番茄社区

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Advancing scholarly culture

adult students in classroom

Goals and strategies related to advancing a respectful, diverse and inclusive scholarly culture, as part of the Academic Action Plan.

Indigenous scholarship

Goals and strategies

  • Encourage appreciation of Indigenous scholarship
  • Support Indigenous governance
  • Increase diversity of faculty complement
  • Support Indigenous scholars and scholarship
  • Recruit, mentor and support Indigenous leadership

Strategic links

  • Strategic Plan
  • Equity Action Plan
  • Indigenous Plan

Key initiatives and progress

Goal or initiative Progress and outcomes Accountability
Co-develop the Associate Deans Indigenous role Role developed and approved in fall term 2023. Recruitment underway in 2024. VPAC; VPI; Deans; Senate; Board of Governors
Recruit Indigenous scholars Building on the success of a previous program that recruited 15 Indigenous scholars to UVic, our ratified Collective Agreement with the Faculty Association includes a commitment to increasing and supporting Indigenous faculty and librarians through the Indigenous Recruitment Support Fund. VPAC; Deans; UVic Libraries
Enhance recognition of Indigenous scholars and scholarship In consultation with VPI, developed a new REACH Award for Indigenous Scholarship in 2023, with the inaugural recipient to be recognized in 2024. The Award—Nəc̓əmaat kʷəns čeʔi ʔay̓ šqʷeləqʷən | ĆȺNEUEL OL ÍY, ŚḰÁLEȻEN | Work together with a good heart and mind | Award for Decolonizarion and Indigenous Anti-Racism —supports work being done across campus to review and update curricula and pedagogical practice using decolonization and/or anti-Indigenous racism approaches. VPAC; LTSI
Ensure our hiring and onboarding practices are supporting a process to align the diversity in our student population with that of our staff population In progress. Could include supporting cluster hires. Deans; Chairs and Directors; VPAC; Student Affairs
Support faculty and librarians in valuing and evaluating Indigenous scholarship Course development in progress. Faculty Relations

脕罢翱尝,狈贰鲍贰尝

ÁTOL,NEUEL means respecting the rights of one another and being in right relationship with all things.

Goals and strategies

  • Create opportunities for interdisciplinary work
  • Create more opportunities to engage faculty and instructors to improve collegiality
  • Break down silos and foster collaboration
  • Celebrate scholarship
  • Encourage academic participation in academic governance and decision-making

Strategic links

  • Strategic Plan
  • Equity Action Plan
  • Indigenous Plan

Key initiatives and progress

Goal or initiative Progress and outcomes Accountability
Support faculty and librarians in advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, Indigenization or anti-oppression

The Knowledge Connection Fund supports faculty and librarians who are Indigenous, Black, or people of color that require additional time to undertake assigned or approved work  in support of university initiatives in the areas of equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, Indigenization or anti-oppression. The Fund was established by the 番茄社区 and the 番茄社区 Faculty Association as part of the 2022-2025 Collective Agreement and has a dedicated allocation of $500,000.

VPAC
Host more townhalls and events, including events that celebrate scholarship

In progress and ongoing. Recent examples include:

  • Lipson Lecture
VPAC; Deans; Faculties; UVic Libraries; LTSI
Maintain and support working relationships and institutional engagement with the UVSS and GSS In progress and ongoing. Regular executive-to-executive meetings on matters important to students.  Student Affairs; Executive Council
Co-develop a campaign, workshops, and outcomes aimed at supporting respectful environments at UVic In progress and ongoing. Launched Respectful Environment Initiative in 2023.  VPAC; EQHR
Integrate equity, diversity and inclusion into decision making We are collaborating to improve our data collection, reporting and analytical capabilities. These enhancements will ensure our equity, diversity and inclusion targets cascade to all units on campus, identifying gaps and providing resources to improve recruitment and retention for those who have historically experienced barriers. VPAC; EQHR; University Systems
Indigenous naming (and re-naming) of buildings and wayfinding We are supporting the naming and renaming buildings according to local First Nations protocols. Songhees and Esquimalt Nations have given us permission to use the names Čeqʷəŋín ʔéʔləŋ (Cheko’nien House) & Sŋéqə ʔéʔləŋ (Sngequ House) for the student housing and dining facilities that opened in 2022 and 2023.  VPI; USEC; VPFO; Student Affairs

Mentorship & training

Goals and strategies

  • Community of practice for Deans
  • Empower and support academic leadership, including through peer-to-peer mentorship
  • Encourage faculty and staff professional development
  • Deliver strong orientation and acculturation that welcomes new faculty and staff into community
  • Encourage and support leadership development, particularly members from equity-deserving groups

Strategic links

  • Strategic Plan
  • Equity Action Plan
  • Indigenous Plan
  • Aspiration 2030
  • Climate and Sustainability Action Plan
  • Accessibility Plan
  • Campus Plan
  • Planning & Budget Framework

Key initiatives and progress

Goal or initiative Progress and outcomes Accountability
Empower chairs and directors by creating a community of practice and development of strategic skills, as well as succession planning and advancement opportunities Launched the community of practice in fall 2023 that includes regular townhalls with chairs and directors, usually twice a term.  VPAC; Deans
Enhance training and development offerings for leaders, faculty and librarians 

Ongoing. 

Faculty Relations; VPAC
Introduce new EDI-related development opportunities aligned with the learning needs of faculty and staff.  Ongoing. Faculty Relations; VPAC; EQHR; Human Resources; Student Affairs
Create opportunities for faculty and librarians to connect, network, teach and learn from each other The revamped Supportive Communities Program brings together new faculty and librarians with colleagues at all career stages to share their experiences and expertise.   VPAC
RPT Mentorship   In progress. VPAC
Value diverse research practice Launched a course in .  Faculty Relations
Embrace principles of Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) VPRI engaged in consultations with Deans' Council and Executive Council and in 2024. VPRI; VPAC; Deans; Faculties; UVic Libraries

Service excellence

Goals and strategies

  • Collaborate to improve academic services and program delivery

Strategic links

  • Strategic Plan
  • Equity Action Plan
  • Accessibility Plan
  • Planning & Budget Framework

Key initiatives and progress

Goal or initiative Progress and outcomes Accountability
Develop a new course scheduling system and room booking system In progress, with consultations underway. Student Affairs; VPAC
Improve course outlines, including by providing consistent and clear resources for instructors

Complete. At their December 2023 meeting, following consultations with academic leaders, Senate approved new guidelines for undergraduate and graduate course outlines, effective May 1, 2024. Resources for instructors are available on .

VPAC; LTSI; Senate
Reduce and manage academic accommodation requests

In progress. Implemented temporary resources for the 2023/24 Winter Session. A working group co-chaired by the AVP Academic Programs and Faculty Association are developing recommendations for the Provost to review in spring 2024.

VPAC; Student Affairs
Streamline processes for program planning processes and academic program reviews In progress. Updated resources available on the VPAC website. VPAC
Improve service excellence across campus for centralized services In progress. Launched a service excellence survey project in 2023/24 with stakeholders invited to provide feedback on key resources, towards improvements. VPAC; VPFO; Integrated Planning

Explore other goals and initiatives in the academic plan: