UTM OT

[UndecidedMD]

With all the talk surrounding the campus split between St. George and UTM, would anyone in that program be able to speak to their experience in the program? Particularly the videoconferencing aspect, which seems to be the most concerning aspect for most people (myself included).

 

Thanks

[DoNotGoToUofT]

The decision to expand the OT to UTM was motivated by the administration's greed. Students at UTSG was given a survey about their thoughts on the expansion to UTM. Despite a uniform DO NOT EXPAND, admin proceeded to expand the program. These students were frustrated because the quality of the OT program at UTSG was already subpar - an expansion would mean a worse program split between 2 campuses. With the influx of students, existing traditional OT placements would become limited. Admin has tried to circumvent this by making LEAP placements mandatory. These are non-traditional OT placements in which the student would have an offsite OT preceptor, or that they may not take on a clinical OT role (ex. doing literature searches, research, etc.) Since the UofT OT program focuses heavily on theory, students were upset because most OT skills are learned on placement - mandatory LEAP placements did not guarantee clinical skill development. In addition, the expansion meant that UTM students would be using video conferences for lecture, and be shuttled to UTSG for certain labs. This in itself is already a decrease in the quality of education that they would receive. On what planet does it make sense for UTM students to pay the same tuition fee to receive an inferior quality of education?? Students voiced their opinion on this expansion and prepared questions for admin to answer. Admin's responses to these questions were disappointing and dismissive.

UTM students report that they feel less engaged as the microphones in their room do not activate unless the button is pressed. As a result, people are able to talk freely in the classroom during "lectures". UTM students also report that their motivation to attend class has decreased. It is unfair to expect UTM students to commute to UTSG for several labs. 

It can be argued that the expansion was necessary but admin's decision and execution of the expansion was terrible. Second-year students were not given prior notice and many reported that they would have selected a different OT program had they known LEAP placements would become mandatory. The expansion is a prime example of this administration's level of competency and strongly reflects their regard for student concerns and quality of education. 

 

Please PM me for more information if you would like. 

[OTtobe]

I’ve heard this year they want to change things and move some lectures to UTM so both UTSG and UTM students will have some regular lectures and some video lectures. Does anyone know if this is true?