Working with faculty

A diverse and welcoming environment must include a transparent recruitment process that is fair and equitable. The adviser to the provost on equity and diversity is actively engaged in improving recruitment processes to achieve a diverse learning environment and supports units in a variety of ways, including:

• faculty recruitment workshops for you, your administrative officers and your search or ARPT committees
• support for and attendance at search committee meetings where appropriate
• assistance brainstorming discipline specific interview questions
• information about how to complete preferential and limited hiring
• advice to committees regarding targeted hires, including support for the proposal to the provost

Equity in employment and particularly equity in the recruitment and hiring process is evidenced not just in the steps comprising the process, but also in the product. How many of the short-listed applicants and the newly hired faculty are from one of the four traditionally under-represented groups?

A welcoming environment is one where faculty members can thrive and succeed in their work.

The equity and diversity adviser is available to:

• assist you with strategies to support diverse scholars and scholars whose teaching and research focus on topics of equity, diversity and marginalized populations
• provide guidance, information and resources on issues relating to equity and diversity
• share best practices for creating inclusive teaching and learning environments
• outline current local and global equity issues and advise on upcoming issues and trends
• provide resources and referrals to on and off campus networks

UVic is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse group of exceptionally talented faculty and to supporting them in ways that allow them to achieve their highest potential.

Accommodation measures can be designed to remove barriers for faculty members who have temporary or permanent medical conditions that have been assessed and documented by physicians.

All accommodation measures are highly individual. The equity and diversity adviser works closely with Human Resource's work life consultants to assist with the process, and with the roles and responsibilities of the chair/director and dean in accommodation, sick leave, disability and return to work cases.

• How to accomodate faculty medical leave and return to work

Communication about equity and diversity successes across campus is vital to building inclusive and welcoming environments.

Ways to participate and share your successes:

• Create or maintain a committee that will focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in your unit.
• Ask a member of your unit's diversity/equity committee to attend meetings of the provost's diversity steering committee and be part of the flow of cross-campus information on equity and diversity.
• If you have a department or a faculty that does not have an equity committee, we can assist you in developing one.
• Submit articles profiling students, faculty or staff involved in diversity and equity initiatives, programs, events and activities to Multiplicity, the bi-annual diversity newsletter.

The adviser to the provost on equity and diversity has expertise in providing support, advice and guidance to chairs/directors and deans on faculty-related issues regarding equity, diversity and human rights, while maintaining compliance with the faculty Framework Agreement.

Collaborating to resolve these issues can empower everyone involved and be a dynamic catalyst for positive change. Support is available as early as the recruitment stage and may include:

• resolving access issues
• a discussion of retention climate, mentoring, department orientations and other strategies to create an inclusive workplace environment
• mediating issues between academic units and faculty to maintain UVic's commitment to equitable workplaces and collegial governance