After a seven-year tenure as associate vice-president, academic, David DeVidi has retired from the role. DeVidi is now on leave at UW and pursuing research in philosophy.

Imprint spoke with the former vice-president to learn more about DeVidi’s experience in the role, some meaningful aspects of the work he supported, what he thinks of the next associate vice-president, and his thoughts on the future of academic innovation at UW.

The role of an associate vice-president

“You’re in a position where you’re half heading up staff units, academic support units, and you’re also an academic,” DeVidi says of an aspect he enjoyed in his role as associate vice-president. By understanding the faculty and instructor perspective, DeVidi felt well-positioned to notice aspects of the university that could be improved and work towards bringing about said changes.

So, how does change happen at the administrative level? “If you’re patient, when you’re an associate vice president, you can make some significant changes or you can be part of making them,” DeVidi said. “There’s nothing you do in a university that you do by yourself, but you can bring together teams that make things happen.” This is an area, he adds, where other post-secondary institutions have shown interest in UW’s innovative approach, like in the quality of teaching assessments. “It took years to change, and every part of the change was contested and complicated. But now when you look back to where we were seven years ago and you look at what we’ve got now, I think that’s [gotten] a lot better,” DeVidi says.

Having spent the better part of 13 years as either the associate vice-president, academic or as chair of the philosophy department at UW, DeVidi hasn’t had much time to pursue his research interests in philosophy. Now, DeVidi looks forward to spending more time exploring the field he’s always been passionate about as a faculty member.

Passing the baton: Advice and insights to his successor

Martin Cooke, former assistant vice-president of the Associate Vice President, Academic (AVPA) office, has succeeded DeVidi as associate vice-president. DeVidi believes that Cooke’s previous experience as an associate dean and his time working in Needles Hall “helps him understand what life is like, trying to lead [and] make something happen in a faculty.” DeVidi was quick to highlight Cooke’s other strengths: “I think he is a good person to work with [and] by virtue of being smart and friendly, people like to work with him. … I think they’ll be surprised to see that he nevertheless will make hard decisions.” Cooke, he says, has “a steel spine.”

DeVidi noted that Cooke’s perceived strengths will be especially meaningful in effective teamwork and collaborative leadership. “You don’t get anything done at a university by [giving] anybody orders or [doing] something by yourself. Everything you’re [doing] is going to be a team effort,” DeVidi expressed. “I think that [having] an organized mind and being somebody that people like really helps … those are two things that [Cooke] absolutely has.”

As for his advice for Cooke, DeVidi remarks, “I would say that he should trust his instincts. The advice I’ve already given him is [that] you have to be patient. What you’re really useful for is being a bridge between the support units and faculty because you understand both worlds. You can see the directions [the university] ought to move and you’re well placed to bring people together to make it move there.”

Highlights during his tenure

While discussing areas he feels most proud of supporting during his role as associate vice-president, DeVidi highlights UW’s Teaching Innovation Incubator (TII). The program, he says, took “a lot of team effort to make it into something real and that’s doing good work,” and is “one of the early [initiatives] that was an accomplishment.” He adds that the work done by UW’s Disability Inclusion Steering Committee is another achievement. The provincial government introduced the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which contained 185 recommendations for post-secondary institutions. DeVidi feels pride in the plan developed to address these recommendations, as well as its integration with the TII’s accessible education project. Although “accessible education is not ever going to be ‘done,’” DeVidi reiterates, “we’re now well set up to help instructors think about those kinds of things in useful ways and to be better, as a university, at making education accessible.” Other areas he is proud of supporting include teaching assessment processes and restructuring the senate undergraduate committee.

DeVidi emphasized that the future of postsecondary education is evolving. “I don’t think the university of the future is going to be only about educating 18 to 23 year old[s] for their bachelor[’s] and their master’s and a few for their PhDs who then stick around longer. I think education [will] be aimed at people who need to learn new things in the middle of their careers. We did a lot to make sure the university can be more flexible in terms of the kind of programming we offer.”

The future of academic innovation at UW: Balancing challenge and possibility

With the rise of new tools and technologies, both challenges and possibilities are emerging. While discussing the future of academic innovation at UW, DeVidi shared that at the institutional level, “what you have to do is unlock the potential. You have to find ways to remove the obstacles that prevent people from chasing good ideas.” DeVidi repeatedly stressed the value of testing an idea, even if the results aren’t successful on the first try: “What we need to do as a university is make it possible for people to try stuff and assess it.” He pointed to the TII as a place where ideas can be given a test drive, as “not every idea that looks like a good idea turns out to work well in practice.” When ideas cultivated at the TII emerge with meaningful and innovative insights, he stresses the importance of sharing that learning with the wider academic community, so that everyone can benefit. DeVidi noted, “What I’ve tried to do as [an associate] VPA is find ways that the institution can remove obstacles and let other people chase their good ideas.”

As for AI, DeVidi views it as a challenge and an opportunity. “I think it’ll be a challenge if we don’t address it, and if we do address it, it can be an opportunity for us,” he expressed. He also describes how using term papers to grade student work is no longer a good option with the rise of AI. Yet, he equally acknowledges that round-table discussion in-class do not cater to all accessibility levels, as not every student, for accessibility reasons, is able to or comfortable participating. This introduces questions regarding what students are expected to know and what is truly being assessed in a given course. The key question being: “How do we actually assess whether students are learning what we’re saying they’re learning?” DeVidi concludes that this question is a “challenge for the university because of AI … accessibility expectations and social expectations.” As for the potential to step into challenge or opportunity? DeVidi expresses, “If we don’t [address this concern], we’re going to fall behind. But if we do, we can stay ahead of the curve and be one of the best universities in the country.”