Shaping a More Equitable and Accessible University
The U of A is committed to cultivating an institutional culture that values, supports, and promotes equity, human rights, respect and accountability among all members of our university communities. As part of this, we are planning how to make equity integral to our working and learning culture by shifting from EDI as 'in addition to,' to EDI as 'what we do.’ We invite your input to help achieve this.
Read more about the development
Continuing Our Stories – What we heard
The consultation phase with the broader university community began in November 2023. The approach took on an organic format and tapped into relations and connections to encourage open dialogue, trust and meaningful participation. EDI Leads played a pivotal role in facilitating conversations in the form of one-on-one discussions as well as in small group settings for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members and staff across different units and administrative service portfolios on campus. Formal engagements that involved structured conversations with established governance bodies as well as key advisory councils within the university were designed to harness the collective expertise and perspectives of these groups, providing a strategic dimension to the feedback.
In March and April, the engagements shifted to focused working sessions, which allowed us to connect with faculty, staff and students in exploring possible answers to big questions and imagining practical paths forward in making equity, diversity and inclusion an integrated part of what we do at the U of A. The moments of connection and storytelling emphasized a relevant community-driven approach to transforming our university through a shared endeavor.
We are now pleased to share with you “Continuing Our Stories,” which captures what we heard in those conversations.
Provide Feedback
We want to hear from you on how these themes resonate with you. What is missing? What excites you? How should success be measured?
In keeping with our commitment to multimodal approaches to collecting feedback, U of A community members may offer their thoughts in a number of ways.
We have made every effort to engage with members of the university community and beyond to gather this valuable feedback, despite widespread consultation fatigue. This is an ongoing process, and we will continue to seek input, throughout the action planning process and into implementation.
Participate in a Forum
Dr. Carrie Smith, Vice-Provost (Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) is facilitating two online open forums for the university community to provide feedback on what we heard during consultations that will inform the Integrated EDI Action Plan. Your perspectives are invaluable. While we particularly wish to hear from those from equity-denied groups and their allies, all are welcome.
Thursday, May 30 - 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Register via Zoom
Conversation Circles
Going forward, the Action Planning Team aims to organize small-group conversation circles with members of our U of A community who identify as Black, Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, disabled, gender diverse, women and intersecting identities. These will offer avenues for feedback on what we heard during the consultations and offer insights as we draft the Integrated EDI Action Plan. If you are interested in participating, we invite you to complete this self-identification form.
If you’re interested in providing feedback in a different way, please connect with the Action Planning Team by emailing vpedi@ualberta.ca.