Background
In early 2009, a working group, co-chaired by Anne Condon, Associate Dean in the Faculty of Science and Tom Patch, Associate Vice President Equity, was given the task of drafting a comprehensive equity and diversity strategy for the University. The strategic plan was to address equity and diversity for students, faculty and staff at UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan and would include goals, recommendations for action and measures to assess progress in achieving the goals. This initiative was part of the broader effort to review UBC’s strategic plans for beyond 2010.
In April and May 2009, the Working Group created an online survey and a Discussion Paper and invited feedback from interested individuals and groups at UBC. Members of the Working Group then met with the Committee of Deans, the University Executive and the Deputy Vice Chancellor’s Executive Committee, and with many stakeholders on both campuses. Summaries of the feedback to the Survey and from the consultation meetings were posted online. This feedback was invaluable and helped to strengthen and shape a draft Equity and Diversity Strategic Plan. In addition, the Working Group reviewed the results of two research projects that identified exemplary equity and diversity related practices. A report by Lori Charvat reviewed exemplary practices at UBC; practices at other universities were reviewed by Kuan Foo.
In November he Draft Equity and Diversity Strategic Plan was posted online and the UBC community was invited to provide feedback. Town hall meetings were held on both campuses to provide further opportunities for input and the plan was presented to the UBC Vancouver Senate on November 18 and the UBC Okanagan Senate on November 25, 2009.
Following that input, the final plan, Valuing Difference: A Strategy for Advancing Equity and Diversity at UBC, was presented to and accepted by the UBC Executive in February 2010.
Working Group Members
- Kamilla Bahbahani, Equity Advisor
- Bill Black, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law
- Anne Condon (Co-Chair), Associate Dean, Faculty of Science
- Teresa Flanagan, International Student Advisor
- Diana French, Associate Professor, Barber School of Arts and Sciences Unit 1
- Darrin Lehman, Senior Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts
- Janet Mee, Director, Access and Diversity
- Tom Patch (Co-Chair), Associate Vice President, Equity
- Saadia Rai, Undergraduate Student
- Julián Torres, Graduate Student
- Ronald Yaworsky, Convocation Senator
- Henry Yu, Associate Professor of History, Faculty of Arts
