Professor Alexie Tcheuyap new Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, International Student Experience-University of Toronto

Professor Alexie Tcheuyap has received governance approval for a five-year term as Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, International Student Experience (AVP-VP ISE), beginning September 1, 2021. As Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, Professor Tcheuyap will be supporting the divisional international engagement across all three campuses through collaborative development of global opportunities for all University of Toronto students through curricular and co-curricular initiatives; academic leadership in the areas of learning abroad opportunities for students and oversight of the tri-campus Centre for International Experience in collaboration with the Vice-Provost, Students; fostering a positive international student experience at the University of Toronto; and pursuing global partnership opportunities that support these goals.

This appointment builds on Professor Tcheuyap’s collaborative and strategic leadership skills, his significant administrative experience and a true passion for supporting our international students as well as fostering opportunities for all students to engage globally. He will be a worthy advocate for the University’s international strategy as it further develops under the leadership of recently appointed Vice President International Professor Joe Wong, who formerly held this AVP-VP role.

(Photo by Johnny Guatto)

Alexie Tcheuyap, a professor of French whose scholarship focuses on African literary, cinema and media studies, has been appointed the University of Toronto’s associate vice-president and vice-provost, international student experience.

Having received governance approval Thursday, Tcheuyap will serve for nearly six years beginning Sept. 1, 2021, including six months of administrative leave. He will be responsible for promoting opportunities for students to learn abroad, overseeing the tri-campus Centre for International Experience, developing global engagement opportunities for all U of T students through curricular and co-curricular initiatives and generally fostering a positive experience for international students at the university.

Tcheuyap says his own experience as an international student – he was educated in Cameroon and in the United Kingdom before moving to Kingston, Ont. for graduate studies at Queen’s University – gives him unique insight into the needs of U of T students who are new to Canada.

“All of this is very personal for me because I came here as an international student and this means I have lived through a lot of the same things as the students whom I will be working to support,” he said.

“In my career as a professor, I have always been very sensitive not only to the experience of students, but of those who are new to the country.”

He added that he arrived in Canada in 1997 carrying two suitcases – one for clothes and another full of books.

“My driver dropped me off [at Queen’s] in front of the university’s Stauffer Library and he said: ‘You brought books here. See that building over there? It’s full of books,’” Tcheuyap recalled.

He went on to earn a PhD in French literature from Queen’s, adding to a doctorate and master’s in the same field from the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon. He taught at the University of Calgary before joining the French department at U of T in 2006 and is a senior fellow of the European Institutes for Advanced Study.

An expert in African literature, cinema and media studies, Tcheuyap counts Ariane Astrid Atodji, Florence Ayisi, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Assia Djebar, Amina Abdoulaye Mamani, Jean-Marie Teno and Mansour Sora Wade among his favourite African filmmakers. He has written several books, including De l’écrit à l’écran, Postnationalist African Cinemas, Autoritarisme, presse et violence au Cameroun and Avoir peur. Insécurité et roman en Afrique francophone.

The most rewarding part of his job as an instructor, he said, is to introduce native English speakers to the original text of French language works.

Tcheuyap also brings considerable senior leadership experience to his new role.

He served as chair and associate chair of the department of French in the Faculty of Arts & Science and has been the faculty’s vice-dean, academic life and equity since 2019. As vice-dean, Tcheuyap initiated new strategies to develop a more diverse and more inclusive faculty, including the recruitment of several Black and Indigenous scholars.

Tcheuyap succeeds Professor Joseph Wong in the international student experience office; Wong was named vice-president, international earlier this year.

“Professor Tcheuyap is an extraordinary leader at the University of Toronto, who brings with him tremendous insight into the international student experience, having been one himself in the 1990s,” Wong said.

“He is well known among colleagues for his leadership skills at all levels of the university. His academic background in the humanities will no doubt open up new opportunities in international partnership-building as well as international learning experiences for our students.”

Tcheuyap said he will continue promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in his new role.

 “It’s important to ask where our students come from and to make sure that everyone feels welcome on campus, regardless of their background,” he said. “This requires special efforts to attract and retain students from underrepresented groups.”

He also plans to build on Wong’s efforts to create global scholar and global citizen designations for U of T students that are acquired through completing academic or extracurricular activities that foster a global outlook. The designations appear on a student’s co-curricular record or transcript.

