{"id":74889,"date":"2021-03-23T11:35:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T15:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=74889"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:53:12","slug":"edi-efforts-gain-momentum","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/edi-efforts-gain-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton’s EDI Efforts Gain Momentum with New Student Support, Expertise, Courses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton's EDI Efforts Gain Momentum with New Student Support, Expertise, Courses\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Increased student support, new expertise, new courses. These are among the advances Carleton University is making toward the goals of its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan<\/a>, which was formally launched on March 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am truly pleased to celebrate our first EDI Action Plan on the heels of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination<\/a> this past Sunday,\u201d Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/a> said during an online launch event.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThis is an important milestone for us all as we commit to working together to shape the future of an inclusive Carleton where everyone can fully belong and contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Carleton  \u201cis off to a strong start towards the full implementation\u201d of its EDI plan, Michael Charles<\/a>, assistant vice-president and university advisor for Equity and Inclusive Communities<\/a> (EIC), said at the event.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cGetting to this day was not a foregone conclusion,\u201d said Charles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cFirst there was pandemic disruption. Then came the spotlight of racial reckoning, but we were determined as a community. With humility and purpose, we have arrived at this moment and we look forward with anticipation and hope for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dwaine Taylor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last September, as part of the process to integrate EDI throughout Carleton\u2019s student services and enrolment operations, Dwaine Taylor<\/a> began a new role as Diversity, Equity and Community Programs Coordinator in the Student Experience Office<\/a> (SEO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really unique position,\u201d says Taylor, who will act as a liaison between the EIC Department and SEO, working to apply EDI initiatives in a way that best serves and supports students. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had an actionable role in this space before.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI always felt supported here as a student, but it was challenging at times to bring up concerns without knowing where they might go,\u201d adds Taylor, who has a Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership<\/a> and an undergraduate degree in Law from Carleton and previously managed a pair of experiential learning programs for SEO.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cNow we have the capacity to implement new ideas more quickly. This helps give students a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Support for Students, Faculty and Staff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Taylor spent his first couple months on the job consulting with students, staff and leaders of cultural, ethnic and religious student organizations \u2014 more than 60 people in total. This will help identify EDI priorities among students, such as enhanced training, and foster partnerships between student groups and university administrators.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThis spring, we\u2019re really going to see transformational changes starting to happen,\u201d says Taylor.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to be proactive and not just responsive and ensure that these projects are not blips on the radar, but have a consistent theme and focus. We want to do more than address the inequities of the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another new position, Carleton\u2019s inaugural EDI Learning Specialist, will co-develop and deliver curricular and teaching support for faculty, professional staff and students to enhance integration of decolonized, anti-racist and inclusive practices throughout the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krista Craven<\/a>, who will join EIC on June 1, is currently a Community and Justice Studies professor at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cMy experience in teaching and conducting research focuses on illuminating and transforming systems of oppression, and my expertise in justice-driven and inclusive pedagogy position me well to contribute to the design and implementation of educational and professional development programs,\u201d says Craven, who will also work with campus partners across disciplines from the humanities to STEM.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Beyond new positions, EDI progress includes an interdisciplinary BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of colour) Faculty Caucus, which will provide resources for BIPOC faculty while fostering research productivity, external grant acquisitions, and projects advancing knowledge production and mobilization. The caucus is facilitating an anti-racism workshop later this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n

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New Data to Support Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton is supporting the EDI plan\u2019s disaggregated demographic data collection process, which will collect statistics relating to gender identity, racialization, Indigeneity, disability and sexual orientation, among other demographic dimensions. This will help the university better understand the representation, experiences and perspectives of all employees and students, leading to more equitable and effective workplace and educational services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles is looking forward to the insights this data will provide, as well as proposals from up to five undergraduate students and one grad student for EDI-related research projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis values EDI as a critical area of academic pursuit,\u201d says Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause we are targeting students at the early part of their careers, we aim to create opportunities to strengthen the research pipeline, especially for people from equity seeking communities. We\u2019re supporting an environment where connections to EDI may be made in all faculties and across disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources) Cindy Taylor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carleton has also joined a trio of external organization: the steering committee of Ottawa\u2019s Employer\u2019s Accessibility and Resource Network; the Indigenous Employment Leadership Advisory Table; and the Hire Immigrants Ottawa working group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecoming an active participant in these organizations will inform our work so that we can offer meaningful employment to all,\u201d says Cindy Taylor, assistant vice-president (Human Resources).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe have been recognized as a top employer in the National Capital Region for the last seven years due, in part, to our dedication to continuous improvement and providing a supportive workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Increased student support, new expertise, new courses. These are among the advances Carleton University is making toward the goals of its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan, which was formally launched on March 23. \u201cI am truly pleased to celebrate our first EDI Action Plan on the heels of the United Nations International Day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":74905,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28,25],"cu_story_tag":[1930],"class_list":["post-74889","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-equity-diversity-and-inclusion"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/74889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/74889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98080,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/74889\/revisions\/98080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=74889"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=74889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}