This winter launched the Office of Social Innovation’s first Student Experience Research Team (SERT:OSI) cohort. Led by Tesni Ellis, SERT:OSI is a group of 3 undergraduate and 3 graduate students from the School of Social Work at Toronto Metropolitan University, completing a research study investigating students' experiences with financial assistance through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Participation in SERT:OSI provides a virtual environment for social work students to fulfill the placement hours required to complete their programs. The team engages in arts-informed methods of learning, inquiry, and data storytelling, for example through drawing, photography, collage, and digital media, in an effort to contribute non-traditional knowledge and meaning-making to social justice and research practice.
SERT was originally launched as a pilot project in Toronto Metropolitan University Student Affairs Storytelling.