Welcome back to UBC

The 2015 Equity Enhancement Fund results have been announced with a total of 19 groups receiving funding for new initiatives designed to enhance equity at UBC. Funding was approved for 14 applications from Vancouver and five applications from the Okanagan. Read below for an overview of the successful applications.

“I am pleased at the number of high quality applications we received this year,” said Sara-Jane Finlay, Associate Vice President, Equity and Inclusion. “The projects chosen are closely aligned with the University’s commitment and responsibilities to enhance equity across campuses and we look forward to seeing the results of these innovative initiatives.”

Due to more flexible application guidelines, a greater number of applications from students were received with 9 of the 19 proposals from student-led organizations. The Equity and Inclusion office received a record number of applications for 2015 with 57 from Vancouver and 15 from the Okanagan.

The Equity and Inclusion Office notes the support of Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Cynthia Mathieson, Provost and Vice-Principal at UBC Okanagan, and Office of the Provost and VP Academic at UBC Vancouver. A special thanks to the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Equity and Diversity at UBC Okanagan and Vancouver.

Read about the projects below:

2015 recipients for UBC Vancouver

Project name: Healthy Masculinities Leadership Program
Recipients: AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC)

Description: The Healthy Masculinities Leadership Program is a multi-faceted project, which will promote healthy masculinities, healthy relationships and work towards gender based violence prevention on the UBC campus. The projects goal is to eradicate the damaging stereotypes that society teaches boys about what it means to be a man and to recruit male identified leaders on campus who will model strength without violence to create a safer campus community

Project name: 6^th Annual F-Word Conference
Recipients: Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice Undergraduate Students Association (GSJUSA)

Description: The F Word Conference showcases student research and community collaboration across activist and academic disciplines. The conference provides a venue for feminist scholars, students, and community members to learn each other’s skills, knowledge, and experiences. The conference will be held in May 2015.

Project Name: Nehiyo-paskwa-itsimowan Pow-wow Celebration (2016)
Recipients: First Nations Studies Students Association (FNSSA)

Description: In response to the lack of inclusive cultural celebrations at UBC, members from the Indigenous Students Association (InSA) and the First Nations Studies Students Association (FNSSA) collaborated to host UBC’s first pow-wow in April 2015 which they now aim to make an annual event.

Project name: Implementation of the School of Social Work Equity Action Plan
Recipients: School of Social Work

Description: The School of Social Work is currently engaged in the implementation of a comprehensive and progressive Educational Equity and Diversity Strategic Plan.

Project name: All Our Voices
Recipients: Student Radio Society of UBC and CiTR 101.9 FM

Description: The objective of this project is to improve the overall diversity of CiTR’s membership and programming in the areas of Indigenous programming, women’s programming and programming for and by those with disabilities. Radio content will be broadcast on air and available online.

Project name: Building ethnic diversity into Canada’s Stem Cell donor database
Recipients: UBC Stem Cell Club, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Description: The UBC Stem Cell Club is a student initiative founded in 2011 to strengthen the quantity and quality of membership on the Canadian stem cell donor database. They have developed a partnership with Canadian Blood Services and are the first student-run group worldwide that is accredited to independently run stem cell drives. Their project aims to improve diversity on Canada’s stem cell database.

Project name: Indigenous Students Association Speaker Series
Recipients: Indigenous Students Association

Description: In response to the lack of inclusive Indigenous cultural events on campus, our goal is to host an Indigenous Speaker Series throughout the 2015-16 school year to celebrate Indigenous knowledge, culture, and history, as well as to engage the UBC and Vancouver community in a productive and supportive relationship to discuss Indigenous topics.

Project name: Race Literacies – A Black Canadian Scholar’s Series to promote transformative curricula and research
Recipients: Faculty of Education, Department of Language and Literacy Education

Description: The project will consist of an eight month speaker series with high profile African Canadian speakers who will share their research and exchange curricula ideas with UBC. The speaker series will provide a forum for critical dialogue, transformative curricula, research and innovative analyses.

Project name: Perspective and Strength: Changing the discourse on Vancouver’s Eastside through improved student orientations
Recipients: UBC Learning Exchange

Description: In collaboration with Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents and organizations the Learning Exchange will develop a new orientation curriculum and materials for the students and faculty who join the Learning Exchange as part of their co-op, intern, and practicums each year. The new curriculum will help students and faculty better understand the strengths, opportunities and challenges of social inequity facing communities like the DTES.

