Meet the Hub's Student Leadership Team and Join our First Team Meeting

By Margaryta Ignatenko, Operations Team Student Innovation Leader

Imagine a University of Toronto where every student’s experience is seamless from initial contact to graduation and beyond. A place where students feel a sense of community and connectedness, experience both academic and personal success and feel well equipped for their futures.

The Innovation Hub doesn’t see this as a distant reality – we are seeking to better understand the unique needs of U of T students through the use of student-centred design thinking. We value listening and empathising with our students, we seek out their voices whenever we plan, program and make decisions. We have carefully crafted a team which will collaborate with a diverse range of U of T students, community members and staff to explore the future of student experience at the University of Toronto. The team members’ different experiences, skill sets and educational backgrounds will provide a constant, authentic and diverse presence of student voices throughout the project.

Join In On Our First Team Meeting

The student leadership team recently had our first team meeting. We introduced ourselves and discovered that while we are a diverse team, we also have much in common. We did an icebreaker to find our points of connection and in this case everyone had owned a pet at one time or another (with apologies to Edwin’s brother who was counted as his “pet”).

The student leadership team includes:

Jacqueline Beaulieu (Integrated Learning Experiences co-lead) – a PhD student in the Higher Education program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Taylor Stinson (Whole Student Development co-lead) – a third year computer science specialist and former varsity athlete
Tamsyn Riddle (Access for Every Student co-lead) – a third year undergraduate studying Diaspora and Transnational Studies as well as Equity Studies and Political Science
Edwin White Chacon (Fostering Connectedness co-lead) – who studies Political Science, Ethics, Society & Law
Ling Lam (Future-Ready Students co-lead) – currently pursuing a Master of Information at the Faculty of Information’s iSchool
Myself, Margaryta Ignatenko (Operations Team Innovation Leader) – a first year Journalism student.
Alexandra (Ali) Rodney (Operations Team Innovation Leader) – a senior PhD student in the Sociology department

Our Favourite UofT Spaces – Our Campus Tour

To get to know each other and to see our campus in a new way, we took one another on a tour of our most significant spaces on campus. Take a look:

Taylor Stinson shows us the forest behind the Earth Sciences building — Taylor Stinson, leader of the Whole Student development domain took to the forest behind the Earth Sciences building. He shared the exciting memory of discovering the space with friends and spending time there playing live music.

Alexandra Rodney shows us one of UofT's many community gardens — Alexandra Rodney, Innovation Leader on the Operations team, took the team to one of the community gardens on campus, This garden is located outside of the Sidney Smith building adjacent to the southwest stairs. Ali wishes she had known about the UofT Food Policy Council, responsible for planting edible food on campus, when she was an undergraduate at UofT.

Ling Lam talks about her experiences at the iSchool — Ling Lam, Future-Ready Students lead, directed the team toward the iSchool, located adjacent to Robarts library, where she shared fond memories of her first year and excitement for beginning her second.

The Innovation Hub student leader team in a smiling selfie in the iSchool elevator — Our first team selfie! In the elevator at the iSchool! (back left to right: Ali, Margaryta, Ling, Jacquie, Edwin, Tamsyn. Front left to right: Taylor, Julia)

team looks through a window of the staff common room at the iSchool. Their backs are shown as they peer through the window. — the tour continues at the iSchool

three team members look out the window at the iSchool and point out the fantastic view of campus. — The amazing view from the iSchool

Margaryta Ignatenko stands in a board room at Rotman sharing memories of her summer project. — I (Margaryta Ignatenko, an Innovation Leader for the Operations team) steered the team to the Martin Prosperity Institute, located in the Rotman building, where I enthusiastically shared memories of working on the Metamorphosis Project during my summer internship. I shared some of my learning moments and outed that the entire office eats ice-cream on Fridays.

a team photo on the Rotman 4th floor balcony. Robarts library is shown in the background. — While at Rotman, the team discovered the tranquil 4th floor patio with its green roof and views of Robarts. (Left to right – Tamsyn, Taylor, Ling, Margaryta, Edwin, Jacquie & Ali)

Jacquie stands at OISE and discusses her experiences. — Jacquie Beaulieu, Integrated Learning Experiences lead, took us to the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Jacquie toured the team around her office, she shared that when doing research a win for her is if her research is practical.

Tamsyn stands in front of the steps at the Monk School of Global Affairs. News headline tickers can be seen in the background. — Tamsyn Riddle, Access for Every Student lead, brought the team to the entrance of The Munk School. The building’s design, being unlike any other influenced Tamsyn to join the U of T community! Tamsyn showed the team the modern library room inside the school, complete with fireplace and a selection of global affairs books.

The Innovation Hub team reads books in the Monk School library — We took a break from our tour to spend some time reading at the Munk School library!

Student Leader Edwin Chacon shows us Queen's Park — Edwin Chacon, leader of the Fostering Connectedness domain led the team to Queen’s Park. Edwin, a fan of napping, found time for self-care as an undergraduate by snoozing on the benches in Queen’s Park between classes. Edwin also shared his experience working as a Legislative Usher at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Upon returning from the tour, we discussed our goals for the year. We connected through our passion for making a positive contribution to the U of T community and our excitement for working with other students, staff and community members in order to do so. The team believes strongly in the importance of diversity, equity and accuracy within our work and we are prepared to work hard in order to ensure that there is a presence of each as the U of T community is complex and diverse and deserves to be represented.

Meet the Hub’s Student Leadership Team and Join our First Team Meeting

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