YUFA
Equity
Submitted by Jody Nyasha Warner, YUFA Equity Co-ordinator
The YUFA Equity committee currently has 7 members who are, in no particular order, Neal Madras, Peter Cole, Walter Whiteley, Pauline Head, Karen Stanworth, Jody Warner and Paula Wilson. The committee is chaired by Jody Warner and Monica Mulvihill acts as the YUFA support person. The committee has undertaken a modest but focused agenda to improve inclusivity at York which are reflected in our activities to date described below.
The Formation of Caucuses
This fall the YUFA Equity committee spearheaded the formation of two new caucuses, a People of Colour caucus and a Queer caucus.
The Queer caucus had a meeting in October which was facilitated by Deborah Brock. The caucus identified a number of issues they would be interested in YUFA taking up. These included organizing a panel on employment equity regarding sex diversity issues, LGBT organizing within a union, a workshop on homophobia / heterosexism on campus (especially in the classroom) and linking up with the People of Colour caucus to identify possible shared visions / experiences. We will be working with the Queer caucus over the next few months to initiate some of these activities.
The People of Colour caucus has met 3 times and was initially organized by Narda Razack. The caucus has changed it’s name to the Race Equity Faculty Caucus and has decided that it would like to be an independent body that works in association with YUFA. The Race Equity Caucus is fine-tuning a brief constitution and have identified three main areas of interest which are employment equity, curriculum / library diversity and education / awareness. The YUFA Equity committee looks forward to working on joint projects with the Race Equity Faculty Caucus.
Meeting with Senate Committee on the State of the University
On October 3rd Monica Mulvihill, Peter Cole and Jody Warner met with the Senate Committee on the State of the University. We outlined a number of issues including problems of chilly climate (particularly for women, faculty of colour and CLAs / Alternative stream folk), slowness of employment equity change, new funding formulas which threaten past pay equity gains and lack of commitment to diverse curriculum. In addition, we spoke to the committee about positive initiatives happening at other universities such as the First Nations organizing at Queen’s university.
Shattering the Silences : The Case for Minority Faculty
The YUFA Equity committee previewed the movie Shattering the Silences which highlights the experiences and challenges faced by minority faculty. Although the film is set in the American context many of the issues it brings to light are relevant in Canadian universities as well. The film is accompanied by a Facilitators guide which gives several models for using the film as a teaching tool. Overall the committee was very impressed with the film and have recommended that the Joint Committee on Affirmative Action use it as a resource in their annual training of Affirmative Action monitors and hiring committees. In addition a request has been put forward for the York library to purchase a copy of the film.
Pay Equity
The committee has had a number of online and in person conversations about pay equity. There is a general feeling this is an issue we need to keep our eyes on with all of the funding changes (marketability, merit, Canada Research Chairs) happening in post-secondary education. In October YUFA released a press release about pay equity issues particularly those linked to women and pensions.
T & P and diversity
The proposed new Tenure and Promotions document (written by a committee of YUFA, Senate and Administration representatives) has some good language about inclusivity and diversity. Nevertheless issues of race, gender, sexuality, position status (e.g. alternate stream, joint appointees) and disability seem to inevitably crop up during the tenure process. There have been a number of grievances by members of designated groups going through the tenure process and both the Queer and Race Equity caucuses identified teaching evaluations as a problematic area (where isms and even harassment rear their heads). The Equity committee plans to see if it can put a mechanism in place to advocate and/or support candidates coming up for tenure who believe there may be complexities in their files not properly understood by T&P committees.
Taskforce on Inclusivity and Diversity
The current round of negotiations successfully bargained for the formation of a Taskforce to look at Inclusivity and Diversity at York. The Taskforce will be comprised of Jody Warner (YUFA rep), Gil Teiman (President’s Advisor on Human Rights) and Barbara Dodge (Administration rep) and have a budget of $15, 000. A first meeting has been set up for early December.
Curriculum Transformation Event
The Equity committee is interested in organizing a seminar or workshop on curriculum diversity. We have approached the Centre for the Support of Teaching to find out if they would like to be a partner in this project since they already offer a successful Course Design Institute each spring. An initial meeting has been held with Ron Sheese (CST Director), Deborah Barndt and Carl James both from last years Equity committee.