Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Decolonization, and Indigenization in Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Studies
SGPS EDIDA Commitment
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS) recognizes Indigenous rights to sovereignty and is committed to having these rights reflected in our mandate, and in policies and procedures that govern graduate education and postdoctoral studies at Western.
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is deeply committed to working with the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, the Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Accessible Education, the Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Society of Graduate Students, graduate programs and the Postdoctoral Association to embed principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, decolonization, indigenization, and antiracism into all components of graduate education and postdoctoral training, from recruitment and admission through to completion. For example, with respect to graduate education, this includes, but is not limited to, the course content, learning environment and the examination process.
We are revising the SGPS policy, procedures and regulations and key aspects of Western’s graduate program review processes to support transformative changes in graduate education curriculum and practices, graduate program development and innovation, and graduate program review and ongoing improvement. By drawing on lived experiences, we will intentionally and proactively work in partnership with all units to cultivate an inclusive culture of belonging and safety and accountability that supports all individuals personally and academically studying across Western and our wider community.
These transformative changes will create space for, and embrace, the unique nuances related to academic and research activities undertaken by Indigenous students and students of other equity-deserving groups. Examples of such work includes research and academic activities that embrace and value Indigenous epistemologies, Indigenous and decolonial research methodologies, critical race theory, feminist and intersectional approaches, TWAIL (Third World Approaches to International Law), LGBTQ2S+ theories, critical and feminist disability studies and other forms and methods for anti-oppression research.
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies’ Academic Policy and Regulations Committee’s Terms of Reference is to review and revise policies and procedures on behalf of the Graduate Education Council. In the Fall 2020 the Committee struck an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization (EDI-D) Working Group. The EDI-D Working Group is reviewing SGPS regulations and procedures with an Indigenization, equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization and anti-oppression lens to ensure that they reflect and support principles of EDI-D, antiracism, and Indigenous rights to sovereignty. The committee will then compile a list of recommendations and concrete policy changes for SGPS, to be presented to the Committee of Academic Policy and Regulations and the Graduate Education Council.
We invite all members of the Western community to reach out to any of the Working Group members with feedback and advice. New members are welcome.
Thank you to Nicole Kaniki, Special Advisor to the President on Anti-Racism, and Candace Brunette-Debassige, Special Advisor to the Provost, Indigenous Initiatives, for their participation, involvement and advice.
We have benefited from and we appreciate the advice provided in the April 19th, 2021 memo “Guidance for Western’s Administrators on EDI and Indigenous Initiatives” by Nicole Kaniki Special Advisor to the President on Anti-Racism, Bertha Garcia Special Advisor to the President on Anti-Racism, Candace Brunette-Debassige Special Advisor to the Provost, Indigenous Initiatives and Christy R. Bressette Vice-Provost/Associate Vice-President, Indigenous Initiatives.
Archive of Previous EDIDA-I Efforts
Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) Presentation
Enhancing Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Decolonization in Graduate Admissions (November 2022)
Graduate Admissions
- Hosted SGPS Grad Chair Info Session
Expert Panel and Discussion on EDIAD in Grad Admissions (January 26, 2023)
- Developed the
Graduate Applicant Review Guide (adapted with permission from a guide created by Boyden Executive Search) to support graduate admissions committees reflect on their admission practices (Fall 2022)
- In close collaboration with the Faculty Associate Deans – Graduate (ADGs), developed a
Reflection Exercise that all graduate program admission committees were asked to complete under the leadership of their Faculty Associate Dean – Graduate (Fall 2022)
- Hosted Dr. Cynthia Pickett (Associate Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion DePaul University) and expert in the field of inclusive graduate admission practices. Dr. Pickett presented to graduate program leaders about biases inherent in admissions processes and how to address them, and then led a question & answer session (Fall 2022)
- Hosted two retreats to discuss findings of the reflection exercise and to identify priorities for changes to our admission application and processes (Fall 2022) |
Admission Reflection Summary |
Alternative Reference Letter
- Developed the EDIAD
Applicant Equity Demographic Questions, informed by Western’s Equity Census, to be added to the graduate program admission application (Fall 2022)
- In consultation with Offices of Indigenous Initiatives (OII) and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI), began a review of SGPS's admission practices across all Faculties (Fall 2021)
Graduate Student Exit Survey
- In partnership with the Faculty of Social Science, piloted an exit survey to students to improve program quality, address barriers to diversity and inclusion, and support student success (Fall 2021)
Graduate Student Housing
- Met with leaders from Western International, Housing, Student Experience to discuss the housing situation for graduate students (Winter 2022)
- The Graduate Education Council EDID Working Group explored how SGPS could better support students looking for housing by consulting with Western International and Housing and Ancillary Services (Fall 2021)
Own Your Future
- Hosted a Design Studio to integrate racialized graduate students’ voices, lived experiences, and needs, into co-designed workshop topics and learning outcomes (Summer 2022)
- Hosted a retreat with Own Your Future partners to discuss the recommendations of the EDID OYF review and establish steps to address them in our programming (Winter 2022)
- Own Your Future collaborated with Dr. Melanie-Anne Atkins (Associate Director, Graduate Programs) to deliver two new workshops for racialized students: Responding to Micro-Aggressions; “Being Yourself” on Campus and in the Workplace (Winter 2022)
- In consultation with OII, OEDI, OYF partners and students, began the action-plan to implement recommendations from the EDID Review of Own Your Future (OYF) (Fall 2021)
Thesis Regulations
- In consultation with the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, the Graduate Education Policy committee updated and streamlined the SGPS Thesis regulations to be submitted for approval to the Graduate Education Council in Fall 2022 (Winter 2022)
SGPS EDIDA Action Plan
1. Regularly review and strengthen the graduate student admissions, enrolment, and retention practices to reflect EDIDA principles and cultivate successful student outcomes.
a. Expand promotion and usage of equity-focused admissions tools.
