The Arbor Awards recognize U of T volunteers who, through their exemplary generosity, make sustained and valuable contributions to the experience of U of T students, faculty, staff and alumni.

This award is the highest honour given to U of T volunteers; therefore, the expectation is that the nominating division has honoured their nominee appropriately at the divisional level before submitting them for an Arbor Award.

Timeline

Submissions accepted in the Spring.

Eligibility Criteria

Nominees must have provided (or currently be providing) outstanding volunteer service to either:

1. one Division in order to be eligible in the Divisional Category
   
   OR
2. more broadly across the University, focused on more than one faculty/college/department in order to be eligible in the Central Category

Nomination

• Nominees must be alumni or friends of the University with a minimum of 3 years of continuous service as a U of T volunteer as of the date of the nomination. This service must be within one year immediately leading up to the nomination deadline. 
• Volunteer service as a student is ineligible; eligibility commences once the student has graduated and become an alumnus/a of the University. 
• Nominees cannot have previously received an Arbor Award. 
• Nominees cannot be sitting politicians, elected or appointed officials or currently serving on Governing Council. 
• Nominees must be living alumnus/a or friend of the University of Toronto. 
• Posthumous awards will be considered only if the nominee has passed away within one year of the current year’s nomination deadline. 
• Volunteers who are currently faculty or staff must pass an additional threshold of expectations in order to be considered for an Arbor Award, which is intended primarily for alumni and friends. Additional criteria for faculty and staff nominations may be viewed here. 

Recognition for a candidate demonstrating leadership in bringing about measurable positive change, using innovative approaches to change and motivating others to improve the field of public/population health in Canada.

Timeline

Submissions accepted by March.

Value: $500

Eligibility

Any recent (maximum 10 years) graduate member of any of the academic programs offered by the Dalla Lana School of Public Health Public Health Sciences may be nominated. Nominees must not be a chief executive (CEO) or similar role (ED of an organization, Deputy Minister, or Minister) nor have occupied that role in the past. This limitation will only hold for organizations with a budget of greater than $10 million. This means that EDs of the small organization will be eligible.

Criteria

• Leadership in bringing about measurable positive change in public/population health.
• Use of innovative approaches to change in research or practice.
• Ability to motivate others to adopt change.
• A commitment to evidence-based public health, and integration of innovative thinking to knowledge creation and practice Real and potential scope of impact.
• Peer recognition of leadership attributes.
• Impact on either a high burden common problem, either because it is a widely shared problem (e.g. disease prevention, health promotion) or an important problem within specific communities.

Nomination

• Nominator letter outlining the candidate’s achievements in leading public/population health (maximum 500 words).
• Two reference letters from colleagues working in public/population health outlining the impact of the candidate’s works.
• Candidate’s full curriculum vitae or resume

Submission

Please send nomination package electronically to public.health@alumni.utoronto.ca

Presentation

The recipient will receive a commemorative plaque presented at a Spring Alumni Event.

Deadline: March 1 of every year

Recognition for a candidate demonstrating leadership in bringing about measurable positive change, using innovative approaches to change and motivating others to improve the health system.

Timeline

Submissions accepted in the Fall.

Value

$1,000

Eligibility

Any member of the IHPME community may be nominated. Nominees must not be in a chief executive (CEO) or similar role (ED of an organization, Deputy Minister, or Minister) nor have occupied that role in the past. This limitation will only hold for organizations with a budget of greater than $10 million. This means that EDs of small organization or of start-up companies will be eligible.

Criteria

• Leadership in bringing about measurable positive change in the health system.
• Use of innovative approaches to change.
• Ability to motivate others to adopt change.
• A commitment to constant evaluation, learning and improvement and a connection to knowledge creation and/or dissemination.
• Real and potential scope of impact.
• Peer recognition of leadership attributes.
• Impact on either a high burden common problem, either because it is a widely shared problem (e.g. budget deficits, chronic disease management) or an important problem within specific communities (e.g. access problems in a linguistic or ethnic minority, access to drugs for rare diseases).

Nomination

• Nominator letter outlining the candidate’s achievements in leading health system change (maximum 1000 words).
• Two reference letters from colleagues working in the Ontario or other health systems outlining the impact of the candidates work.
• Candidate’s full curriculum vitae.

