A message from Pam Skinner, Senior Vice-President, College Operations, and Rick Anderson, Vice-President, Student Success:
As we continue on our journey to fully support equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) on all levels, we are pleased to share a few updates from ourselves, and the Centre for Professional and Organization Development, on work currently underway at Niagara College. The initiatives outlined below are motivated by the feedback and learning shared with the Executive Team by the Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce (which continues its work at Niagara College) in a report they produced last year.
New EDI Coordinating Council forms
It is our privilege to be co-chairing a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Council at Niagara College which aims to identify, coordinate and leverage efforts related to EDI across the College. The Council includes representation from key areas of the College working on EDI initiatives and aims to enhance the effectiveness of work being done through collaboration. To accomplish this goal, the EDI Coordinating Council will support coordination of cross-College initiatives to avoid duplication of efforts, boost the profile of EDI initiatives, and increase opportunities for learning. The Council ratified a Terms of Reference which can be viewed here.
EDI website to launch this spring with Days of Significance Calendar
This spring, NC will launch a website dedicated to EDI including a Days of Significance Calendar, as well as educational and planning resources. This shared set of dates will help guide coordinated activities and event planning. The Days of Significance Calendar will also enhance NC’s welcoming culture of inclusion and appreciation where members of our community can see themselves, their communities, and their cultural and religious traditions celebrated and respected. We hope this will inspire new opportunities for intercultural learning and make space for students and employees to tell their stories.
Employees can access free diversity and inclusion resources and webinars
Niagara College is now an employee partner with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) which means NC employees benefit from a variety of supports on our diversity and inclusion journey.
The following CCDI benefits are available to you:
- Educational webinars. For a full list of topics and dates, download the calendar (PDF).
- Diversity Ink. newsletter. Provides information about CCDI events and research, and other pertinent news from the Canadian diversity and inclusion realm. Subscribe here or view past newsletters here.
- Knowledge Repository. In the “Members Only” web portal, CCDI has an e-library collection of over 1,000 searchable resources, including national and international research, reports, toolkits, news and previously recorded webinars. Register for access to the Knowledge Repository here.
Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce to begin consultations
The Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce continues its work and will begin college-wide consultations on a draft Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strategy over the next few months.
