Commitments Progress

Hold regular meetings for student-faculty-staff exchanges around issues of equity and climate justice. Create and nurture space for listening and openness. Take minutes, make these accessible to all voices, and begin each meeting with an update on progress made on issues discussed at the last meeting.

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Race, Culture & Awareness Implementation Teams

Winter 2022 Update: Develop the schedule and proposed format to host one or two town halls followed by discussion groups each semester. Each town hall could focus on a specific equity/climate justice issue. Consider choosing topics by sending surveys two weeks in advance of the meeting. Discussion groups during town halls may be used to elicit feedback on current specific programming/ initiatives. Consider also giving the option for questions to be submitted in advance to increase participation/action. As part of the Racial Equity and Environmental Justice Committee, a structure for hosting a town hall meeting each term has been developed. The first of these will take place in June 2022, as an opportunity to report back on some of the work to date and discuss priorities for the School of Architecture’s work on equity and climate justice moving forward. The structure for the upcoming meeting include a meeting with the Advisory Board in advance of the meeting to solicit feedback and advise. 

Acquire, maintain, review, and post resources available for faculty, staff, and student learning on topics related to racial equity and environmental justice both within the School of Architecture and on main campus. This includes but may not be limited to printed resources, existing services, groups, and events held across the University.

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: Library Advisory Committee, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: Musagetes Library created in-person displays to showcase collection themes associated with REEJ and the Heritage Appreciation & Awareness Calendar. Display topics included: Black Studies and Architecture, International Women’s Day and Green Design. The current special sub-collection focus is on the topic of Indigenous studies and decolonization. Musagetes Library shared a weekly collection update through the Architecture digest. Books highlighted related to themes identified by the Library Advisory committee. Each update included a link for students, faculty and staff to share their recommendations. The special sub-collection, ‘Black Studies and Architecture’, was unveiled in Musagetes Library. An accessible digital catalogue was created to highlight both physical and electronic books. 

Comprehensively review supports for mental health and wellness in the School, considering what special issues students face in the heavy workload of the architecture curriculum, on a satellite campus distanced from the infrastructures of main campus, and on work terms when supports at the School may be harder to access. Ensure that these supports can better serve Black, Indigenous and people of colour, 2SLGBTQ+, and disabled students. Develop proactive strategies for addressing these issues, so that students can live and work in good health.  

Timeline: Short to medium-term
Directed to: Counselling services, Director, Dean 
PART Connection: Health and Mental Health Strategy Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: Generate list of mental health supports through school and Campus Wellness. Post information online or send out annually to students. One of the main links on the landing page of the School of Architecture leads to the University-wide resources on campus wellness. In addition to this, the Faculty of Engineering regularly sends out a list of resources students can access for wellness. This is in addition to the list that the Undergraduate Office provides to students and maintains on Teams (ARCH UG Students team, Wellness Resources channel).

Participate in anti-racism, sustainability and climate justice training available through the university. Schedule training designed specifically for the School of Architecture, faculty, staff, and students. Confirm commitment from all faculty and staff to participate in these training sessions. Develop resources, guidance, and support for faculty and staff. Build mechanisms for sharing resources amongst faculty about curricular innovations, teaching methods, evaluation methods, feedback, and guests that can help increase equity and environmental justice within the School.  

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: Director, Faculty, Staff, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Race, Culture and Ethnicity Awareness Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: Establish standard anti-racism training for all existing and new faculty/staff, and consider the possibility of making this training mandatory. This may be one of the HREI trainings, or another organized by the School itself. In Winter 2022, the School of Architecture worked with an external consultant to support REEJ work and develop two anti-racism training sessions for all faculty and staff at the School of Architecture. Both training sessions were attended by nearly all staff and faculty members. The two sessions were followed by opportunities to discuss the process and outcomes of the sessions as part of staff and faculty meetings. Working with the orientation team for Fall 2022 to incorporate REEJ-related training in orientation activities.

Include programming of regular and recurring events to celebrate different voices and perspectives (e.g., Black History Month, Indigenous day, integration in lecture series, Earth day, Chinese New Year, Ramadan).

