University of Guelph
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The University of Guelph recognizes that an inclusive campus and a culture of inclusion is an institutional and social imperative. The Office of Diversity and Human Rights (DHR) was established in 1996 to coordinate the University's initiatives in the areas of discrimination and harassment and employment equity. Now, DHR provides a full range of advisory and direct support services to staff, students, and faculty on human rights, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) issues. The Office develops, manages, and lends support to campus-wide educational and outreach initiatives under the University's Inclusion Framework; provides advice and manages the dispute resolution processes under the University's Human Rights Policy and the formal complaint process under the University's Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures; coordinates campus-wide accessibility initiatives and provides resources to address systemic barriers in order to comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA); and coordinates campus-wide initiatives to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment for historically underrepresented grounds under the Employment Equity Act and the federal contractors program. The DHR team is led by the Assistant Vice-President, Diversity and Human Rights and includes a Human Rights Advisor, an Accessibility and Employment Equity Officer. a Training, Education, and Inclusion Officer, and a Communications, Events, and Social Media Officer.

The Office of Diversity and Human Rights oversees the Inclusion Framework which provides the formal institutional governance structure for addressing EDI issues. The governance structure includes:
• The Inclusive University Committee, an advisory committee to the AVP, Diversity and Human Rights, which is responsible for coordinating all inclusion goals and priorities across the University of Guelph
• The Human Rights Advisory Group, which advises on matters pertaining to human rights policies and procedures
• The Employment Equity Committee, which develops qualitative goals and seeks to enhance the representation of the four designated groups throughout the institutions
• The Accessibility (AODA) Steering Committee which provides strategic directions for implementation of the requirements arising out of the AODA and its standards
• The Academic Inclusion Committee, reporting to the Provost, Board of Undergraduate Studies, Board of Graduate Studies, and the Senate Research Board, which is aimed at promoting, facilitating, and supporting a culture of inclusion within the curriculum, the academic landscape, and research enterprise more broadly
• The Campus Learning for Inclusion Committee which advises on training and programming related to EDI and coordinating these learning activities
• The Inclusive Space Committee which provides advice on proposed renovations and capital construction projects to ensure care has been taken to promote diversity and inclusion in proposed renovation and capital construction.
• The EDI in Research Committee, which is aimed at empowering faculty to apply an EDI lens across the research enterprise, build equitable and inclusive research teams, and formally establish pathways to advancement for researchers

All staff and faculty are required to complete two online training modules on Making Education Accessible and providing campus services to persons with disabilities. These modules are available for all staff and faculty members who are employed by the University. In addition, all faculty who participate in faculty hiring must complete an online module on unconscious bias in the faculty hiring process. As part of the collective agreement, all tenure and promotion committees must also receive training on unconscious bias. The Office of Diversity and Human Rights offers customized training sessions for various faculty committees, depending on their individual needs. For example, committees might be provided more in-depth training on particular outreach strategies for equity-seeking groups or guidance on how to evaluate teaching and research metrics through an equity lens. The University also intends to offer a fulsome set of training sessions for researchers to enable faculty members to hire research assistants through an equity lens, lead inclusive research teams, evaluate research processes and outcomes from an equity perspective, and critically and meaningfully engage with underrepresented groups in their research projects.

The Office of Diversity and Human Rights has been consistently involved with training for faculty, students, and staff on a number of EDI topics. These training sessions have been offered on both a proactive and responsive basis for academic departments and offices across campus that have requested training on EDI and human rights.

These sessions have included the following topics:
• Inclusive spaces and inclusive language
• Responding to microaggressions
• Building capacity for allyship
• Breaking down misperceptions and stereotypes
• Accommodations related to disability
• Accommodations related to other Code protected grounds like gender and family status
• Stigma
• Anti-oppression and anti-racism
• Human rights violations and complaints
• Disability and ableism
• Gender identity and expression
• Inclusive spaces for LGBTQ2IA+-identified staff, students, and faculty
• Masculinity and gender allyship
• Gender equity
• Unconscious bias and prejudice
• Bystander intervention and upstander culture
• Conflict management and intervention
• Alternative dispute resolution

In the coming months, the Office of Diversity and Human Rights will be releasing a revised training framework for all faculty and staff that will guide all institutional stakeholders through scaffolded training plans aimed at embedding EDI throughout the academic and research enterprise. The aim of these programs is to provide all stakeholders -- staff, students, and faculty -- with a baseline understanding of EDI. These upcoming trainings include:
• Online modules relating to EDI, unconscious bias, and human rights
• Inclusive teaching and curriculum
• Embedding EDI within research teams, research design, and research outcomes
• Embedding EDI in institutional decision-making, including faculty searches, tenure and promotion, and programmatic reviews"