Project name: Beyond the Binary @ UBC – A Gender Inclusion Toolkit and Best Practice Resource for UBC Faculty and Staff
Recipients: Human Resources, Sauder School of Business, and the Equity and Inclusion Office

Description: This project will enhance UBC’s reputation as an equitable employer by providing training and developing resources that specifically address issues faced by trans* and gender variant staff, students, and faculty to help create a more inclusive and welcoming campus.

Project name: Targeted Work Group Based Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training at UBC Vancouver
Recipients: Health, Wellbeing and Benefits, Human Resources

Description: The goal of this project is to increase mental health literacy within staff and faculty groups on campus by offering Mental Health First Aid training, particularly those working in front-facing roles with staff, student or faculty populations.

Project name: Reducing Unconscious Bias in Academic Medicine
Recipients: Equity Committee, Department of Medicine in partnership with the Department of Surgery

Description: The project will include a series of workshops to increase awareness of unconscious bias amongst faculty and trainees in the Departments of Medicine and Surgery. By teaching faculty and trainees to recognize unconscious bias they will have the tools and strategies to mitigate the effects of unconscious bias in their careers and in their delivery of healthcare.

Project name: From Camps to Coast: UBC’s Student Refugee Program Now and Beyond
Recipients: Faculty of Arts, International Student Development and Enrollment Services

Description: The project will be led by the WUSC-UBC Working Group to train current WUSC-SRP Scholars from around the province in developing interactive workshops to enhance local understanding of the experiences of student refugees. These workshops will be delivered to students, staff and faculty at the participants’ respective schools, including both UBC campuses.

Project name: UBC Hua Dialogue
Recipients: UBC Hua Dialogue student group

Description: Their vision is to provide various kinds of events and platforms for students to discuss issues related to Chinese communities in a respectful manner. The dialogues are organized and targeted to students from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Canada but are open to all UBC community members.

2015 recipients for UBC Okanagan

Project Name: Indigenous Art Week
Recipients: Indigenous Student Association

Description: In partnership with UBC and the Alternator Gallery they will host an Indigenous Art Week aimed at providing an accessible platform for dialogue among audience members of all backgrounds.  The primary objective of the event is to facilitate cross-cultural healing, cognitive decolonization, and an overall appreciation for Indigenous artistic expression.
Project Name: The Pedagogy of Place: As Principle Element in Indigenous Arts
Recipients: Department of Creative Studies

Description: The project will bring together established Indigenous artists from across the country to meet and work with local Okanagan artists and Elders to present new work, develop collaborations, and integrate Indigenous methodologies around art and daily process into the fabric of UBC Okanagan and the Kelowna community at large.

Project Name: LEAD (Leadership, Engagement, Awareness and Diversity): Engaging ambassadors for change
Recipients: UBC Student Union of the Okanagan and the National Association of Disabled Students (NEADS)

Description: This one-day workshop will be held in collaboration with NEADS (National Educational Association of Disabled Students) and will include speakers and student workshops. The purpose of the event is to engage students with disabilities and develop student leadership skills to create ambassadors for disability awareness and inclusion practices on campus and in the community.

Project Name: Diverse Needs of Faith-Based Communities
Recipients: International Programs and Services

Description: The objective of this project is to provide practical solutions to some of the barriers students face in their religious practices by making the campus Multi-Faith Space (UNC 328) more amenable to students. These include the purchase of new resources for the Multi-Faith Space (mats, shoe holders, room dividers, tables and chairs for studies and meetings).

Project Name: Peer-driven Indigenous, racialized, and/or queer youth capacity-building: A symposium and student/youth mentorship project
Recipients: Faculty of Health and Social Development, School of Nursing and School of Social Work; Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies; and Gender and Women’s Studies, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences

Description: The purpose of the project is to develop a peer-driven community-based project that builds spaces for greater inclusion of queer, racialized, and Indigenous students. A multidisciplinary team will partner with campus groups to organize a symposium and provide training and mentorship to students to support them in carrying out outreach with youth in the wider community.

On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to welcome you to the Equity and Inclusion Office. As I take on my new role I would like to thank Dr. Gurdeep Parhar for his leadership as the Acting Associate Vice President, Equity and Inclusion for the last two years. Since 2013, he aptly guided the Office staff, and consulted with colleagues across the Okanagan and Vancouver campuses, during a challenging period of transition.

As I begin my term as Associate Vice President, Equity and Inclusion, my thoughts on the role of the Office and our priorities are guided by some key documents. The Equity and Inclusion Office envisions….

