I first met Principal Keil (or Charlie, as I was instructed to call him) on the Principal’s Boat Cruise during Orientation Week in my first year of university. He sat at a table with me and my newly-made friends as part of his mission to meet as many incoming students as possible. Looking back on our first interaction, I was alarmingly audacious—after he asked all of us our names, I proceeded to ask him, without an ounce of shame or hesitation, what his name was because I hadn’t paid attention to any of the announcements made at the outset of the cruise, including his speech. Luckily for me, Charlie found this immensely amusing rather than offensive and continued to chat with our group for the better part of an hour. This was no simple meet-and-greet—Charlie was intent on getting to know us and making us start to feel like a part of the Innis College community.

While I can’t speak directly to the student experience at other colleges, I have trouble imagining that Charlie’s commitment to getting to know students personally, particularly as a high-ranking administrator, is paralleled anywhere else at the university. And while the specifics of my story may be unique, I am only one of many students who have benefitted from Charlie’s support during their time at Innis College.

Innis has a long and proud history of championing student voices. From opening the first university writing centre in Canada to establishing the first student- staff parity governance structure at U of T, Innis consistently supports its students in innovative and unprecedented ways. Over the course of Charlie’s first term as Principal, he has indisputably continued and deepened the College’s tradition of putting students at the forefront of decision-making.

At the beginning of March, I sat down with Charlie for a retrospective walk through his first term as Principal of Innis College. He reflected on what he’s learned over the course of his term, the accomplishments he’s most proud of, and what he hopes he or his successor will accomplish at Innis College in the next five years.

---

Charlie began his first term as Principal on July 1, 2015. He had previously been the Director of the Cinema Studies Institute for a period of nine years, a role which allowed him to build significant administrative experience and develop a relationship with the College. Both proved to be assets in Charlie’s nomination to become Innis Principal. After accepting his nomination, Charlie had to present his “vision” for the College to a selection committee, which included Innis staff and students. This vision is meant to articulate the nominee’s plan to support the College community and address its most pressing needs.

When I asked about the vision he presented to the selection committee, Charlie laughed, admitting that “you present a vision prior to actually knowing that much.” Despite this inherent limitation, Charlie has achieved much of what he set out to improve. Part of Charlie’s vision focused on short-term, attainable goals to improve the College. These included renovating the library, which “was in need of immediate attention,” and making it easier to navigate the College, as most people “were perpetually lost within the building” when Charlie came into the role. Innis Library today would be unrecognizable to students five years ago and has had to expand its hours over the past two years to meet the high demand for the space since its renovation (and thanks to the efforts of Kate Johnson, the best librarian on campus). Similarly, while I do still have to give the occasional direction to someone trying to find an Innis classroom, the College has benefitted from new and improved wayfinding maps and signs.

However, the core of Charlie’s vision for supporting the College centred around space. “Space was a major concern,” he said, noting that “numerous issues would only be addressed by [first] addressing the space issue.” Charlie’s focus on the lack of space to support the College’s programs, staff, and, most importantly, students, has led to the Innis College Revitalization and Expansion Project. This project, which is currently in the fundraising stage, aims to rebuild the west wing of the College. This would expand highly-used spaces including the beloved Innis Café, while improving accessibility and creating better spaces for students, like a new library and student success centre, an expanded commuter lounge, and designated student offices for Innis’s many clubs.

Reflecting on the nomination process, Charlie felt that “what you’re articulating [with the vision] is an affirmation of what the College’s values are and how you’re going to support them.” Ultimately, Charlie’s vision for the College centred around uplifting its staff and students, reflecting the College’s core values of community and student support.

Of course, Charlie’s vision for the College shifted throughout his time as Principal. “Just learning the ropes definitely takes about a year,” Charlie said, sharing that he spent the bulk of his first year as Principal listening to those around him to get a better sense of his role. Now, he’s the second longest-standing Principal at the University, with many other principals looking to him for guidance.

