YSGS renamed Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
On January 23, 2024, TMU Senate approved the renaming of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies (YSGS) to Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (YSGPS) to recognize the importance of postdoctoral fellows and their contributions to Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and its scholarly, research and creative (SRC) activity goals.
The new name represents the enhanced focus, integration and commitment to postdocs within the YSGPS administrative structure and dedicated support of postdoctoral success at TMU. The change is in line with many other Ontario universities that recognize the importance of postdoctoral fellows as part of their schools of graduate studies.
In June 2021, in consultation with the OVPRI and Faculties, YSGS began to take the lead on postdoctoral matters by establishing an administrative structure to support postdoctoral fellows. YSGS also created the position of Academic Lead, Postdoctoral Fellows, to support postdocs from an academic perspective.
To date, there have been a number of successes on the postdoc file, most recently and importantly, providing postdocs with a more enhanced and comprehensive employee benefit plan. In addition, YSGPS is supporting the postdoc community with:
- A dedicated website to support postdocs
- Publishing a (PDF file) Postdoc Handbook
- Hosting postdoc-specific events, including career-related events
- Supporting the establishment of a community of postdocs
- Streamlining the administration of tri-council funding in YSGPS
- Postdoc orientations
- Membership in the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Administrators
- Launching the Postdoc News e-newsletter
- Creating a postdoc mentorship program
The rollout of the new YSGPS name and branding will be phased over the coming months.
The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) was launched in 1998, and its first two programs commenced in 2000. In 2010, SGS was renamed YSGS to honour Dr. Maurice Yeates, SGS Dean from 2002 to 2010.