loneliness when adjusting to a new culture.
A Personal Touch
Lastly, attendees emphasized how far personal touch could go, and how small gestures signal to students that their humanity is seen and respected. In talking about Engagement and Belonging for Students with Disabilities, attendees talked about how it is meaningful to be able to exist in informal spaces without feeling the need for disclosure. There was also conversation around the feeling of “having permission to do what you need”, emphasizing how this sense of belonging allows students to participate on their own terms. For International Students: Life After Graduation, attendees spoke about the importance of mixers and cultural clubs tied to diaspora groups. They elaborated by saying international students need to be represented on the administrative level of institutional resources provided to students, to empathize with the emotional and cultural layers of transition.
Seeing all the insights we’ve gathered from the first Innovation Hour, it truly proved to be a fruitful event, with students, staff, and faculty connecting across many different departments and disciplines at U of T. We learned that holding space for these important discussions can create change.
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