IGEN Project Support Assistant

Background

The Indigenous Graduate Education in Nursing (IGEN) program is a collaborative initiative between five Schools of Nursing in British Columbia, committed to providing opportunity for Indigenous nurses to pursue their Master’s degree in Nursing.

The IGEN program is a result of an action oriented CIHR research grant proposal intended to develop this new initiative while evaluating, and reflecting on the processes required to implement.IGEN aims to create safe and relevant education to increase the number of Indigenous nurse leaders who can work towards improving the health of Indigenous Peoples. This will be accomplished by building an Indigenous Wellness stream of the MN programs available at each partner institution, as well as creating an Indigenous Wellness Master of Nursing collaborative program that is delivered across the five institutions. The benefits to all students and institutions will be evidenced by demonstrating the collaborating nature of shared academic resources while supporting students in their home territories to pursue their own Indigenous distinction based learning.

This program is supported and informed by an array of working groups and stakeholders representing the five institutions and various community and institutional perspectives. The Community Home Circle, one of the key working groups present at each institutional site, is comprised of local First Nation and Metis community leaders who meet monthly and are committed to supporting Indigenous nurses. (More in-depth information available on the IGEN initiative available by request)

Job description

The Project Support Assistant will work closely with the UVic School of Nursing MN Indigenous Stream Coordinator to support both the local UVic Home Circle and the collective IGEN project team working on the co-creation of the collaborative IGEN pathway. This person will be responsible for administrative support for ongoing development and delivery of the new Masters of Nursing Indigenous Wellness Stream (INDW) at UVic and the collaborative implementation among five partner institutions.

Qualifications

• Self Identifies as a First Nations, Inuit or Metis Person, with connection to community (can be urban, rural or remote) or settler ally with strong experiential community knowledge, connection and personal self location insight

• Expressed interest in Indigenous health education and research, equity and cultural safety.

• Understands academic environments including program development within post secondary institutions, and basic research processes.

• Experience within academic institutions either as a graduate student, faculty or staff.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Lived experience or history of working with Indigenous communities
• Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples
• Indigenous cultural safety training and/or Indigenous lived experience is preferred
• Able to work independently and complete tasks proactively
• Able to set up meetings and maintain working relationships with Indigenous Elders, community members, faculty, & students
• Able to communicate effectively (oral and written) with individuals, teams, committees and groups
• Experience using Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Survey Monkey
• Experience and/or knowledge of basic research project work/ processes and ability to contribute to and support research team discussions, including a willingness to learn and be mentored if appropriate.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, prioritize workload and work effectively to meet deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to maintain a high level of efficiency, accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to exercise initiative and maintain confidentiality
• Ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and priorities, make decisions and seek input as needed

Job Activities and Expectations

• Contribute to the support and organizational needs of IGEN Community Home Circle meetings and activities. (monthly)
• Assist with the INDW course/program development, including supporting course evaluation processes, and student course feedback surveys.
• Assist with overall program evaluation, development of criteria and implementation among the institutions.
• Assist with organizing gatherings or events.
• Assist with ongoing community engagement needs, including arranging meetings as needed, contacting potential collaborators and maintaining contact with community partners and facilitating remuneration as needed.
• Assist with land based learning event development and scheduling
• Assist with knowledge translation tools such as the creation of PowerPoints or other short briefs or summaries in support of program and research development.
• Assist with agendas and minutes for local IGEN Community Home Circle meetings.
• Liaise with local Indigenous partner communities, establish relationships and connect with networks of supporters, including local Nations, Metis Nation BC local, and appropriate networks on Vancouver Island.
• Participate in broader IGEN research meetings as appropriate, upon request

Other arising reasonable duties and responsibilities may be assigned by the MN Indigenous Wellness Stream Coordinator, Leanne Kelly.

How to submit an application

Your application should include a current CV and cover letter. Please submit a full and complete application by July 31 to:

Paul Meier
pmeier@uvic.ca
Research Support Team Lead
Health Research Support Team

We are fully committed to upholding the principles and values listed in the University of Victoria’s diversity statement.

UVic is committed to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion in our living, learning and work environments. In pursuit of our values, we seek members who will work respectfully and constructively with differences and across levels of power. We actively encourage applications from members of groups experiencing barriers to equity. Read UVic’s full equity statement here:
www.uvic.ca/equitystatement.