When Silvia Cocolo accepted what she believed would be a “temporary” summer job at Woodsworth College, she could not have imagined that it would grow into a 35-year career devoted to supporting students.
“I began working in an era of administration that now feels worlds away,” she says, reflecting on those early days of typewriters, push-button phones, stacks of hard-copy calendars and timetables, as well as a hearty supply of liquid paper. “Nearly every task revolved around paper. Students lined up for hours to submit their course-selection forms, which staff then entered manually into terminal systems.”
While her work environment has seen many technological evolutions – from typewriters to computers, faxing to emailing, dial-up to high-speed internet – it’s her tireless work with students and her consistent deliver of a healthy, robust, and inclusive student life experience that has proven to be evergreen.
“There are few people as committed as Silvia to creating opportunities for undergraduate students, and to nurturing a level playing field so that all students have the tools to succeed,” says CIRHR Director and Professor Rafael Gomez. “Silvia is an advocate, not just for the student experience broadly, but for every student’s individual and unique journey.”
Throughout her career, Silvia has held several student-focused roles across the university, including positions in the Pre-University Office, the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, and the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources. She credits Noah Meltz, a former CIRHR director and a beloved and illustrious figure in our history, for modeling the kind of collaborative leadership she believes is essential to the role of administrator, particularly the often invisible but no less impactful work that takes place behind the scenes.
“As a first-generation graduate, I understood how transformative clear guidance, institutional consistency, and equitable structures could be,” she says. “This perspective informs every conversation I have with students and every recommendation I’ve offered to faculty and program directors.”
Her work became especially meaningful when oversight of the Criminology and IRHR undergraduate programs transitioned from Woodsworth College to their respective Centres. Although academic leadership shifted, student advocacy was consistently at the heart of Silvia’s role – one of innumerable contributions that were formally recognized in 2016 when she received the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Student Life Award for significantly enhancing the student experience through innovations in student services and engagement. In his 2016 letter in support of Silvia’s nomination, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator for the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, Matthew Light, writes:
“Although the transfer has been highly beneficial in many ways, particularly in giving our tenure-stream faculty greater ‘ownership’ of our undergraduate program, I can attest that Silvia’s role remains as vital as ever… [and] it is very difficult for me to imagine even trying to run the undergraduate program without her.”
Professor Light goes on to say that her advocacy for students and her ability to “keep faculty honest” has resulted in a “more professionally and equitably run undergraduate program, in which classes fit together into a coherent curriculum, and expectations on students, both within classes and in the major as a whole, are structured more logically.”
Here at the CIRHR, we couldn’t agree more. Silvia’s work remains centred on helping students navigate their programs, as well as opportunities unique to their personal, professional, and academic growth. Where does that level of service come from, and how does one transform it into a career of 35+ years and counting?
Looking back, “I often reflect on the remarkable shift from paper to today’s fully digital, student-centred environment,” she says, “and on how my own undergraduate experience ultimately shaped a career filled with purpose and personal fulfillment.”
We extend our congratulations to Silvia on this milestone, says Professor Gomez, “and we offer her our deepest gratitude for bringing so much forethought, care, and institutional knowledge to her role at the Centre and to the support of our undergraduate students.” We are profoundly grateful to work alongside her.