UBC is taking steps to establish an Accessibility Committee to support disability inclusion and guide future direction at the university. Students, staff, and faculty are invited to apply to serve on the inaugural Committee.
The Committee will be tasked with providing on-going guidance and advice to the university on the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to accessibility and to help fulfill the university’s legal obligations and commitments to disability inclusion and justice principles.
Of the 18-member committee, the UBC Executive will appoint six members for key offices and hold three seats for student leaders representing the Alma Mater Society (AMS), Graduate Student Society (GSS), and Students’ Union of Okanagan (SUO).
Nine at-large UBC community members will be selected through this open call for applications, of which there shall be at least two students, two staff, and two faculty members.
Public sector organizations in British Columbia are required to establish an accessibility committee, an accessibility plan and a build tool to receive feedback on their accessibility. Committed to building a more accessible campus environment and in accordance with the Accessible British Columbia Act, UBC is now undertaking steps to meet these legislated requirements by September 1, 2023.
Application process
Student, faculty, and staff interested in applying to serve on the Accessibility Committee should:
- Review the Terms of Reference to ensure alignment of eligibility and interests with the mandate and commitment required;
- Submit an online application for consideration by the UBC Executive selection committee. Members will be selected so as to meet the compositional diversity requirements of the Act.
Please note that the application period closed on March 13, 2023.
Review details related to data collection and privacy
The responses to this questionnaire will be collected and managed by the Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion and the Equity & Inclusion Office (EIO) Data Analysts. Appointees and nominees will also be requested to complete a voluntary demographic self-identification questionnaire imbedded in the online application.
Record-level data from this application form and questionnaire will be shared with the UBC Executive for the sole purpose of ensuring the compositional diversity of the Accessibility Committee as required under the Act. Record-level data will not be disclosed for any other purpose. Aggregated (non-identifying) data will be shared with the Committee and community for reporting and accountability purposes.
Personal information is collected in this application and questionnaire under the authority of sections 26(a), (c) and (e) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the purposes of selecting qualified and diverse members of the Committee. Any questions about the collection and use of this information may be referred to the Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion.
Member appointment and selection
In accordance with the Act and UBC’s Terms of Reference, Committee members will be appointed and selected with consideration of the following compositional diversity goals:
- The members are from the UBC community (student, faculty, and staff) representing both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses;
- At least half of the members are persons with disabilities or individuals who support or are from UBC organizations that support persons with disabilities;
- The members described in (b) reflect the diversity of persons with disabilities in British Columbia;
- At least one of the members is an Indigenous person;
- The committee reflects the diversity of persons in British Columbia.
To the extent possible and as informed by responses to a voluntary self-identification survey, UBC will strive to constitute a committee with at least half of the members identifying as having a disability.