In addition to gaining confidence throughout his time in this role, he said “I’ve become progressively more invested in what my role can do. I see now that I can also advance certain things that do not just affect Innis College, that would be good for students on a broader level.” As an example, Charlie is now a co-chair of the First Year Foundations Council, a campus-wide council addressing how to increase small-classroom learning opportunities for first year students. Through this council, Innis launched a First Year Foundations pilot program, which allowed the College to host thirteen seminar classes from various departments with priority enrollment for first-year Innis students. These courses are designed to be integrated with other College supports, including the Registrar’s Office, Writing Centre, and Library, and aim to help ease first year students’ transition to university. “I wouldn’t have that opportunity [to make broader change] if I weren’t Principal” Charlie said.

“I don’t know why you would do the job if you didn’t want to connect with students”

While many staff and administrators at the University are endeavouring to improve the student experience, few have the opportunity (or, perhaps, take the time) to connect with students firsthand. To Charlie, however, “I don’t know why you would do the job if you didn’t want to connect with students.” Charlie feels that this is especially important given the role of the colleges at the University of Toronto. The colleges “give students a sense that somewhere at the university cares about them and wants to help them do their best. If you subscribe to that, then you’ll want to reach out to as many students as possible.” He hopes that through his role, he can help students “remember Innis College as being an important part of their formation and something that made their university experience a richer one.” Making connections shows Innis students that the college community is there and genuinely cares about them.

While connecting with students fundamentally improves the student experience, it also helps Charlie fulfill his role as Principal. Connecting with students lets “you actually know why you’re making decisions,” Charlie said, which helps him represent the college and its values to the broader community.

Coming to the end of his term, I asked Charlie what his proudest accomplishment was over the past five years. “It may seem odd…” he started, “but there is a sense of accomplishment you have when you finally had some involvement in forming a team.” Innis already had a vibrant staff when Charlie became Principal, but over the past five years he’s been able to have a role in creating “a really good team that, by and large, is thinking in the same ways and is very student-centred.” While he said that “proud” might not be the right word, Charlie is “happy” that he “had the opportunity to build something that I think now is really great” and to solidify a team of staff at Innis that shares the College’s values.

“There is a sense of accomplishment you have when you finally had some involvement in forming a team”

Charlie also said “I’m proud we’ve gotten as far with the building project as we have,” which was a core element of his original vision for supporting the College community. It was “of course a team effort,” involving the support of many staff members at the College, but Charlie also knows that “ultimately, somebody has to keep saying “we’re keeping going” and that person is the Principal.” While the completion of the new build is still a few years off, when it does get built, Charlie said, “I’ll feel a degree of investment in having been instrumental in that.”

Beyond tangible accomplishments, Charlie hopes over his first term as Principal that he’s made the College as happy, if not happier, a place than it was when he began. “If students have as positive an experience as they have ever had, or even a more positive experience, and I can lay any claim to any part of that, that would be the thing I would be most proud of,” he said.

While June 30 will mark the end of Charlie’s first term as Principal, it hopefully will not mark his last day. The nomination process is currently underway to appoint a Principal for another five-year term, with Charlie being a nominee. Charlie said that if he returns to the role for a second term, his main priority is ensuring the new build is completed. “Without [the new build], I just feel like the College will never be able to reach or realize its full ambitions,” he said, noting that the expansion is key to achieving many of his other remaining goals, including creating better, more welcoming spaces for commuter students and creating a more integrated model of student service.

“Without [the new build], I just feel like the College will never be able to reach or realize its full ambitions”

If for any reason Charlie does not return to his role on July 1, I asked him what wisdom he would want to pass on to his successor. The first piece of advice: “Listen to the people who are here. Take their counsel.” Charlie has relied heavily on the talented staff at Innis College to support him in his role, and it’s crucial that any future Principal do the same. “Principals come and go, but [other staff] are here for the long run.”

The second piece of advice: “Be student-focused. If you’re not student-focused, if you don’t keep reminding yourself that you’re here because of students, the job will feel less fulfilling. Much more important than that, you won’t be doing the job as it’s meant to be done. At least that’s the way I understand it.”