Submission

Please send to: IHPME Awards, IHPME, 155 College Street, Suite 425, Toronto, ON M5T 3M6 or ihpme.awards@utoronto.ca. 

The C.P. Shah Alumni Award of Excellence in Public Health was established to recognize graduates of any of the academic programs offered by the Dalla Lana School of Public Health who have advanced the field of public/population health in Canada or its provinces/territories by his/her contribution and/or sustained efforts in one or more of the following fields:

Practice of Public Health: Development of new delivery models of public health services; Expansion of existing public health services in a creative manner to deliver added services; Strong advocacy of public/ population health which resulted in new changes to healthy public policy.

Teaching: Development of teaching programs/ material which excite and move forward the field of public/ population health education for undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate and/or continuing education.

Research: Applied or basic research which improves or modifies the delivery of public health and/or population health services

Nomination

• Nominator letter outlining the candidate’s achievements in leading public/population health (maximum 500 words)
• Two letters of support
• Nominee’s full curriculum vitae or resume

Submission

Please send nomination package electronically to public.health@alumni.utoronto.ca

Presentation

The recipient will receive a certificate presented at the PHAA – AGM.

Deadline: July 1 of every year

For more information, please contact the Award Officer at public.health@alumni.utoronto.ca.

Throughout its rich history, the University of Toronto has striven to promote and recognize excellence among its community members. The University of Toronto Alumni Association (UTAA) has played an integral role in furthering this mission through its longstanding support of distinguished awards programs that acknowledge outstanding faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

The prestigious Awards of Excellence program dates back to 1921 with the creation of the John H. Moss Scholarship, awarded to outstanding student leaders. In 1990 the Faculty Award and the Chancellor’s Award were added to the program. Since 1990, seven more distinct awards or scholarships recognizing exceptional students, faculty, and administrative staff members of the University have been launched; most recently, the Jill Matus Award for Excellence in Student Services.

Though the criteria differ for each award, recipients all share a commitment to enhancing the university experience of their peers and leave a significant impact on the University through their efforts. 

Timeline

Submissions accepted Fall/Winter.

The Robert Remis Award is to be awarded to a graduate student or recent graduate (up to 3 years since their graduation) in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health who had an excellent peer-reviewed research paper accepted for publication in the previous 12 months, for which they were a lead author.

Preference will be given to Master’s level papers in infectious disease epidemiology, and those that could be described as foresightful, original, unorthodox or willing to challenge conventional wisdom within society or academia.

Timeline

Submissions accepted in the Summer.

Value: ~$1,500

Application Process

• Submit a copy of a peer-reviewed paper published within the past 12 months, or soon to be published, where the applicant was a lead author;
• Provide correspondence with the publisher showing confirmation of publication, pending or provisional publication;
• Include a cover letter, stating how they see their paper as being foresightful, original, unorthodox or willing to challenge conventional wisdom within society or academia;
• All collated into a single PDF.

Note

• Applicants are responsible for reviewing the award criteria and ensuring that they have met all the eligibility requirements and adhered to the scholarship application guidelines. 
• Late or incomplete applications will NOT be accepted. 

This award will recognize one Canadian recipient annually for achievements in developing transformative evidence on ways and means to improve healthcare and health systems. The ideal candidate for this award will be healthcare scholars – whether based in a Canadian university or elsewhere – whose efforts have created a key platform of evidence that has shaped health system change. There should be a clear line of sight between the evidence created and the policies enacted or not enacted.

Recognition of a recipient annually for achievements in developing transformative evidence on ways and means to improve healthcare and health systems. The ideal candidates for this award will be healthcare scholars – whether based in a Canadian University or elsewhere – whose efforts have created a key platform of evidence that has shaped health system change. There should be a clear line of sign between the evidence created and the decisions or policies enacted or not enacted.

Timeline

Submissions accepted by August.

Value: $1,000

Eligibility

Open award. Any healthcare scholar may be nominated or self-nominate as a candidate.

Nomination

A letter from the candidate which demonstrates how they meet the conditions identified above.

Submission

Please send to: IHPME Awards, IHPME, 155 College Street, Suite 425, Toronto, ON M5T 3M6 or ihpme.awards@utoronto.ca.