“We are very fortunate to have the global scholar and citizen programs,” Tcheuyap said. “We just need to make sure that all students are aware of these possibilities to gain an international perspective.

“It’s not unusual to find a student who was born in Lethbridge or Kingston and who has never left Canada. The world is changing around us. We need to bring these international opportunities to students.

“The world is so rich. We need to encourage students to learn about the world in Toronto or go abroad and harvest international experience and then return to share their newfound knowledge back here.”

Source: https://www.utoronto.ca/news/alexie-tcheuyap-named-u-t-s-head-international-student-experience?fbclid=IwAR15WNZKRVMIE0qmpJeuamzQ_bzBIjx3tPE4ikxEHfI1Gh1vz0dm0bo3FXs

Who is Professor Alexie Tcheuyap

Professor Tcheuyap was educated in Cameroon (École Normale Supérieure & University of Yaoundé), Scotland (Moray House College) and Canada (Queen’s University). He is currently a Full Professor in the Department of French where he was Associate Chair and Chair before his appointment as Vice-Dean Faculty, Academic Life & Equity in the Faculty of Arts & Science in July 2019. His current role as Vice-Dean includes a broad portfolio of responsibilities, from stakeholder management to leadership and administration of Faculty-wide complement. He has made significant strides on the Labour Relations front, by promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in academic hiring, supporting searches and promotions, managing collective agreements with unions. 

A Senior Fellow of the European Institutes for Advanced Study, Professor Tcheuyap has also taught at the University of Calgary and been Visiting Professor at universities across Europe, Africa and the US. A recipient of several SSHRC research grants, amongst other funding and awards, his scholarship focuses on African literary, cinema and media studies, fields in which he has published extensively in journals like Politique Africaine, Research in African Literatures, Présence Africaine, Études Littéraires, Présence Francophone or Études françaises, to name a few. A selection of his many noteworthy book publications includes: De l’écrit à l’écran (Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa, 2005); Postnationalist African Cinemas (Manchester UP, 2011); Autoritarisme, presse et violence au Cameroun (Karthala, 2014) and Avoir peur. Insécurité et roman en Afrique francophone (Presses de l’Université Laval, 2019; with Hervé Tchumkam). 

Through his teaching, scholarship and administrative work, he has demonstrated a continued commitment to innovation and diversity, as well as to global engagement, in the aim of producing meaningful change not only in his field, but also on the broader university, national and international stage. 

Professor Tcheuyap was educated in Cameroon (École Normale Supérieure
& University of Yaoundé), Scotland (Moray House College) and
Canada (Queen’s University). He is currently a Full Professor in the Department
of French where he was Associate Chair and Chair before his appointment as
Vice-Dean Faculty, Academic Life & Equity in the Faculty of Arts &
Science in July 2019. His current role as Vice-Dean includes a broad portfolio
of responsibilities, from stakeholder management to leadership and
administration of Faculty-wide complement. He has made significant strides on the
Labour Relations front, by promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in
academic hiring, supporting searches and promotions, managing
collective agreements with unions. 

A Senior Fellow of the European Institutes for Advanced Study, Professor
Tcheuyap has also taught at the University of Calgary and been Visiting
Professor at universities across Europe, Africa and the US. A recipient of
several SSHRC research grants, amongst other funding and awards, his
scholarship focuses on African literary, cinema and media studies, fields in
which he has published extensively in journals like Politique
Africaine, Research in African Literatures, Présence Africaine, Études
Littéraires, Présence Francophone or Études
françaises, to name a few. A selection of his many noteworthy book
publications includes: De l’écrit à l’écran (Presses de
l’Université d’Ottawa, 2005); Postnationalist African Cinemas (Manchester
UP, 2011); Autoritarisme, presse et violence au Cameroun (Karthala,
2014) and Avoir peur. Insécurité et roman en Afrique francophone (Presses
de l’Université Laval, 2019; with Hervé Tchumkam). 

Through his teaching, scholarship and administrative work, he has
demonstrated a continued commitment to innovation and diversity, as well as to
global engagement, in the aim of producing meaningful change not only in his
field, but also on the broader university, national and international
stage.