In
1995, Capilano College announced that it supported the concept of employment
equity. In this memo, it stated that it would “ensure access to equal
opportunity in terms of hiring and promotion … make such reasonable
accommodation as will ensure an open workplace and a diverse workforce [and]
affirm or establish process and policies which comply with the federal
Employment Equity Act.”
Although
this administrative memo was proactive in its goals, positively reacting to the
newly created Employment Equity Act of Canada, since 1995 very few concrete
means have occurred in order to ensure that the memo’s goals are being met. In
its current employment procedures, Capilano University does aim to ensure their
positions are widely available to anyone wishing to apply, but very little
exists in terms of employment policy guaranteeing equitable hiring practices.
The
memo, tucked away in the archives of Capilano’s website, originally stated that
in order to adhere to the Equity Act, “these processes and policies will be
developed using the Capilano College collegial model, and will be consistent
with that model.” The memo is one of the few references to the Employment
Equity Act by the administrators of the college/university.
Despite
this affirmation to comply with the Employment Equity Act in 1995, little has
been done to meet its requirements through process or policy – likely because
as Capilano is not a federally regulated employer, it is not legally bound to
the act.
Although
not legally binding for the university, the Employment Equity Act is still an
important piece of legislation. It requests that, when hiring, employers take
into consideration offering equal opportunity and fair representation to a host
of constituency groups which have been historically marginalized.
Currently,
however, Capilano does not maintain detailed employment records, and has yet to
establish a clear policy as a means to comply with the Employment Equity Act.
Policies alone are not enough to promote equity and diversity, and although the
institution aims to hire with equitable and inclusive policies, there is still
much that can be done across the board.
A
COLLECTIVE MODEL
The
collegial model that the memo refers to is a model where “faculty and
management personnel endeavour to work collectively to serve the overall best
interest and needs of the College community,” as stated in the Capilano Faculty
Association’s Collective Agreement. The collegial model was used by Capilano
College from its very beginning, and this system of administration was then
adopted by Capilano University after its formal transition into a university in
2008. The model supports the collective best interest by creating
sub-administrations and committees to facilitate the organization of the
university in order to best allow for the communication between faculty and
administration.
Employment
equity is also covered under the collegial model, within the Human Resources
department at Capilano University, which oversees the fulfilment of the
university’s ethics around hiring. “Capilano's mandate in hiring is: ‘Model
equity and inclusivity, and be an employer of choice.’ We hire employees from
many diverse ethnic backgrounds,” says Val Newman, Executive and Private
Assistant of Human Relations at Capilano. “Employees are hired on their skills
and abilities to perform the job.”
“Every
single new position that comes up has to be reviewed, and vetted, and posted.
We don’t do internal hiring, so everything must be published, and we have to go
out to the market place,” says Kris Bulcroft, the President of Capilano
University. “I believe we have a pretty well-developed system of advertising in
places where you can find people who have the skills but also represent enough
diversity in the labour force.”
Bulcroft
addresses what she calls a “demographic bend” in the University, as it has an
aging faculty and staff where many have been working in the University since
the1980s when, according Bulcroft, “the population base in Vancouver was not as
diverse as it was now, so if you just take a look at our data in terms of how
many visible minorities or First Nations [are part of the faculty and staff],
it’s probably not that many.”
However,
there is not presently data collected at Capilano University regarding how many
visible minorities, or First Nations employees are in the school. “We do not
keep statistics presently on the hiring of different ethnic groups,” says
Newman, “but hopefully when our system allows us to, we will be doing this.”
EQUITY
OPTIONS
Although
Capilano is not legally bound to the Employment Equity Act, there are other
postsecondary institutions that have opted in to being legally bound by the
legislation. These institutions, including SFU, UBC, Kwantlen Polytechnic
University, and the University of Victoria, have employment equity policies
because they are participants in the Federal Contractors Program (FCP). The FCP
is a federal program that ensures organizations that do business, or have (or
seek) contracts with the Canadian government meet the standards within the
Employment Equity Act, as federally-regulated employers.
The
standards of the Employment Equity Act are high, and specific, in their attempt
to bring equity and quality to the workplace for four historically
disadvantaged groups: women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal people, and
visible minorities. The Employment Equity Act has specific requirements that
must be met by an employer, such as the creation and implementation of a
detailed equity plan, which includes gathering employment statistics, and the
setting of three-year target goals in order to better understand how well their
organization is doing. These organizations must then report to the Canadian
Human Rights Commission, which will assess whether or not they are doing enough
to meet the intention of the act.
These
institutions participating in FCP are also aiming to ensure everyone has the
opportunity to understand how employment equity works in their respective
schools. The “Frequently Asked Questions” sections in almost all of the
Employment Equity policies allow for individuals, or future employees, to
understand the framework around Employment Equity, while also answering
questions concerning more complex issues such as how employment equity avoids
reverse discrimination, or why it is important to keep detailed employment
records. The government does not impose quotas for hiring members of the four
designated groups; instead, they leave it to the university to set out future
target goals.
Despite
the fact that Capilano College, in 1995, pledged itself to the federal
Employment Equity Act, it is not participating member in the FCP, and is
therefore not legally bound to the policies or goals of the Act in any way.
