Introduction+&+Definition

Introduction & Definition The issue that will be of focus in this project centres on the topic of campus commute and the issues of inaccessibility to education. After looking through surveys conducted at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) Campus, one of the lingering issues particularly with students in the CCIT, Art and Art History, and Drama program is their daily commute to Sheridan College to attend certain classes required for their program. With this in mind, only these students within these specific programs must travel to multiple campuses in order to fulfill their program requirements. In comparison, students from other programs at UTM are not required to take courses at multiple campuses in order to fulfill their program requirements unless they themselves wish to take courses at various campuses. As a result, it is evident that there is a discrepancy within various programs, aside from paying deregulated tuition fees, is the notion of students’ accessibility to education. Why is it that certain students must commute more than others to attend these mandatory classes? Why not centralize classes to one vocational institute in one location, unless the student wishes to attend other campuses under his or her discretion? Why that certain software required for these mandatory classes is only available at the Sheridan Campus and barely existent at the UTM Campus? This is an issue of inaccessibly and even inequality among the student body. The effects of travelling for periods of time take a mental and physical toll on students, evidently raising stress levels which could result in a loss of sleep and poor performance at school ( [] ). Ultimately, these issues are avoidable, unnecessary, and inefficient for an already over-taxed, over-worked student trying to attain a higher education. In relation to lengthy commutes, the issue of inaccessibility also applies to the unavailability of distance education at the University of Toronto where students should be permitted to take courses online as a means of fulfilling program requirements. Being in a digital age, it is astounding that the University of Toronto has not caught up and engaged in this level of education and using it to their and the students’ advantage, in comparison to other universities which have enabled this tool as a building block in students’ education. This is particularly true for students in the CCIT program, a program which focuses on digital media and information systems and yet, these online tools are not being utilized. Through our group’s progressive design, we hope to tackle this issue with some problem solving that will reflect in an innovative yet comprehensive final design project.