Fall 2022 update from the Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion

Welcome back, everyone. I hope you are all enjoying the first weeks of the Fall term.

To me, September always feels like a time for new beginnings – with the start of a new academic year and the increasing crispness in the air signaling the changing of the seasons, I cannot help but think of renewal. And it is in this spirit of renewal that I share several updates in the People, Equity and Inclusion portfolio.

Equity Office Updates

I want to begin with a formal welcome to Samir Traore, Executive Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, who began his role a few short weeks ago. I am also pleased to announce that we have two special advisors joining our Equity Office to support our journey toward a more equitable, diverse and inclusive SFU community:

• Mary-Catherine Kropinski joined us as Special Advisor to the Vice President, People, Equity and Inclusion and is working alongside Suman Jiwani on mapping out our Faculty Relations equity opportunities.
• Paola Ardiles has joined us as Special Projects Advisor to the Vice President, People, Equity and Inclusion and is working with our leadership team on a number of initiatives, including establishing a Community of Practice for equity practitioners in Faculty and Staff leadership roles.

Progress on the Equity Compass

One of our priorities in the Office of the Vice-President People, Equity and Inclusion is to create a solid foundation for our work. This begins with an Equity Compass, a clear and concise summary of our equity themes and focus areas.

The Equity Office has pulled together themes based on recommendations and reports from EDI engagements over the last several years, conversations with folks who are advancing equity across the SFU, and from the SFU: What’s Next? process.

Beginning this week, I will be in dialogue with leadership teams and the SFU community to share the equity themes that we believe should be the focus for our equity compass over the next three years. As part of this work, we will also host open round tables for faculty, staff and students in late October. More details are forthcoming and will be shared in the coming weeks, I hope you will take the time to participate.

Faculty Relations Leadership Update

We are now moving forward with our Faculty Relations recruitment and will be hiring an executive director and a manager of administration for Faculty Relations. Many thanks to the Faculty Relations team members for their outstanding work during this time of transition.

Yabome Gilpin-Jackson, PhD
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion
Simon Fraser University