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, Undergraduate and Graduate Offices
PART Connection: Race, Culture and Ethnicity Awareness Working Group and Implementation Team, BIPOC Related Programming Implementation Team

Winter 2022 Update: UG office will bring RO’s important dates to coordination meetings going forward. If there is a Heritage Calendar maintained by REEJ, the UG office will also coordinate against this list if made available. The idea of including student reps in coordination meetings is being discussed (from a logistics point of view as reps for each cohort are not determined before the start of term).

Work to centre a conversation of sustainability into all aspects of the school culture through different frameworks, beyond requirements for specific courses and that could include travel, use of resources, carbon footprint of current operations, support for research and cross-campus or cross-institutions collaborations to address the climate crisis, whether within the framework of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals or otherwise.  

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: House Committee, REEJ Standing Committee (with possibility of collaboration with the Sustainability Collective)
UNIVERSITY Connection: Sustainability Office

Support, promote and disseminate the diversity of student, faculty, and alumni work, and student, faculty and, alumni work that focuses on equity and climate justice throughout the School, and through social media and the website. Encourage and support the production of this work in studios and other MAY 2021 16 classes. Recognize work by faculty and instructors who promote student wellbeing in the way they teach or through their involvement in the School.
 
Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Awards and Nominations Committee, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group 

Winter 2022 Update: The Awards Committee has been working with the Advancement Manager to develop simple protocols for alumni and students to post work on the school's websites and social media. The Almuni Newsletter will request submissions of alumni news that has been acclaimed through outside sources such as media or awarding organizations, within this general request special emphasis will be placed on work that advances equity and environmental justice. Nominations for student work will be solicited form faculty, with a new emphasis on work that advances equity and environmental justice. In July 2021 the Awards committee implemented 8 new student selected awards for Indigenous solidarity, Diasporic Narratives, Environmental Action, Inclusivity and Accessibility, Community Engagement, Student Life and Wellbeing, Mentorship and Critical Discourse. Noting that faculty and staff accomplishment are also mentioned in 1.7, the Awards committee is developing a Non-remunerated award would recognize faculty and staff who contribute to student wellbeing and empowerment. Tina Davidson and Preetha Arulananthan developed an opportunities page on the school's website in consultation with the Awards Committee that collects all internal and external opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in one place. UG office has committed to ensuring that awards are well-shared and publicized to students. UG office works with the awards committee to ensure opportunities are communicated broadly.

Work to address financial barriers that may disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous and people of colour applicants and students, for example by considering the cost of application, education, studio projects, field trips, and equipment, or pay disparities within workplaces during cooperative education terms. Work on developing the terms for funding opportunities that can help alleviate the financial stress, and work to develop standards and protocols for reporting racism, discrimination, harassment, and financial inequities while on work terms, as these are part of the Waterloo curriculum and students need to be protected on these terms. Liaise with Cooperative Education to communicate feedback, address concerns, track progress, and report back.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee (with possibility of collaboration with Treaty Lands, Global Stories), CEE working group
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group

Work to improve accessibility and inclusivity in the physical spaces of the School building, including, for example, the creation of inclusive washrooms, reviewing compliance to accessibility within and outside the building, and providing clear signage as needed. Work towards the creation of spaces for indigenous presence, collaborations, and outreach at the School of Architecture, and advocate for those spaces beyond the School, within the community and the University. Ensure that all faculty, staff, and students feel safe while in Cambridge, especially when expected to work after hours and are returning home at night.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: House Committee, Director of the Design Build Program
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group
UNIVERSITY Connection: Indigenous Initiatives Office

Winter 2022 Update: In collaboration with Rawe:nokwas | Dr William Woodworth, we have identified a room that can be adequately transformed so that it can become a permanent space for the Elder-in-Residence at the School of Architecture. Situated at the core of the Musagetes Library, the room is currently being painted and re-furnished to be ready for Dr Woodworth’s use when he joins us at the School at least once or twice a week. We expect the project to be completed by August 2022.

