I believe that it is important for faculty step up and work with others to help inform policy- and operations-level decisions in higher education. Universities are more than classrooms and research labs. They are complex systems that require insightful and talented people working at all levels in order for us to fulfill our mandate.

While at Toronto Metropolitan University from 2008 to 2015 ("Ryerson University", at the time) I helped lead the Biomedical Engineering to accreditation in 2012. The BME program at TMU was the first accredited BME program in English-speaking Canada. At TMU, my leadership role alternated between the Program Director and Stream Coordinator positions. I worked with faculty and staff to set expectations for communication, coordination, assessment and reporting -- both internally and to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).

When I joined York University in 2015, I took on the Graduate Attribute Lead position within the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. The four Lassonde GALs work out of the Dean's Office to develop and coordinate strategies for continuous improvement of our engineering programs and to report on the status of our programs to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. As I did at TMU, I worked with my York University colleagues to lead our engineering programs to successful accreditation outcomes.

Accreditation work should be more than a data-gathering and report-generation process. As my colleagues in the Engineering Change Lab know, it can also be used as a lever to advance much-needed improvements within our programs. Seeing deficiencies in health & safety, ethics and law within our engineering programs, I worked to integrate WHMIS training and, in collaboration with our Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education (23/24 Report), active bystanding activities and assessments that introduce, in first-year, students to the complexities of ethical and legal issues that are critical components of modern engineering education and professional practice.

Another faculty-level initiative I led was the establishment of a minimum technology standard for the Lassonde School. The initiative grew out of a recognition that student and faculty expectations for laptops, tablets and cell phones inside and outside of the classroom were not aligned. This misalignment resulted in conflict and missed learning opportunities. Despite a surprising amount of opposition to the initiative, initially, I worked with faculty, students and staff to develop and shephard an updatable standard that can support student learning in multiple programs across our engineering school.

But departments and faculties don't operate in isolation. It's important for faculty to get involved in the university-wide discussions and decision-making. As such, I am an active member of the York University Faculty Association, particularly as a "member-at-large" on the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Collective Agreement (JCOAA) and Long Range Planning (LRP) committee. Once a month, I join other members of the faculty association to meet with leadership and staff in Labour Affairs to discuss issues related to the Collective Agreement.

Finally, health and safety are notable elements of my leadership work. I am a certified worker co-chair in the Engineering Joint Health and Safety Committee at York University and also represent the Faculty Association at the pan-University Health and Safety Executive Council. Beyond regular workplace inspections, I have worked within these roles and with talented colleagues among the staff, regular faculty and our leadership to make important changes in the Lassonde School of Engineering and, more broadly, across the University. For example, at a School-level an increase to full-time staffing has been approved within our Civil Engineering "High Bay" Lab to help ensure that research and teaching is conducted safely. And, at a University-level, our Facilities department has now hired personnel to process and report geo-location data of health and safety incidents such as slips, trips and falls.