Community Consultation: Human Rights and Bullying and Harassment Policies

This following message is sent on behalf of Francesca Hennigar, Acting General Counsel.

Dear University Faculty and Staff and Students,

Earlier this year, the university began to explore how it could strengthen our commitment and response to human rights and bullying and harassment concerns. This involved considering changes to the reporting structure for the Human Rights Office and the Bullying & Harassment Central Hub. Key stakeholders were engaged over the summer and early fall of 2022 and on November 1, a message announcing the change in reporting structure was distributed to all faculty, staff and students.

The details of the reporting structure changes are as follows:

• The Human Rights Office was moved to the Vice-President, People, Equity, Inclusion portfolio and reports to the Executive Director, Equity Office.
• The Bullying and Harassment Central Hub was moved to the Vice-President, People, Equity, Inclusion portfolio and reports to the Director, Human Rights Office.

The transition was made to co-locate offices working toward shared goals to improve processes and services, providing a more consistent and streamlined experience for faculty, staff and students at SFU. It also enables better collaboration with the Equity Office on case management and addressing intersectional issues of human rights, equity and a respectful working culture and environment.

Responding to this change in structure, the policy authority for Human Rights Policy (GP18) and Bullying and Harassment Policy (GP47) was changed to the Vice-President, People, Equity, Inclusion. It has come to our attention that based on the Policy on University Policies and Procedures (B10.00), any changes to a policy authority require Senate and community consultation and approval of the SFU Board of Governors.

We are taking immediate steps to ensure the proposed changes go through the correct governance process.

Please provide your input on the proposed revisions to the Policy Authority for SFU’s Human Rights Policy (GP 18) and Bullying & Harassment Policy (GP 47), which may be found at http://www.sfu.ca/policies/draft.html, before December 22, 2022 to polasst@sfu.ca.

Thank you,

Francesca Hennigar

Acting General Counsel

Input you provide is collected under the authority of the University Act and SFU Policy on University Policies and Procedures (B10.00). This information is collected for the purpose of engaging in community consultation, which may result in recommended changes to a policy. If you have any questions about the collection of this information, please contact the Office of the General Counsel at polasst@sfu.ca.