News

By Cort Egan, Director, External Relations and Communications

Longtime readers of Renison Reports will know that we typically identify a theme that will weave its way through many of the articles found in the publication. This year’s theme is together in hope and possibility and it came, quite organically, from a comment that our new president, Dr. Marc Jerry, made while discussing how we will overcome what, at times, appear to be insurmountable financial pressures. “We will get there,” Marc said. “And we will do so together, in hope and possibility.”.

Dr. Marc Jerry, Renison’s President and Vice-Chancellor, joined our community in July 2024. Now, having finished two full academic terms and nearly a year on the job, we wanted to know more about what his first year has been like. Sibaal, a Renison student and Student Experience and Housing co-op during the Winter 2025 term, helped us get to the bottom of things in a special interview. 

Lewis Carroll is credited with having said, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” Renison’s new president, Marc Jerry, knew precisely where we needed to go as a College when he was installed almost a year ago – creating a roadmap became a top priority.

Renison, like so many Ontario colleges and universities, is contending with the long-term impacts of COVID, chronic government under-funding, tuition freezes and changes in federal policies related to international students. Looking to the future, Renison needs to get back on the road to financial sustainability. To get there, we need to determine what we can afford to stop doing so that we can meet our core mission.

Manager of Food Services and Special Projects Tim Farley, also known as Chef Tim, and the star of the popular social media series “Tim Talk,” is a well-loved member of the Renison community. In fact, he recently won the Renison Staff Award from students at this year’s Wind Out; Renison’s end of term gala dinner event. Tim can be seen around Renison going to and from meetings, helping out with facilities concerns, and planning menus from his office in the kitchen. In each edition of Renison Reports we like to highlight a member of staff, and it seemed a perfect time to introduce, or re-introduce you to Tim!

Alum Ajirioghene Evi is a familiar face to some members of the Renison community, having completed her Social Development Studies (SDS) and Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degrees on our small campus. Most recently, she took on the role of CEO at the Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW), and she has been the recipient of the Renison Distinguished Alumni Award (2024) and the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025) for her work in the community. It’s not a stretch to say that Ajirioghene is amazing – her achievements speak for themselves.

Politics. It’s It’s something that has been of particular interest to Canadians in the past few months due to a change in the Canada-US trading partnership, and the recent federal election in April 2025. What is it that draws someone into politics? For Renison alum Martin Reid (’98), it was a deep connection to his community and a desire to enact positive change. Reid is currently the Councillor for Mississauga’s Ward 9, and his style of politics is linked to his time as a Renison student, where people are the focus.

When asked how he would describe Renison in one word, third-year Psychology and Social Development Studies student Zayyan Ali was quick to answer “community.” In fact, it was that unique sense of community that drew Zayyan to Renison in the first place when he began his undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo back in the fall of 2023. For Zayyan, Renison offered something beyond just a dorm room and a meal plan.

“A lot of residences can feel isolating,“ he explained. “The people there don’t really know each other. Renison is different, with small class sizes, a strong residence community, and staff that really want to help you succeed.”

It may go without saying but as an institution of learning, Renison is constantly looking for new ways to help students reach their goals through the development of new programs.  Increasingly, visiting international students are interested in programs that extend beyond English language learning, including opportunities to develop specific skills and explore disciplinary and professional interests.  As the learning goals of students are changing, programming in the English Language Institute (ELI) is also evolving to focus on learning through language rather than simply learning English.

The Go Abroad Learning for Sustainability (GOALS) program exemplifies the ELI’s commitment to educational innovation and responsiveness to student needs. By integrating 21st century learning skills with sustainability education and engagement with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the program prepares students to effectively engage in academic and professional contexts across cultures and contribute meaningfully to discussions of some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

Dr. Susan Cadell has been working with grief for the bulk of her academic career, but it was can evolution of study, rather than a decisive direction, over the last three decades. Cadell’s work has shifted focus several times, from caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS, to pediatric palliative care and memorial tattoos, but has maintained a link to grief and grieving. It’s no surprise, then, that her most recent work focuses on grief directly; Grief Matters is a not-for-profit, Canadian organization that welcomes all types of grief, with the goal of increasing understanding and making room for grief.

Grief Matters, co-founded by Cadell and Mary Ellen Macdonald, uses creative, community-based activities to explore and share grief. The nature of grief is complex; while it is universal (we all experience it), it is also personal, and each experience of grief is unique to the individual. That’s why Grief Matters uses the grief literacy framework to centre their work. In simple terms, grief literacy imagines a world that “gets” grief.

What happens when the structures that we come to depend upon in society begin to collapse? What does it mean to turn the focus inward on your profession in a time of political crisis? These are the challenging questions that motivate the contributors to the edited book Abolish Social Work (As We Know It), published by Between the Lines.  Co-Edited by Dr. Craig Fortier, Associate Professor in Social Development Studies at Renison University College, Dr. Edward Hon-Sing Wong, Research Associate at SEIU Healthcare, and Dr. MJ Rwigema, Assistant Professor in Applied Health Sciences at Concordia University, the book emerges out of decades long experiences, relationships and collaborations between the editors and frontline social workers, social work educators, sex workers and sex work advocates, Indigenous knowledge keepers, harm reduction workers, community organizers, and those for whom social work has been an impediment to their lives.