Educational Environment and the Development of Learners

Embed mechanisms and resources to ensure that curriculum, individual courses, and teaching practices are decolonized to create a more inclusive teaching and learning environment by:

• A | Developing tools and frameworks to guide faculties, departments, and programs in decolonizing curriculum and teaching practices.
• B | Modifying the cyclical review process for academic programs to require that every program undertake a review of its curriculum through a lens of decolonization.
• C | Ensuring that support/expertise in decolonizing practices are available.

Create and maintain a comprehensive inventory of all courses with substantial Indigenous and Black content (including Indigenous knowledges, cultures, histories, languages, politics).

Develop resources and supports and create mechanisms for greater levels of Black, Indigenous, and other racialized undergraduate and graduate student engagement towards inclusive learning environments by:

• A |Including these student voices in curriculum and program review committees.
• B |Including these student voices in the creation of a variety of formal and informal pathways and mechanisms for feedback when there are concerns with the learning environment.
• C |Providing workshops/resources for teaching assistants on creating inclusive learning environments.

Ensure the development, implementation, and continuing refinement of holistic methods of teaching assessment that make use of multiple sources of information, which may be the best approach for racialized professors:

• A | Use both Student Course Perception Surveys and Peer Reviews of Teaching to assess the quality of learning environment – in particular the racial, ethnic, cultural and gender inclusivity of the learning environment.
• B |Use newly available disaggregated data about race to improve understanding of differences in student course perception scores, in aid of fairer assessment of racialized instructors.

Invest in the creation of diverse physical spaces and places on campus where different ways of teaching and learning can occur, including space for land-based teaching, community gatherings, sacred fires, drumming circles, and other elements central to making non-Western spaces.

Train faculty and departmental review committee members on how to evaluate non-Western based (particularly, Indigenous) research, teaching, and service and ensure that these members evaluate bodies of work with appropriate lenses.

Create a Centre or Institute for Indigenous Research Excellence that supports Indigenous communities with identifying their research needs and areas of interest and assists these communities with achieving their research goals through partnerships with University researchers.

Mandate training for all non-Indigenous faculty members, staff, and students engaging in Indigenous research.

Consult with Indigenous community members who have existing relationships with the University (including staff, students, and faculty), to create a policy on conducting research with Indigenous communities and on Indigenous lands and waters.

Ensure representation of different ways of knowing and being; equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism training; and best practices for the Research Ethics Board membership, so it has the capacity to support, assess, and approve ethics requests for research which impacts or involves racialized communities, with particular emphasis on Indigenous communities.

Ensure diverse/broad membership and equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism training for dissertation and thesis committees to better evaluate non-Western research methodologies and projects (and formally recognize the contributions of faculty, particularly Black, Indigenous, and other racialized faculty, who may be tasked with more expectations on their labour for serving on these committees).

Set specific admission goals for domestic Indigenous and Black students, at the undergraduate level, with a goal of creating a student body that reflects the make-up of the Canadian high school population by 2025.

A |Set faculty-by-faculty goals to ensure opportunities in all fields of study.

B |Publicly acknowledge the Jay Treaty for Indigenous undergraduate and graduate students from the United States.

C | Develop programs and metrics to increase high school recruitment and outreach to Black and Indigenous students.

Identify and address any barriers in admission processes that may negatively impact Black, Indigenous, and other racialized students, acknowledging that for undergraduate and graduate programs where admissions are highly competitive, it is already standard practice to consider additional criteria besides grades.

• A | Train staff in appropriate application of criteria.
• B |Implement mechanisms for Black, Indigenous, and other racialized students to provide supplementary evidence of their ability and commitment to success.
• C |Investigate if application fees may be unintended barriers.

Increase the number and value of scholarships and other funding opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and other racialized students (e.g., needs-based financial support for tuition subsidies, emergency loans, affordable childcare, housing, nutritious food), and identify and eliminate barriers to access these funds.

Provide clear communications with students (across multiple platforms and formats) about the financial costs of attending university, so that racialized students from backgrounds where university education has not been the norm can make informed decisions about applying.

Create a Transitional Year Program to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the student body by supporting Black, Indigenous, and other racialized students who are close to achieving the usual admission standards for their preferred programs but are unable to. These programs should assist students in enhancing their skills, demonstrating their abilities, and becoming ready to succeed.