Develop a clear statement of equity, diversity, inclusivity principles, and principles of sustainability to be included in writing in each course outline and explained by the teaching faculty at the start of every course. Consider ways in which students could give feedback in their implementation in a course evaluation. Coordinate with the institution to follow how they are formulating and communicating their equity, diversity, and inclusivity statement. As part of that statement and beyond as needed, clearly communicate pathways to report instances of micro-aggressions and other forms of racism, sexism, homophobia, or ableism, both within the School of Architecture or through the Equity Office in course outlines, on the school website, and in public locations in the School. Make every effort to prevent harmful experiences, so that students will not have to first undergo discomfort or trauma before reporting the instances.

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Code of Conduct and Safety Working Group, Race, Culture & Ethnicity Awareness Implementation Team

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

The School of Architecture is committed to foster and support equity, diversity and inclusion. If you experience discrimination, micro-aggression, or other forms of racism, sexism, discrimination against 2SLGBTQ+, or disability, there are several pathways available for addressing this:

A) If you feel comfortable bringing this up directly with the faculty, staff or student who has said or done something offensive, we invite you, or a friend, to speak directly with this person. People make mistakes and dealing them directly in the present may be the most effective means of addressing the issue.

B)  you can reach out to either the Undergraduate office, Graduate office, or Director. If you contact any of these people in confidence, they are bound to preserve your anonymity and follow up on your report. 

C) You can choose to report centrally to the Equity Office. The Equity Office can be reached by email. More information on the functions and services of the equity office can be found on the Equity website.

D) Racial Advocacy for Inclusion, Solidarity and Equity (RAISE) is a student-led Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) service launching in the Winter 2019 term. RAISE serves to address racism and xenophobia on the University of Waterloo campus with initiatives reflective of RAISE's three pillars of Education and Advocacy, Peer-to-Peer Support, and Community Building. The initiatives include but are not limited to: formal means to report and confront racism, accessible and considerate peer-support, and organization of social events to cultivate both an uplifting and united community.  You can report an incident using their online form.

Develop a better relationship and understanding of the processes and support available to students through the AccessAbility Office. Ensure these are communicated clearly to both students and instructors. Review the most common requests, investigate any recurring or even exceptional issues; record and respond as required.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee
PART Connection: Health and Mental Health Strategy Working Group

Participate in conversations on architectural education and architecture culture more broadly, for example, by considering studio culture and feedback in review contexts; tracking and communicating research on culture in the discipline and profession; or providing opportunities and framework to address concerns that are voiced across the continuum. 

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee

Winter 2022 Update: Curriculum changes are resulting in increased flexibility for students to take reduced course loads. Classes will now have 8/9 opportunities to get 6 electives. We have submitted calendar changes (FOPS April Meeting) to improve the clarity of elective requirements. Current prereq logic is rigid and inflexible. This Group is undertaking a review of prereqs for courses to ensure that they reflect actual prerequisite knowledge. Additionally, part-time options are being studied from financial, curricular and sequencing perspectives. This study is only started but we hope it supports understanding of the possibility and challenges associated with more flexible pathways to degree completion. This work is only beginning but a sub-team has been identified and they will report in Spring 2022.

Develop a set of overarching pedagogical objectives related to social and ecological justice to help guide the formation and renewal of the School’s curriculum.

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group, BIPOC Related Programming Implementation

Winter 2022 Update: The group has initiated a “course outcomes/objectives” study. The intent is to come up with a framework whereby courses will be encouraged to include specific outcomes/objectives that target social and ecological justice. This work is only beginning but a sub-team has been identified and they will report in Spring 2022.

Review the course load and time commitments of both undergraduate and graduate programs to see how the heavy workload of the program might adversely affect mental health and wellness and exacerbate inequities.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee, Working Groups as required
PART Connection: Health and Mental Health Strategy Working Group 

Winter 2022 Update: Major and sustained data collection project has been initiated in Fall 2021 whereby a workload-related survey is being shared with students. A parallel survey will be developed for instructors. The pair of surveys, completed each term, will support data collection on intended vs. actual workload and begin to understand workload in terms of students’ own grade goals/targets as well as quality and impacts of time spent on course work.  The group is working on making the report for Fall 201 and Winter 22 accessible during the spring 2022 term. The UG Office and director have initiated a 45-hour project which has shed light on how many hours students are in class and the accumulative demands of course work. Rules of thumb have been established and shared with faculty that would allow for students to complete course work within a targeted timeframe The current target set to 45 hours/week has been our model for this study but the target of 45 hours is under consideration based on feedback from instructors and students alike. 