Capilano University is covered under the British Columbia Human Rights
Tribunal, which is more reactive than proactive in its approach to human rights
and employment equity. The BCHR Tribunal sets out rules and definitions that
all employers must abide by. Unlike the federal Employment Equity Act, the BCHR
Tribunal sets no target goals, no long-term plans, nor the need for detailed
employment statistics; in fact, there is little mention of the four designated
constituency groups specifically at all.
DIVERSITY
AT CAPILANO
David
Kirk, Capilano University’s First Nations advisor, can agree with Bulcroft’s
point of potentially misleading employment data: “I don’t know if we actually
have a specific employment equity policy, but I know we always try to hire
people from those groups,” he says. “The biggest challenge for Aboriginal
people is that we have a huge number of students who drop out of high school,
yet alone go on to post-secondary; I mean, our students make up a very small
percentage in the school population.”
Kirk
points out that in specifically, in order to understand employment equity for
Aboriginal people in Capilano University or any other institution, people must
understand the challenges young Aboriginal people face.
He
elaborates, “For a faculty position at
Capilano
University, you need a Masters degree,” says Kirk. “[But] many Aboriginal youth
struggle to finish high school, yet alone get a PhD like you need at UBC or
SFU. That’s one of the biggest barriers. So really, a university can make as
many policies as they want, but when a group of people are struggling to get
into post-secondary for a number of reasons, policies alone won’t make a huge
difference.”
“As
far as equity goes here at Capilano, of course, policy would always help, and
it does make a difference, but the reality is when you don’t have enough Aboriginal
people going into post-secondary and getting degrees, that may be the biggest
challenge to finding equity. This is an issue for all post-secondary
institutions, you can create all the policy you want, but it may not make a
difference.”
Maureen
Bracewell, director of Women’s Studies at Capilano University, feels that women
are well-treated, and has never personally witnessed discrimination based on
sex. She did, however, warn, “As I do not know the incidence [or] rate of
complaints of, for example, sexual harassment, or gender discrimination, I am
concerned that I might misrepresent the actual situation. My observations are
primarily positive.”
Jan
Shiell, the Advisor and Assessment Specialist for Disability Services and
Student Assessment Services, has a similar outlook to Bracewell’s in regards to
how people with disabilities are treated in the university, that being quite
positive, albeit anecdotal.
EQUITY
AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Capilano
University does have an Equity and Diversity Committee, which is in line with
the collegial model. The Capilano Students’ Union’s website states that the
committee “acts as a resource for the college concerning equity, diversity, and
human rights legislation and issues; works to promote the values of inclusiveness
and diversity in the college as a workplace and as a community; and makes
recommendations for programs, projects, and services delivery in the area of
equity, diversity, and human rights.”
One
such way of meeting these goals is by working with the Sexual Harassment
Committee and Keiran Simons, the current Conflict Resolution Advisor, to
confidentially and effectively resolve interpersonal conflicts involving
sexual/discriminatory harassment and bullying. The Conflict Resolution Advisor
has been publishing a special report since 2007 that details how many
complaints are lodged, and in what manner they are handled (for example, what
sort of mediation was used). It also details the types of complaints and who
they are between. Each year is then compared with the statistics of the
previous seven years.
“We actually have a pretty robust system if people feel they are being discriminated against, mistreated, or harassed,” says Bulcroft. “Keiran Simons is there to deal with people who feel they have a grievance. He’s there for students and faculty alike. I’m very proud that Capilano has invested in this.”
The
current model at Capilano University creates sufficient sub-administrations so
as to address human relations issues as they arise; and, according to the
special reports published by the various Conflict Resolution Advisors, these
issues have been recorded, and handled in a seemingly appropriate manner.
However, there is very little communication between these sub-administrations,
the faculty, and the administration on the topic of how equity policy exists
within Capilano University.
The
pledge to meet the requirements of the federal Employment Equity Act in 1995,
now 17 years ago, remains unmet in many areas, as the requirements would,
according to the Employment Equity Act itself, necessitate a more cohesive
equity policy, an equity plan, and more detailed employment statistics than
Capilano University employs presently. Capilano University does not have any
form of tracking to make sure it hires enough people that, in the words of
Bulcroft, “represent enough diversity in the labour force,” because it doesn’t
have to, according to the law.
There
may still be a number of improvements that can be made upon the policy
regarding employment equity. Despite the best efforts of faculty and
administration, there is no definite way to be sure if the university is doing
its best to ensure employment equity, nor is there a clear way to make sure the
university’s hiring practices are the best practice possible.
Other
universities across Canada have clear policies in place that Capilano
University does not; however, the existence of committees and projects relevant
to equity and diversity implies that Capilano does have some intention to
guarantee diversity and equity in their institution. The question that now
remains is how much further Capilano will go with equity and diversity, and if
they will take the next step and ensure that equity is intertwined in every
aspect of the institution’s policies and practices, regardless of whether or
not they are held accountable to it by law.
//Mike Conway, writer
//Graphics and cover by Chris Dedinsky
//Mike Conway, writer
//Graphics and cover by Chris Dedinsky
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