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Equity Review

The Equity Review process is a comprehensive approach designed by Equity and Human Rights (EQHR) to provide a reflective review of the current status of equity in a unit and to develop recommendations for key areas of work to advance equity. A report with findings and recommendations will inform strategic planning and equity activities for the subsequent five years.  

The approach captures data specific to the unit and allows EQHR to generate an institutional understanding of equity over time through consistency in process, data collection, and analysis. 

Working in partnership with EQHR also ensures that the review is conducted by reviewers external to the unit with institutional context and awareness. For these reasons, we strongly encourage units interested in conducting an Equity Review to assess the information provided on this webpage.  

Stages of an equity review

Timeline

Questions? Email equitydata@uvic.ca   

Stages of an equity review

1. Preparation and application
2. Internal review
3. Data collection and analysis
4. Review and respond
5. Communication and action

Preparation and application

• Unit leaders are responsible for starting an Equity Review process. Unit members are encouraged to share information about the process with their leadership group.  
• Unit leader applies for an Equity Review after consultation with relevant groups and/or individuals (e.g., Unit leadership, equity committee or representative, student groups, union representatives). Access the . 
• EQHR processes the application and asks for clarification as needed. When the application is accepted, EQHR assigns a review timeslot and connects reviewer(s) to the Unit.

Internal review

• Unit leader forms Unit Team to lead the Equity Review process internally.  
• Unit Team writes and submits the self-study. The self-study forms the basis of the annual reporting following completion of the Equity Review. 
• Unit Team provides documents relevant to the review. 
• Reviewers and Unit Team revise the survey, communication materials, and other elements as needed based on the unique characteristics of the Unit. 

Data collection and analysis

• Reviewers launch and close the online survey.  
• Reviewers analyze survey findings, self-study, and documents provided.   
• Reviewers draft a report and executive summary based on their analysis and intersection with university plans and policies for the Unit, with support from the EQHR Executive Director.

Review and respond

• Unit Team reviews the draft report and executive summary and provide feedback exclusively on the following items:  
  • Clarity 
  • Language appropriateness for the unit  
  • Alignment of recommendations with past experiences, plans, and ongoing initiatives  
  • Potential breaches of confidentiality and privacy in examples or stories within the report.
• Reviewers finalize the report in response this feedback.
• Unit Team reviews the report, considers its implications, and prepares an official response with an action plan.  

Communication and action

• Unit Team circulates the official response and action plan developed within the ‘Review and respond’ stage. The Unit Team must also make the report and the executive summary available to community members. 
• Unit Team provides engagement opportunities for community members with the goal of making the connections between the report and the action plan clear and accessible.
• Unit Team completes the annual report template each year and submits it to Reviewers for their assessment. The annual reporting template is based on the self-study to allow for comparison.  
• Reviewers will facilitate on-going opportunities for anonymous feedback on the report and progress on the action plan, as well as to identify shifting priorities for the duration of the reporting period (5 years). 
• To be implemented every 5 years or as needed (identified by EQHR or the Administrative Head).

Timeline

EQHR holds two timeslots for the equity review process, one in the fall semester and one in the winter semester.

Please note for the 2023/2024 academic year, we have some flexibility for when documents are due and will work with units on a case-by-case basis to assess applications and assign review slots.  

Applications open

From April 1 - May 15 each year.

Decision

By June 30, units will be informed whether they have been selected for an Equity Review, and what timeslot they have been assigned.

Timeline for actions