The adjudication committee highlighted Hassan’s hard work, leadership skills, mentorship, relationship-building and commitment to continuous learning and improvement.

Hassan’s work on the PAL program started with Student Success Facilitator Sandy Carpenter at the PASS office. In the Spring/Summer 2021 semester, Hassan reviewed data around student supports and discovered the department’s methods of peer learning were ineffective. Hassan found that first-year students were coming into challenging math-heavy courses that their high schools hadn’t properly prepared them for and wanted to be able to support them effectively.

Hassan noticed that the small group tutoring format wasn’t working to help those students. She took a summer to figure out how to better support students and give them the tools they needed to get through those classes. Partnering with University of Toronto Scarborough, she presented her learnings on supplemental instruction at the International Conference on Supplemental Instruction in June 2022.

Then, she and Carpenter partnered with three faculty members in 2021-2022 to get the PAL program up and running. This past year, 2022-23, was the second year the PAL program has run – it has gained traction and the program size has increased tenfold.

Colleagues say Hassan’s hard work, passion and initiative has changed how the department approaches peer learning and will continue to impact students long after she graduates.

“She has a heart for helping and supporting others, whether that’s her fellow staff members, faculty or students,” Lee said. “Whatever she’s going to do after she graduates, she’s going to rock it.”