…a community in which human rights are respected and equity is embedded in all areas of academic, work and campus life. Through its leadership, vision and collaborative action, the Equity and Inclusion Office will further UBC’s commitment to excellence, equity and mutual respect.

In its Statement on Respectful Environment for Students, Faculty and Staff, the University commits itself to creating the best possible environment for working, learning and living where respect, civility, diversity, opportunity and inclusion are valued. This is a responsibility of all community members, and excellence in our scholarship, teaching, learning and work-related activities flows from an active concern and respect for others, including our ability to participate meaningfully in the life of the university (or campus) community.

These values – respect, civility, diversity, opportunity, inclusion – are key aspects of creating communities that flourish and are sustainable. ‘Social sustainability’ is about the resources, supports and capacities to create healthy and livable communities that are equitable, diverse, inclusive and connected – key drivers in the work of the Equity and Inclusion Office.

Capacity Building for Social Sustainability

Equity, inclusion and diversity are not the sole remit of this office. In fact for social sustainability to take place, responsibility for these values must be deeply vested in the institution and in each of the divisions across the University and its campuses. Therefore, it is not our intention to create ‘one-off’ solutions with little impact or staying-power. Rather this Office is primarily concerned with capacity building for social sustainability. We do this through three fundamental activities:-

1. Education and Communication – whether encouraging communication of the wonderful initiatives that are occurring across the different divisions in the University or through custom-built presentations and workshops, a key role for the Equity & Inclusion Office is education and communication of the core values of mutual respect and equity.
2. Proactive Initiatives – from developing resiliency to conflict management to creating important programs such as the Positive Space Campaign or events like Rule Out Racism week, the Equity & Inclusion Office has a central role in providing faculty, staff and students with the tools and skills they need to create a sustainable community.
3. Compliance and Data Collection – through robust data collection and analysis as well as case and issues management, the Equity & Inclusion Office uses a research informed approach to all of its work.

Through these key measures and the many other activities of this office, we aim to support and enhance the understanding and commitment to equity and mutual respect, central tenets for a thriving academic life at UBC.

I look forward to the opportunity to meet many of you in the coming year and in working together at this great university.

Sara-Jane Finlay, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President, Equity & Inclusion

UBC is proud to be named as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, as ranked by Mediacorp Canada Inc. This prestigious contest rewards Canadian companies that stand out through their efforts to create diverse, inclusive workplaces.

“What an honour! This award recognizes employers that have exceptional diversity and inclusiveness programs in the workplace,” said Dr. Sara-Jane Finlay, UBC’s Associate Vice President, Equity and Inclusion.“ At UBC, we strive to create an environment that recognizes the importance of excellence, equity, and mutual respect for our students, faculty and staff.”

Some of the reasons why UBC was selected as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers 2015:

• established an Equity and Inclusion Office, which encourages dialogue on equity and inclusivity on campus and provides education and training to heighten awareness of human rights, equity and diversity across campus — the office also meets with all new academic heads to discuss the advancement of equity and diversity at UBC
• through the university’s Equity Enhancement Fund, sponsored six on-campus projects that increased awareness of equity and diversity, including the Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy school’s “Inclusive Campus” campaign to promote equity in the participation of students with disabilities in health and human service professional programs
• the university organizes campus-wide barrier-free recruitment and selection workshops and is currently working on initiatives to advance the recruitment and selection of persons with disabilities, in partnership with local community organizations
• appointed a Director of Intercultural Understanding Strategy Development to help develop a framework for advancing UBC’s commitment to intercultural understanding, which acknowledges the existing and growing diversity of the university’s student body, faculty, and staff — as part of this initiative UBC conducted interviews with faculty and staff and organized student focus groups in order to identify barriers to intercultural understanding on campus
• also maintains an Aboriginal Strategic Plan to enhance recruitment, support and advancement of Aboriginal staff and faculty
• organizes an annual Gender Diversity in Leadership Forum to connect female faculty members to leaders in their Faculties as well as within the University, and maintains a Leadership Advisory Group, which is responsible for expanding existing leadership opportunities at UBC and increasing diversity in related succession pipelines
• offers “equity briefings” for search committees responsible for senior-level academic positions
• welcomed additional facilitators of the university’s “Positive Space” campaign, which aims to make UBC a more receptive and welcoming place for LGBT individuals — and has offered approximately 180 workshops to staff and students on LGBT issues since 2002

For more information on UBC’s people practices, please visit Focus on People.