In June 2020, President Ono reaffirmed our institutional commitment to anti-racism and inclusion. Here’s how we’re moving those commitments forward.
Institutional Anti-Racism Actions
- Implementation of the Inclusion Action Plan
- Diversifying students, faculty and staff
- Supporting identity-based spaces and groups
- Recruiting, retaining and supporting Black students, faculty and staff
- Training and education
Implementation of the Inclusion Action Plan
| Executive Lead | Actions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| External Relations | Reviewing engagement principles to ensure an equity, diversity and inclusion lens is applied to UBC’s full spectrum of engagement. | Ongoing |
| External Relations | Making space for silenced voices in institutional events (e.g. convocation speaker choice). | In Progress |
| Human Resources | Optimizing university-wide orientations to reflect UBC’s commitment to equity and inclusion. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCO) | Appointing an Associate Provost to develop programs and the teaching and learning portfolio with an anti-racist and inclusive focus. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCV) | Appointing a Director, Faculty Equity (.5 FTE) to help coordinate IAP activities and anti-racism commitments. | Complete |
| Research and Innovation | In collaboration with the Equity & Inclusion Office, leading UBC’s efforts in the federal Dimensions pilot, which aims to help transform and drive change to enable more EDI in research in Canada. | In Progress |
| Research and Innovation | Examining ways to support and nominate under-represented groups for major prizes and awards and to create mechanisms to elevate the work of diverse scholars. | Forthcoming |
Diversifying Students, Faculty and Staff
| Executive Lead | Actions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Development and Alumni Engagement | Fundraising for the Beyond Tomorrow program and awards to increase recruitment and support the success of Black students. | Ongoing |
| Finance and Operations | Conducting a portfolio accessibility standards audit. | In Progress |
| Human Resources | Incorporating gender-neutral language into all communications materials and in collective agreements with employee groups, including land acknowledgements in all collective agreements. | In Progress |
| Human Resources | Collecting disaggregated employment equity data for all faculty and staff. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCO) | Using the Accelerate phase of the Presidents Academic Excellence Initiative to IBPOC faculty recruitment. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCO and UBCV) | Launching a project to collect disaggregated equity and diversity data from students (launched January 2022). | Complete |
Supporting Identity-Based Spaces and Groups
| Executive Lead | Actions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| External Relations | Ensuring that the UBC Connects program reflects the diversity of the communities with whom we work. | In Progress |
| External Relations | With Campus & Community Planning and the Equity & Inclusion Office, supporting the installation of a Two-Spirit Pride mural on campus. | In Progress |
| External Relations | Through our website and newsletter content, creating and promoting stories that showcase the diversity of the UBC community. | Ongoing |
| External Relations | Exploring enhanced opportunities to facilitate intercultural understanding, education, and celebration through placemaking, programming, and art within the public realm and community initiatives. | Ongoing |
| Health | Supporting community organizations and partners that promote equity, diversity and inclusion in health and health education. | In Progress |
| Human Resources | Supporting employee resource groups such as IBPOC Connections and the Disability Resource Group that are coordinated by the Equity & Inclusion Office. | In Progress |
| Human Resources | Updating information on religious accommodations for employees. | Forthcoming |
| Provost (UBCO) | Establishing a Black Resource Centre. | Forthcoming |
| Students | Creating a strategic IBPOC initiatives position. | Forthcoming |
| Students | Ensuring that health and wellbeing programs are accessible to and supportive of all. | Forthcoming |
| Students | Developing an anti-racism policy to examine existing policies on housing, student conduct and financial aid. | Forthcoming |
| Students | Developing resources for racialized students (e.g. Career Equity Guide for Students of Colour). | Forthcoming |
Recruiting, Retaining and Supporting Black Students, Faculty and Staff
| Executive Lead | Actions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Development and Alumni Engagement | Fundraising for IBPOC awards, coupled with a mentorship program. | Ongoing |
| Human Resources | Engaging with our Employee & Family Assistance Program to encourage a broadening of the network of Indigenous counsellors and increasing the availability and complement of IBPOC counsellors. | In Progress |
| Human Resources | Implementing a Health & Wellbeing plan that incorporates anti-racism into workplace wellbeing programming efforts by embedding IBPOC knowledge and promoting culturally appropriate programs and support. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCO) | Establishing a summer retreat on Black Studies at UBCO with faculty from other Canadian institutions. | Forthcoming |
| Provost (UBCV) | Using an applicant survey to track the diversity of decanal candidates. | Completed and Ongoing |
| Provost (UBCV) | Developing a briefing for academic leaders that explains the process for restricted or preferential faculty hiring, student hiring, student admissions and financial aid. | Completed |
Training and Education
| Executive Lead | Actions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Development and Alumni Engagement | Continuing opportunities for anti-racism training for alumni and donors. | Ongoing |
| External Relations | Developing training, tools and resources to support communicators on both campuses to provide inclusive and respectful storytelling. | Forthcoming |
| Finance and Operations | Training for the senior leadership team to improve diversity competencies. | In Progress |
| Health | Convening and collaborating with all health programs to enable open discussions and identify opportunities to integrate equity and inclusion education into curriculum and program requirements. | In Progress |
| Human Resources | Incorporating the recommendations from the equity, diversity and inclusion audits of the Academic Leadership Development program to incorporate more Indigenous knowledge and inclusion skill-building. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCO) | Establishing a nationally recognized public forum series on systemic racism. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCO) | Organizing ongoing meetings with IBPOC faculty and staff to ensure discussion and dialogue to deepen our understanding of systemic racism in our policies, processes and practices. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCV) | Continuing the Provost’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Race and Leadership and the IGNITE! Book Club. | In Progress |
| Provost (UBCV) | Making unconscious bias modules developed in Enrolment Services for profile reading available to other units across the campuses. | Forthcoming |
| Provost (UBCV) | Continuing the Anti-Racism in Teaching Series at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology. | In Progress |
| Students | Launching a new student orientation training module focused on anti-racism. | In Progress |