Creating a supportive environment for a successful year ahead
TMU's campus provides a welcoming environment for students, faculty and staff as the university emphasizes well-being and community support for the fall semester.
As we enter another fall semester at TMU, I am reminded that new starts can bring both excitement and opportunity, as well as uncertainty and new challenges.
Each of us brings to this new chapter – whether as student, faculty or staff – our own experiences, goals and perspectives. It is these differences that make TMU the dynamic, diverse and inspiring community that it is.
Accessing resources to support well-being
I have been reflecting on the concept of support – what it means to offer it and to receive it, and the role it plays in ensuring individual and collective well-being.
As we embark on a new year, it is important to remind all of you that the university has many supports – programs, resources and teams of experts – that are available to you to ensure academic and professional success.
I encourage all our community members to visit the newly launched Wellbeing Central website, which offers a full range of well-being resources tailored to your unique needs as part of the TMU community.
A safe and supportive campus environment
Another important part of supporting well-being is a safe and secure campus environment.
We must be committed to creating a safe physical space for each other, making our campus a place where we can learn, teach, work, conduct research, gather and celebrate.
As we return to campus this month, I would ask each of you to strongly consider the role you play in ensuring that TMU remains a place that is committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom, in ways that are free from discrimination, racism or hate.
Our Community Safety and Security team (CSS) provides round-the-clock coverage of campus, employing comprehensive, multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches to safety that take into consideration the diverse, complex and evolving needs of our community. I encourage you to similarly explore the many resources and supports that CSS provides.
In the year ahead, our university will continue to build upon this commitment to well-being.
The doors to the School of Medicine opened in Brampton this week and we’ll continue to make progress on the Student Wellbeing Centre, which broke ground earlier this spring.
Not only do I hope that each of you will access the supports you need, but I hope you will support one another – we are all stronger together and I look forward to all that we will accomplish in the year ahead.
Mohamed Lachemi
President and Vice-Chancellor, TMU