Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 63.22
Liaison Jody Jones
Submission Date Oct. 17, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Mount Royal University
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 3.00 Kaylene McTavish
Coordinator of New Student Orientation
Enrolment services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a publicly posted non-discrimination statement? :
Yes

The non-discrimination statement, including the website URL where the policy is publicly accessible:
Mount Royal is committed to creating and maintaining a supportive working and learning environment that is free from Discrimination and Harassment. In keeping with efforts to establish and maintain an environment in which the dignity and worth of all members of the Mount Royal community are respected, it is the policy of Mount Royal that Discrimination and Harassment of students, employees and visitors to our campus is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. https://www.mtroyal.ca/Applications/PoliciesAndProcedures/view/0B2rB1ncpgWxvX1lHM2ZnVkNYNU0

Does the institution have a discrimination response protocol or committee (sometimes called a bias response team) to respond to and support those who have experienced or witnessed a bias incident, act of discrimination or hate crime?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s discrimination response protocol or team (including examples of actions taken during the previous three years):
Mount Royal University has both a Human Rights Advisor and Sexual Violence Response & Awareness Team. The Human Rights advisor works directly with individuals with complaints and helps them by offering confidential support and advocacy for individuals, explain and facilitate the complaint process, offers information regarding rights and responsibilities and helps explore resolutions to complaints and issues. http://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/CampusResources/CampusEquityMeaningfulInclusion/HumanRightsAdvising/index.htm

Does the institution have programs specifically designed to recruit students from underrepresented groups?:
Yes

Does the institution have programs specifically designed to recruit staff from underrepresented groups?:
Yes

Does the institution have programs specifically designed to recruit faculty from underrepresented groups?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s programs to recruit students, staff and/or faculty from underrepresented groups:
Mount Royal has an Indigenous recruiter who visits communities and provides information specific to cultural supports on campus. The Iniskim Centre, which is the Indigenious centre on campus, also participates in student recruitment at Open House and provides housing support and the Aboriginal Education Program. Staff and Faculty: The University has adopted a staff recruitment policy designed to minimize bias and improve equity in hiring outcomes. The aim of the policy is to achieve a workforce with a diverse representation of ideas and beliefs that reflects the multicultural nature of Canadian society. To support efforts in increasing staff diversity Mount Royal conducts a yearly survey of employment diversity and measures both ethnic, gender, and sexual diversity. (Survey included below). Faculty are supported through the Diversity and Equity Committee of the faculty members association. The Diversity and Equity Committee shall advise the Association on principles and best practices in continuing to build a more diverse faculty, academic, and institutional community; in supporting and representing diverse groups more effectively; contributing where possible and appropriate to activities and initiatives to better enhance opportunities for equity across all faculty members; and in identifying gaps in policy, support, and services appropriate to its mandate. https://www.mtroyal.ca/Applications/PoliciesAndProcedures/view/1YxLwsWsrAkZskUePDdIZro24EjUWbpHX https://mrfa.net/committee-and-activities/mrfa-committees-and-contacts/mrfa-standing-committees/diversity-committee/

Does the institution have mentoring, counseling, peer support, academic support, or other programs to support students from underrepresented groups on campus?:
Yes

Does the institution have mentoring, counseling, peer support or other programs to support staff from underrepresented groups on campus?:
Yes

Does the institution have mentoring, counseling, peer support or other programs to support faculty from underrepresented groups on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s programs to support students, staff and/or faculty from underrepresented groups:
The Iniskim Centre provides a Peer Mentorship program for Indigenous students. The Iniskim Centre collaborates with counselling to provide a specific counselor which a high amount of cultural competency for their students. The Office of Campus Equity & Meaningful Inclusion fosters an equitable and meaningfully inclusive campus for all members of the community. They understand, identify and address barriers to full participation in the campus community. Staff and Faculty Mount Royal University offers multiple supports for faculty and staff including the employee and family assistance program which provides short term crisis counselling for staff members and their families. This program offers staff multiple services including but not limited to short term counselling, career development sessions, and legal advisory services. https://www.mtroyal.ca/EmploymentCareers/HumanResources/WorkplaceHealthPromotion/index.htm Mount Royal University also provides staff and faculty with the ability to work directly with a Human Rights Lawyer. These confidential sessions are set up to help employees and students understand their rights and responsibilities in the university context. Beyond legal advice the human rights specialist is equipped to help mediate situations of unequal power. This office is in addition to the guiding principle of the Mount Royal Human rights Policy which outlines how the university will mitigate and investigate incidents of discrimination and harassment. In addition to the sexual violence policy maintained by the university. Mount Royal provides all staff, faculty, and students with a Sexual Violence Response Team to offer support for any individual who has experience sexual violence. This program is completely confidential and members have received specialized training to ensure support and assistance is provided in a compassionate and meaningful manner. https://www.mtroyal.ca/Applications/PoliciesAndProcedures/view/0B2rB1ncpgWxvWlgzeGFtN1J3SDg https://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/CampusResources/CampusEquityMeaningfulInclusion/index.htm https://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/CampusResources/CampusEquityMeaningfulInclusion/HumanRightsAdvising/index.htm Further, Mount Royal University has undertaken several initiatives to increase the inclusive nature of the campus environment for staff and students including the creating of prayer spaces, family rooms for parents of small children, the creation of a Wudu for Muslim members of the community, and gender inclusive washrooms. https://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/CampusResources/CampusEquityMeaningfulInclusion/InclusiveMRU/index.htm

Does the institution have training and development programs, teaching fellowships and/or other programs that specifically aim to support and prepare students from underrepresented groups for careers as faculty members?:
No

A brief description of the institution’s programs to support and prepare students from underrepresented groups for careers as faculty members:
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Does the institution produce a publicly accessible inventory of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus?:
Yes

Does the institution offer housing options to accommodate the special needs of transgender and transitioning students?:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.