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Work with programs to assess effectiveness of their letters of reference and personal statement admission requirements
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Identify 3 or more programs willing to review and revise their letter of reference
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Identify 3 or more programs willing to review and revise their personal statement
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Identify 3 programs willing to add admission rubrics to their admission process
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Work with programs to create admission rubrics
b. Review and Revise Graduate Admissions Application through an equity diversity lens.
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Review and Revise SGPS welcome message through an EDI lens
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Review academic transcript policy for admission
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Add revised holistic letter of reference template and personal statement template to the application system so that programs have access to it
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Review and revise the SGPS feedback application survey from an EDI lens
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Analyse results from application feedback survey and share with SGPS and programs
2. Regularly review and strengthen postdoctoral recruitment and graduate student admissions, enrolment, and retention practices to reflect EDIDA principles and cultivate successful graduate student and postdoctoral outcomes.
a. Use SGPS EDIDA data to inform and strengthen decisions and actions related to (equity-deserving) ED student admissions and retention.
- Work with IPB to provide Faculties with data from the EDIDA application equity questions
- Identify ways that these data can support ED student recruitment, admissions and retention
- Initiate discussions with the Central Data Group and IPB to include Postdoctoral Scholars in the WIDE survey
- Create a recruitment plan that faculty members can draw on to ensure their recruitment methods for post doctoral scholars are based on inclusive excellence principles
3. Develop an environment of inclusion and belonging at Western, where ED groups are fully valued and engaged.
a. Expand mentorship and networking opportunities for ED graduate students.
- Consult with SOGS and partner with them where feasible and agreeable
- Do a scoping review of programs to learn who has embedded mentorship of new graduate students and what this looks like. Prepare a document to share with programs. Learn from best practices
- Create a short feedback survey to identify how many students feel they would benefit from mentorship opportunities and networking opportunities
- Provide results at Faculty level to ADGs and create a working group to create mentorship opportunities within their program where needed
- Work with SOGS and programs to develop mentorship and networking opportunities
- Partnered with OII to support the SAGE Coordinator position who will assist in developing and offering the programming for Indigenous graduate students
b. Expand student access to an evolving catalogue of EDIDA and intercultural training and implementation resources.
- OYF, in partnership with Student Experience,will strengthen communication and outreach strategies to reach more graduate students and promote the value of participating in workshops led by the Office of EDI and the value of completing their catalogue of EDIDA and intercultural training resources.
- Increase enrollment in EDIDA workshops delivered through Own Your Future (OYF) and Office of EDI
4. Apply equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, decolonization, and antiracism principles in undergraduate and graduate education.
a. Embed dedicated reflections about how academic programs are integrating EDIDA in program operations, curriculum, and outcomes as part of Western’s Institution Quality Assurance Processes (IQAP).
- Modify new program, program modifications and cyclical program review briefs to allow programs to comment on how they are integrating principles of EDIDA-I in their program
- Review the information and reflections shared by programs as part of the IQAP process to improve/enhance university-wide strategies, initiatives and policies to support the integration of EIDAD-I principles in graduate education
5. Cultivate inclusive and accessible research environments where students, researchers, and staff feel welcomed, supported, valued, and celebrated.
a. Expand the utilization of the Own your Future Programs to empower ED students to actively engage in their career planning and preparation.
- Partner with the Office of Alumni Relations to bring ED alumni with PhD degrees for 1-2 panel discussions and 1-2 networking events per year.
- Offer 1-2 new networking events with equity-deserving professionals working within higher education across Canada but in non-academic roles.
- Strengthen relationships with HireWesternU Employer Relations (Student Experience) to develop a coordinated approach to connect with employers and business owners to participate in panel discussions or meet-and-greet events. The initial goal will be one employer event per year where students can learn about their hiring and recruitment practices.
b. OYF will invite subject matter experts from Careers & Experience (Student Experience) to offer two masters-focused career development sessions per year.
- Allocating funds to support reconciliation efforts (for example, these funds might be used to offer financial remuneration to invited Indigenous guest speakers).
- Invite ED doctoral students to participate in consultations during the summer term to understand how best to support their professional development.
- Create a workshop on the ‘challenge mindset’ in career development. This will be an inclusive experience for ED students that will stress relevance to personal values and work impact (rather than the attainment of particular titles). This workshop will encourage students to reflect on their assumptions about what career success looks like, and how those assumptions have been shaped by their cultural experiences and/or dominant discourses at the expense of other worldviews.
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Develop and regularly offer a workshop on inclusive, relational leadership as disposition. The workshop will also integrate information about non-Western and non-Eurocentric concepts of leadership.To promote accessibility within OYF programming, following actions will be taken:
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Offer at least 6 virtual workshops per academic year
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Offer 3-4 asynchronous recorded sessions or online modules per academic year
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Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek (Ah-nish-in-a-bek), Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-no-show-nee), Lūnaapéewak (Len-ahpay- wuk) and Attawandaron (Add-a-won-da-run) peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. This land continues to be home to diverse Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) whom we recognize as contemporary stewards of the land and vital contributors of our society.