Tag Archives: news

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / final papers / Undergraduate Ethnography

Student Engagement: Concretized Student Leadership

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A Final Report By Yunshan Li My research question is generated from my interviews with Student Engagement (below refers to SE) employees on the topic of their work related to student clubs. One interviewee said, “Could they do these things without us? Probably.” Then he explained the difficulty students could meet without their support, but I … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

“It’s so hard to get information out to students.”

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By Yunshan Li As one division in Student Life, a main challenge that Student Engagement (responsible for clubs and leadership development relevant matters) meets is they find it difficult to let students know what is happening. One main reason is they do not have their own social media accounts. If they want to announce something, such … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Working Styles in the University

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By Yunshan Li As a department in a higher education institution, Student Life’s working habit is quite different from that of academia. According to our professor, there is no clear hierarchy of faculty in academia. Of course, some professors are more reputational, but there is no such concept as superior and subordinate. Furthermore, the work handover of faculty is mostly … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Neoliberal Implications in the Fragmentation of Student Services through the renamings of Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS)

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By Yihang Xu The Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) helps students develop strategies and practices to enhance their learning and study skills. As one of the major units within the Student Life Department at the University of Toronto (UofT), CLSS didn’t always exist in its current form. According to my informant, Eric (a pseudonym), … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / final papers / Undergraduate Ethnography

Empowering Learners, Transforming Institutions:Learning Strategists’ Role in Higher Education 

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A Final Report By Hanisha Mistry Introduction The fluorescent light hummed softly in the temporary office on Bay Street, a functional yet impersonal space where the Centre for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) had set up during the Koffler Student Centre renovations. Despite its unremarkable setting, the CLSS is defined not by its location but by … Continue reading →

Too Many Students, Too Few Strategists
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Too Many Students, Too Few Strategists

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By Hanisha Mistry Learning Strategist’s days cannot accommodate all of U of T St. George. The University of Toronto’s St. George campus serves approximately 68,454 students, while the Centre for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) operates with only 22 professional staff and 12 peer mentors. This stark disparity reflects a systemic imbalance between the student population … Continue reading →

Student Life’s Strategic Plan: an Ethnography of Organizational Culture in Higher Education
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / final papers / Undergraduate Ethnography

Student Life’s Strategic Plan: an Ethnography of Organizational Culture in Higher Education

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Final Report By Daisy Sanchez Villavicencio We have become familiar with the idea that large organizations like Universities are guided by Strategic Plans and produce annual reports. My research in the University of Toronto’s division of Student Life permitted me to examine the practices involved in this production and the rationality or mode of reasoning … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Liminality within Higher Education: OISE Master’s Students Experience Contradictory Identities

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By Daisy Sanchez Villavicencio It’s 2:10 pm on a Friday and rather than finding a comfy seat in a lecture hall, I face a panel of rectangular screens with students in varying settings and others’ black/blank. Since the pandemic, I’ve attended countless online lectures and feel myself instinctually take my position as a traceless attendee … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Fieldwork from above and below

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By Cameron Miranda-Radbord Walk to Simcoe Hall, arrive at 9:10am – late, because administration doesn’t function on UofT time. Listen to financial update. Ask questions. Fight a losing battle against schoolwork that could have been done last night.  I approached my ethnography of Accessibility Services from what I consider a unique standpoint – both “below” … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Seeking Community in Normalized Isolation: A Reflection on the Importance of ‘Third Space Professionals’ in the Post-pandemic University

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By Amani Hassan ‘Student Life’ (SL) and similar student experience-focused entities in universities emerged within the last decade, partly as a response to the importance of “student experience” as a category on international rankings. However, departments such as SL’s Clubs and Leadership Development (CLD) now have an additional significance in the post-pandemic university, as they … Continue reading →