Review the grading benchmarks and forms of feedback used at the school. If grading appears low in relation to other programs, or feedback is unclear, this may be contributing to student stress and anxiety and have a detrimental effect on student wellness, access to funding, and opportunities for future study.
 
Timeline: Short to Medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee, Working Groups as required

Reinvent the studio curriculum to promote programs and precedents that challenge systemic racism, sexism, ableism, heteronormativity, and ecocide in architectural practice and seek alternative ways of designing our collective environment. Examine the pedagogical structures of studio teaching, such as studio, desk reviews, and mid/final reviews, to see how faculty bias might exist within these practices and change them to create a more equitable studio environment. Encourage the role of studio faculty as facilitators of student interests.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee, Studio Working Group
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group, BIPOC Related Programming Implementation

Reinvent the cultural history curriculum to comprehensively include the histories and creative works of diverse non-European cultures, while clearly describing histories of colonialism, structural racism, heteronormativity, and environmental destruction—and the ways in which architecture and planning are essential technologies of these processes and systems. The Indigenous worldviews, histories, and presences on the land on which the School stands must be integrated as a foundational part of this core curriculum.

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: Cultural History Working Group, Curriculum and Teaching Committee
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group, BIPOC Related Programming Implementation

Winter 2022 Update: Financial support from the REEJ Trust is currently being used to fund guest lectures related to REEJ work. Faculty interested can apply to the Director with a note indicating how the guests will contribute to our goals towards equity and environmental justice. The Advancement Manager has identified this project as a funding initiative for REEJ fundraising and the School of Architecture.

Examine how we can better emphasize sustainability, accessibility, and equity in all curricular streams. Develop a list of principles and major learning objectives that should guide the development of the following course areas: Urbanism and Landscape, Technology and Environment, Visual and Digital Media.
 
Timeline: Short to medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee, Sustainability Working Group, REEJ Standing Committee, Teaching Faculty
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group, BIPOC Related Programming Implementation

Leverage elective courses to expand the range of cultural perspectives addressed in the School to focus more deeply on specific issues of global, diasporic, marginalized cultures, social and environmental justice, and accessibility.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group, BIPOC Related Programming Implementation 

Establish relationships with other departments and specialties to see how existing courses which focus on issues of race, colonialism, capitalism, sexual orientation, gender, climate change, sustainability, and accessibility can be made available to architecture students. As a satellite campus there is little opportunity for interdisciplinary exploration. This could be addressed through crossdepartmental teaching collaborations and exchanges.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Curriculum and Teaching Committee, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group, BIPOC Related Programming Implementation

Invite strong and consistent representation of Black, Indigenous and people of colour within the lecture series every term, supporting diverse, racialized, and marginalized voices and perspectives that enrich our teaching, learning, and research, and furthering our work towards equity and environmental justice.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, Lecture Series Working Group
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group, Campus Representation Implementation Team

Winter 2022 Update: Both the What is Solidarity? 2020-2021 and The Praxes of Care 2021-2022 speaker series have included "strong and consistent representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour" and have specifically addressed content of equity and environmental justice. The Speaker series committee has explicitly addressed issues of more extensive crediting within the series, especially for members of the committee who have made specific contributions which extend beyond committee activities. Extended credits have been added on the Website and on the posted videos of the lectures. 

