Colleagues,
I am writing to provide you with an initial update on the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives put in motion by Appendix W of the collective agreement. The joint sub-committee struck to advance these issues has been meeting regularly since July of last year.
The members of the task force are:
Sue Wurtele (co-Chair)
Nael Bhanji
Marcus Harvey
Michele McIntosh
Paula Sherman
Byron Stoyles
Maggie Xenopoulos
Stephanie Williams (co-Chair)
Cathy Bruce
Tara Harrington
Linda Pinto
Kirsten Woodend
To give you a sense of the sub-committee’s work, I am copying here the charge set out in Appendix W:
. . . the Sub-Committee will make recommendations to the Provost on how to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion within the faculty ranks. In particular, the Sub-committee is directed to consider the following areas:
a. a review of recruitment and hiring practices;
b. workplace improvements that contribute to an environment of inclusion as well as one free of bias, harassment and discrimination;
c. recommendations for the development of tools, training, support and resources to help all members achieve EDI goals;
d. mentorship initiatives to eliminate inequities and obstacles faced by members;
To accomplish this work, the sub-committee has determined that it needs considerably more information (relating to both demographics and individual experience) than is currently available. To address these needs, the sub-committee, in conjunction with the Provost’s Anti-Racism Task Force, is supporting two information-gathering activities with immediate relevance to TUFA members. The first of these is a Campus Climate survey that was announced via email earlier this week and should appear in your email inbox on, or around, March 15th. This broad survey will canvas the views of all members of the Trent community including students, staff and faculty on their experience of the workplace. It is extremely important that the views of faculty and librarians are represented in this survey. To this end, we encourage all members to participate. Additionally, we have been working with the Employer to reconfigure the new Human Resources Information System (VIP) to capture relevant demographic data about our membership in support of our ongoing EDI efforts. Human Resources will notify you by email when this employment equity survey is available to be completed.
Your responses are crucial, regardless of whether or not you personally identify as a member of an equity-deserving group. Everyone’s participation is needed for the data to have validity and – as importantly – to demonstrate our collective support for a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive University.
In Solidarity
Sue
—
Susan Wurtele
Chief Negotiator and Co-Chair of the EDI Sub-Committee.