Kwantlen Polytechnic University
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The President's Diversity and Equity Committee (PDEC) is a group dedicated to furthering the goal of diversity and equity within the KPU community. PDEC is made up of a diverse array of individuals and representatives and aims to link diversity and equity initiatives with policies and procedures. The PDEC Fund provides the community with the opportunity to sponsor initiatives and activities that benefit the KPU community. By identifying issues, establishing goals and strategies, PDEC endeavors to ensure that KPU provides learning and working environments that are inclusive and supportive for all members of the KPU community. Through internal and external events, PDEC is able to strengthen the diversity at KPU, further community dialogues, improve the focus on Indigeneity, accessibility of our campuses, support the Academic Plan Implementation, further Trans-inclusivity initiatives, the LGBTQ community, and discuss student services, resources and athletics. KPU also recently established an Office of Equity and Inclusive Communities whose mandate is to lead the development and implementation of key anti-racism, accessibility, gender equity, and broad Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategies in alignment with the university’s Strategic Vision and Academic Plan.

Non-academic staff – Most (Mandatory, but not enforced):

• Respective Workplace Training Module: KPU is committed to providing a working environment that values and promotes respect, human rights, personal dignity and health and safety for all employees. Respect in the Workplace training is an online interactive program that aims to promote a working environment free from discrimination, bullying and harassment. It identifies behaviors which contribute to a respectful working environment and outlines the appropriate steps to take if an employee experiences or witnesses discrimination or bullying and harassment. In compliance with WorkSafe BC policy, KPU is required to provide all employees and supervisors with training related to the recognition, prevention and reporting of workplace bullying and harassment. The Respectful Workplace online course supports KPU’s vision of a safe, inclusive and harassment-free workplace. The Respect in the Workplace online course was developed by Frame and Associates. There is 1 mandatory module that takes approximately 1 hour to complete. There is an “employee” version and “manager version”. Managers consist of supervisors, team leads, managers, directors, deans, associate deans, deans, AVPs, VPs, and/or coordinators with direct reports.


• Indigenous Awareness Training Module: In order to further our understanding of the context of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, KPU, in consultation, has produced an introductory online modularized course to enhance our faculty, staff and administration's capacity to work and support Indigenous students, fellow colleagues, and the local Indigenous communities whose territories KPU's campuses are located on. Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to describe Indigenous way of life pre-contact, the history and continuing impacts of colonization and identify what they can do to take an active role in decolonization.
  
  
  
  • There are 4 mandatory modules that take approximately 4 hours to complete in total:
    
    
    
    • Module 1 – Pre & Early Contact; 
    
    
    • Module 2 – Colonization;
    
    
    • Module 3 – Resistance, Resilience, and Reconciliation; and
    
    
    • Module 4 – Situating Oneself.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

Academic Staff – Some (Optional): Academic staff are encouraged to partake in workshops, modules, trainings, and other learning mechanisms on diversity, equity, and inclusion, whenever possible. These courses are taken through an online portal called “Bookeo” where KPU academic/non-academic staff or external parties host the workshop.

These are available for BOTH academic and non-academic staff. 

• Trainings that staff have participated in include, but are not limited to:
  
  
  
  • Relearning Gender Workshop
  
  
  • Mental Health First Aid -Beyond Stigma: Increasing our understanding of mental health in the workplace
  
  
  • Anti-oppression 101
  
  
  • Respectful relationships in the workplace
  
  
  
  

An additional training that many academic staff members attended in 2022 was the Pulling Together Series For Teachers and Instructors. This series focused on Indigenization of post-secondary institutions (See link below). https://bccampus.ca/event/pulling-together-series-teachers-and-instructors/ 

Students – Some: There are no mandatory trainings for students, however, when students are to lead a club, the Kwantlen Student Association may require certain diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings for those in leadership positions.