Access, Community + Belonging in ALES

The Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences (ALES) is committed to being an inclusive, welcoming, supportive and safe environment for everyone who studies, teaches or works with us. This shared resolution requires each of us to participate in fostering a safe, welcoming environment that embodies access, community and belonging, without exception. Review the resources and supports on this page for more information.

Department committees

• Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science
• Human Ecology
• Renewable Resources
• Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology

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Resources

For reporting discrimination and harassment, access your audience-specific support listed below. 

Students

• Dean of Students
• Office of Safe Disclosure and Human Rights

Faculty and staff

• Office of Safe Disclosure and Human Rights
• Faculty/college Human Resources Partner
• Vice-Provost (Access, Community and Belonging)

Teaching

• Accommodations and Accessibility: The U of A and its instructors are obligated to provide accessibility-related accommodations to students with disabilities. This website provides information about accommodations for students, instructors, staff and faculty.
• Essential Practices in Accessible Teaching: The Centre for Teaching and Learning website includes valuable resources for access and accessibility, and community and belonging.
• Safety and Belonging in the Field: A Checklist for Educators: This article provides valuable guidance for instructors of field courses in CNAS.
• 5 ways of making your syllabus more inclusive: Before classes start, consider these five additions to your syllabus.
• Inclusive Design: A list of practical suggestions and resources for instructors related to equity, diversity and inclusion, maintained by psychology teaching professor Jennifer Passey
• Community Service Learning enables instructors to link academic coursework to community based experiences. Students work with community organizations as part of their studies.

Research

• CNAS Tip Sheet for Incorporating EDI in Research and Grant Applications: This tip sheet aims to assist all researchers in CNAS to incorporate EDI into their research.
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research, Office of the Vice-President (Research & Innovation)
• Safety and Belonging in the Field: A Checklist for Educators This article includes valuable guidance for researchers involved in field research.
• A research group/lab code of conduct example for research teams

Engaging students, children and youth

• AlbertaSat is a group of students and faculty at the U of A who design, build, test, launch, and operate satellites and are engaged in educational outreach.  
• ELITE (Experiential Learning in Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship) Program for Black Youth creates opportunities for Black Youth between the ages of 15 and 22 to participate in paid internships to work on projects with university researchers, companies, and government agencies.
• Future Energy Systems at the U of A provides a wide range of engagement opportunities for children and youth including resources for Alberta teachers and videos for children and youth, a children’s book series, charge up for an energy adventure, and science literacy week.   
• Let’s Talk Science is a national charitable organization which provides programs and resources to help improve youth education and engagement in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
• Student group TeamUP Science provides hands-on learning, mentorship and networking opportunities in the science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) fields for youths especially inner city, rural, and Indigenous populations.     
• The USchool U of A senate program brings to the U of A campus grade 3-9 classes in socially vulnerable areas within Edmonton, Indigenous schools in Edmonton and the surrounding area, and rural schools surrounding Edmonton.
• WISEST (Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology) focuses on empowering women and gender diverse students to pursue and succeed in science, engineering and technology. WISEST programs include the Choices conference, the SET conference, and the Summer research program.   

Find a complete list of ALES student groups on the student life and engagement webpage, or a list of all U of A student groups on BearsDen.