Invite strong and consistent representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour as critics for studio reviews each term, supporting diverse, racialized, and marginalized voices and perspectives that enrich our teaching, learning, and research, and furthering our work towards equity and environmental justice.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group, Campus Representation Implementation Team

Develop a set of clear and transparent equity principles for all hiring and advancement of adjunct faculty, research assistants, and teaching assistants to remove the effects of implicit bias.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, Director, Human Resources
PART Connection: Campus Representation Implementation Team

Create supports for international and domestic visiting researchers and post-docs with their own funding to come to the school to increase the school’s diversity.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, Director, Advancement Manager
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group, Campus Representation Implementation Team

Direct future hires of full-time faculty and staff to fill gaps in representation, with the aim of building a faculty and staff complement that reflects the diversity of our larger society, as faculty and staff retire. Direct future hires to recruit candidates that will bring diverse, racialized, and marginalized voices and perspectives to enrich our teaching, learning, and research, and further our work towards equity and environmental justice. 

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, Director, Associate Dean Outreach, Inclusivity and Diversity
PART Connection: Campus Representation Implementation Team

Winter 2022 Update: Direct future hires of full-time faculty and staff to fill gaps in representation, with the aim of building a faculty and staff complement that reflects the diversity of our larger society as faculty and staff retire. Direct future hires to recruit candidates that will bring diverse, racialized, and marginalized voices and perspectives to enrich our teaching, learning, and research, as well as further our work towards equity and environmental justice.

Develop a system through which any teaching faculty can apply for funding to bring Black, Indigenous, and people of colour guests and expertise into their classes or workshops, supporting diverse, racialized and, marginalized voices and perspectives that enrich our teaching, learning, and research, and furthering our work towards equity and environmental justice. 
 

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: Director, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: Determine the ambition of the fund by providing recommendations on the criteria and description for how funds will be awarded. Please see 2.5b, which provides a similar answer: Funding for guest lectures has been made available each term, since Fall 2020. Faculty interested can apply to the Director with a note indicating how the guests will contribute to our goals towards equity and environmental justice. Currently, the selection is made by the Director based on whether the requests meet the goal of the fund. The following email is sent to all teaching faculty prior to the new term: “As part of the important, on-going Racial Equity and Environmental Justice initiatives, funding has been made available this term to support guest lecturers within courses.  If you would like to invite a guest to one of your classes, we kindly ask you submit a brief proposal (~150 words) outlining how the lecture supports the goals of the REEJ work.  Please submit your proposal to directorarchitecture@uwaterloo.ca by Wednesday September 1st at 9am.  There is funding for 3-5 guest lecturer honorariums ($150 per speaker) for each cohort (1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year and Grad).”

Fundraise to create fellowships and invited professorships for Black, Indigenous and people of colour.  

Timeline: Long-term
Directed to: Director, Advancement Manager, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: Work has begun on a case for support of different initiatives which support work towards racial equity and environmental justice. The UWSA Advancement Manager is seeking support for a number of REEJ related fundraising initiatives, including a visiting professorship. They are also promoting work and planning different events and opportunities to gather interest and attract support.

Improve the admissions process to increase access for marginalized and underrepresented groups. Develop protocols for admission that set out clear equity principles and training for all those participating in evaluating candidates at the graduate and undergraduate levels in order to address, and work to remove, the effects of implicit bias.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Undergraduate Affairs, Admissions and Recruitment Committee
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: Admissions training for recruitment has been promoted and offered to all of those participating in the 2022 Admissions cycle. A more comprehensive study of the admissions process from REEJ-perspective has yet to begin.

Recruit Black, Indigenous, and people of colour students and students with socio-economic barriers to entry. Develop targeted programs for outreach for underrepresented groups.

Timeline: Medium-term
Directed to: Undergraduate Affairs, Admissions and Recruitment Committee, REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group, Campus Representation Implementation Team

Create awards through a fund or endowment that will increase access for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour students, as well as students with socio-economic barriers to entry.

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: Director, Advancement Manager, Engineering and University Advancement
PART Connection: Educational Environment & the Development of Learners Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: The Awards Committee introduced 8 community awards that honour engagement and activity in the community over academic achievement. These awards are currently being funded through the REEJ Trust. Fundraising efforts are being made to grow the REEJ Trust to continue awards such as this. Moreover, discussions are in motion with student groups to implement new awards in these areas. 

