The Diversity and Equity Taskforce (DET) will conclude its mandate at the end of April having accomplished several key objectives and outlined possibilities for future action.

“We met and in some cases exceeded the targets we set for ourselves; however, significant work remains to make the gains enduring and sustainable,” says Adnan Husain, Director of Educational Equity and Diversity Projects.

Dr. Husain convened the DET in December 2009 to prepare a plan of action to implement recommendations from previous equity and diversity reports. Highlights of the DET’s work over the last 14 months include:

• Establishing an equity response protocol, that will soon be finalized, to deal with incidents of hate speech or racial, ethnic or religious bigotry on campus.
• Working with the leadership of the Alma Mater Society and Society of Graduate and Professional Students as they developed their equity goals and plans.
• Sponsoring, with the Senate Orientation Activities Review Board (SOARB) and Student Affairs, a research study on student orientation and discussing with SOARB new policies for enhancing orientation from the perspective of educational equity.
• Developing, with the Equity Office, an online tool that will allow faculties and schools to conduct comprehensive equity analyses.
• Hosting two equity workshops for administrative and academic leaders to help promote an enhanced understanding of diversity and equity issues and challenges.
• Participating in the academic planning process, which is ongoing as the Senate Academic Planning Task Force consults the university community and drafts the plan.

“Apart from the specific activities of the DET, a major accomplishment has been keeping equity and diversity concerns on the agenda and inspiring initiative and action independent of the DET,” says Dr. Husain.

The DET will hold an open forum to solicit feedback from the university community on the next steps for the future, particularly the priorities and structures for making further progress on diversity and equity issues at Queen's. The event will be held Friday, April 1 from noon until 1 pm in 340 Richardson Hall.