Ryerson Awards recognize unprecedented team efforts

Last year proved to be a challenging one for the university, which faced both a mandate to understand the legacy of Egerton Ryerson and the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2021, however, the two teams receiving the President’s Blue and Gold Award of Staff Excellence not only met their respective challenges head on, but also surpassed all expectations with their outstanding collaborative efforts.

The Standing Strong Task Force (SSTF) and the university’s pandemic essential on-campus workers are being recognized for their extraordinary team responses to the unparalleled challenges of the past year.

The President’s Blue and Gold Award of Staff Excellence is one of many Ryerson Awards to be presented to honoured employees in a virtual event on April 7.

“Unprecedented times call for unprecedented action,” said President Mohamed Lachemi. “The resiliency and commitment of these award recipients demonstrates how much can be accomplished when teams work together toward a shared goal – supporting our university community, and one another.” 

Standing strong for university values

“I was blown away by the work of the entire committee,” said Tanya (Toni) De Mello, assistant dean, Student Programming, Development and Equity, Faculty of Law, who nominated the SSTF for the President’s Blue and Gold award.

“Not only the amount of time they put in, but also that the final product was so accessible – it was a really strong educational tool – I found the piece extremely courageous, clear and guiding.”

The SSTF – co-chaired by Joanne Dallaire, Elder (Ke Shay Hayo) and Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, and Catherine Ellis (professor in the Department of History) and comprised of 14 members – is being recognized for its accomplishments in soliciting community engagement and including diverse perspectives and input from stakeholder groups to seek an understanding of Egerton Ryerson’s legacy and the role of commemoration in our community. “The scope of the work and its recommendations will benefit the university for years to come,” said De Mello.

Rachel DiSaia, the task force engagement manager, was also credited in the nomination for going above and beyond by steering the SSTF through unanticipated challenges. “One of the things that really marked this process as incredible to me was the commitment of each of the members to be present with almost flawless attendance at weekly meetings and the openness to learning and evolving through engagement with one another,” said DiSaia.

The comprehensive, respective process the task force followed was one of the motivating factors for De Mello’s nomination.

“The process that the committee followed is what impressed me most. The SSTF said they wanted to work from an Indigenous paradigm, even though they were working within the colonial model, to do relationship building, and strive to achieve consensus,” De Mello explained. 

“They reached out to the community in multiple ways, had conversations one-on-one, and succeeded in getting more than 11,000 people to share their ideas. To build a process that people felt proud of and wanted to stand behind, and that helped participants feel heard, is remarkable. It's one thing to survey people. It is another thing for the broader community to feel that they were actually consulted meaningfully. I think they achieved both.”

In fact, this process was so successful in achieving effective community engagement, it has been adapted for use by both the advisory committee on the university renaming and the planning group for the proposed school of medicine in Brampton.

De Mello also commended the task force for “recognizing harm – not just because of our association with Egerton Ryerson but because of legacies of colonialism. The SSTF did a great job of acknowledging the activism work that was already happening, and discussed the role of further education and the pathway toward reconciliation.”

Essential on-campus workers ‘kept us going’

While many staff members have been working from home during the pandemic and many have spent some time working on campus, a core group of essential workers are being recognized for going that extra mile – literally – to serve the university on campus during most of the pandemic. 

Receiving the President’s Blue and Gold Award of Staff Excellence are 281 on-campus employees, named in the awards recognition as the University’s Pandemic Essential On-Campus Workers,  who work in the following departments: 

• Campus Safety and Security
• Computing and Communications Services (CCS)
• University Business Services
• Financial Services
• Facilities Management and Development
• University Library
• Housing & Residence Life
• Student Learning Centre

Collectively, these employees are being acknowledged for demonstrating operational excellence, resilience, and a level of commitment that has allowed the university to function during the pandemic.

“Everyone was surprised when the pandemic hit, but it was pretty amazing how the different teams pulled together,” said Glenda Mallon, assistant vice-president, Facilities Management & Development. “They problem-solved, really quickly, and did everything that was necessary to keep the campus running and support those who were on campus, the students in residence, and the rest of us who were able to work from home.”

Mallon noted that throughout the pandemic, these employees from cross-functional teams have also been preparing for the return to campus: “What's also been remarkable is the flexibility and ingenuity they've shown every time a new challenge or new lockdown came up.”

Examples of this ingenuity include innovative ways to maintain community safety and security, computer and communications services, on-campus library services, food services, moving students into residence, transition to an online campus store, and shipping and receiving thousands of deliveries. 

Two Facilities Management and Development teams – Custodial and Groundskeeping Services and Maintenance and Operations – implemented new safety protocols and other measures designed to keep the campus running safely.

The custodial and groundskeeping team implemented new cleaning and sanitation protocols, installed hand sanitizer and wipe dispenser stations across campus, used additional cleaning technologies, such as electrostatic sprayers – all in addition to their usual responsibilities, like snow removal. 

The maintenance and operations team also implemented a new preventative maintenance program, deployed air purifiers in classroom spaces, installed new sophisticated filters in the HVAC system, and installed all the COVID-19 protocol signage across campus.

“This award was really important to acknowledge the hard work of all the people who weren't able to work from home,” said Mallon. “They facilitated many of us being able to do so by maintaining the campus, the infrastructure  and the systems that allowed us to work remotely. They were the unseen force that was here the whole time. They really kept the campus going.”

Ryerson Awards is part of the Ryerson employee recognition program co-ordinated by Human Resources and celebrates the achievements of faculty and staff in teaching, research, administration, service and leadership. This year, 381 recipients are being honoured. Congratulations to all nominees and recipients! To learn more about all the award winners, visit Recognition and Awards.

Join the celebration to honour all the recipients on April 7, 2022. More details to follow.