Develop protocols to consult with local Indigenous peoples as we undertake activity affecting the traditional territories of Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Attawandaron. Endorse and adopt the mandates of the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and its Calls to Action. Recognize the Upper Canada Treaties and Haldimand Tract agreements.

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: Director, REEJ Standing Committee, Indigenous Faculty and Faculty engaged in collaborative teaching and research with Indigenous people
PART Connection: Indigenous Initiatives

Engage different levels of the University to see how these efforts toward equity and sustainability can be supported, while in turn supporting the University to be accountable to equity and environmental justice in its policies and programs. (This section builds on goals outlined in relation to School Culture, with a focus on connections with University-wide initiatives).

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: Director and REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Code of Conduct and Safety Working Group

Work with the City of Cambridge to improve issues of student and citizen safety, equity and environmental justice, to create a more inclusive and sustainable urban environment, without defaulting to policing to do this work.  

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: Director and REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Code of Conduct and Safety Working Group

Reach out to other faculties and schools of architecture in Canada and internationally to join in initiatives related to equity and environmental justice. 

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: Director, REEJ Standing Committee
OTHER Connection: Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture (CCUSA), Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA)

Winter 2022 Update: The director participates in Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture (CCUSA) and is working with them to develop three to four workshops on equity for faculty. With funding from CCUSA and a successful SSHRC Connection Grant, members from all Canadian Schools of Architecture collaborated on the development of three workshops focusing on some of the specific ways in which equity and anti-racism intersect with the three core areas of academic life: Teaching/Learning, Research/Practice and Service/Engagement. The three workshops, open to all, are taking place virtually on the 10th, 17th and 27th of May 2022. More information here. 

Reach out to other national and international architectural professional organizations (such as the Ontario Association of Architects, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada or the Association of the Collegiate Schools of Architecture) to support, join, and advocate for equity and environmental justice initiatives within the profession of Architecture.

Timeline: Medium-term and ongoing
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, CEE Working Groups, OAA
PART Connection: : Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group

Winter 2022 Update: Advocate for diversity on the board of the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB). As a result of advocacy for diversity on the board of the CACB, a new process is being developed for the nomination process for the election of new directors on the Canadian Architectural Certification Board. The new nomination process will provide a greater ability to promote ‘diversity’ in a way that extends beyond gender and geographical location. The process is being finalized by a small committee of CACB, CCUSA and ROAC (Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada - formerly CALA) representatives, and is expected to be in place in time for the 2023 nomination cycle.

Promote and support initiatives of non-government, non-profit and social movement organizations by sharing resources or platforms. 

Timeline: Short-term and ongoing
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Professional & Academic Development & Mentorship Working Group

Develop a clear set of procedures on the part of the School’s administration to report, record, and act in response to reports of microaggressions, racism, and other forms of discrimination in the School, and to make sure these anonymized data are confidentially recorded and collected so that we have a better institutional picture of the problem. These procedures must be designed to augment and improve upon existing University policies while closely following the institution’s current work to improve its own policies.

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: Director, REEJ Standing Committee, Equity Office
PART Connection: Code of Conduct and Safety Working Group, Equity Data Advisory Group

Encourage and support efforts by the university to collect disaggregated identity-based data for faculty and staff to assess disparities in hiring and promotion, as well as for students to assess disparities in admissions, grades, co-op employment, awards, scholarships, assistantships, and degree completion.

Timeline: Long-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee
PART Connection: Equity Data Advisory Group

Develop benchmarks to track progress toward these goals, including the assessment of actions taken to date.  

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, Director, External Consultant
PART Connection: Campus Representation Implementation Team

Develop a process and schedule to report back to the School on the progress toward these goals at regular intervals and to post these reports in a publicly accessible online location on the website, making this work toward equity and sustainability visible to the wider School community.

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: REEJ Standing Committee, Director, External Consultant
PART Connection: Campus Representation Implementation Team

Implement a Racial Equity and Environmental Justice Standing Committee made up of full-time and contract faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students, elected by their respective constituencies to oversee the ongoing work of Equity and Environmental Justice within the school of architecture.

Timeline: Short-term
Directed to: Director
PART Connection: N/A