Associate Vice-President: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council Terms of Reference

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Membership

Given the mandate of the Council, membership includes front-facing equity and decolonization staff, as well as members at large across the university’s campuses and faculties. Membership in the Council is drawn from the categories listed below.

Front-facing equity and decolonization practitioners:

• Chair: Associate Vice President: EDI
• Director EDI (Acting Chair in absence of AVP: EDI)
• Office of Indigenous Initiatives Representative
• Equity Case Worker and Support Coordinator, Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management (OHRCM)
• Education and Inclusion Coordinator, Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CSEDI)
• Employment Equity and Accessibility Officer, Human Resources Department
• Director of Accessible Learning

Other recurring positions:

• Black Faculty and Staff Caucus member
• Disability Caucus member
• Alumni Association member
• Wilfrid Laurier University Students' Union (WLUSU) member
• Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) member

Members at large (one-year terms with possibility of renewal for a second year):

• Two student representatives (one undergraduate and one graduate student representing any two campuses)
• Two faculty members/librarians (one full-time and one contract teaching faculty representing any two campuses)
• Two staff members including at least one non-managerial staff (representing any two campuses)

Support (non-voting):

• Office of the Provost and Vice-President: Academic

Criteria for Members at Large

All members of EDI-AC will have a demonstrated commitment to equity in teaching, research, service, professional practice, or leadership. Members representing the interests of specific equity-denied communities will have direct or lived experience within those communities. Faculty/librarians seeking membership should have demonstrated EDI experience in research or teaching or previous experience serving on related university committees. Students should have prior experience working with student groups, organizations, and initiatives with equity related mandates, and staff should show evidence of commitment to building an inclusive university. Members will be selected with a goal of widest representation across faculties and campuses.

Expressions of Interest and Selection Process for Members at Large

In March of each year, the AVP: EDI will issue a call for expressions of interest through the office’s page on the university website and through other widely distributed communications vehicles. Interested faculty, staff and students will be asked to submit expressions of interest through EDI-AC’s Qualtrics Application submission form. The application submission form for members at large will ask applicants to indicate which university community group (faculty, student or staff) they represent, and submit a short (no more than 250-word) expression of interest and a resume/CV.

The Advisory Council will establish three teams to review expressions of interest and bring a short list and their recommendations to EDI-AC for discussion and approval. Each team will consist of three members from the Council and be assigned to reading expressions from specific community groups (faculty, students or staff). The AVP: EDI will be among the members reading expressions from faculty/librarians; the Director EDI will be among the members reading expressions from staff; and the CSEDI representative will be among the members reading expressions from students. Council members will be asked to volunteer for the remaining positions.

Candidates will be assessed based on the membership criteria and the importance of achieving a total membership that includes a wide range of experiences, as well as representation across programs and campuses. The AVP: EDI will work with the Employment Equity and Accessibility Officer, Human Resources Department, to develop a rubric/matrix for accessing applications to be brought to the Council’s first meeting in September 2025.

The AVP: EDI will be responsible for seeking replacements for positions reserved for front-facing equity and decolonization practitioners and for the other recurring positions as needed.

Honoraria

The undergraduate and graduate student at large will receive an honorarium of $250 per term for their participation on the Council. The honorarium will be paid out of the budget of the AVP: EDI at the end of each term.

Meetings and Reporting

• Each summer, specific calendar dates will be set for the next academic year.
• Meetings will be set/organized by the Office of the AVP: EDI, and agendas will be set with input from the Council and distributed prior to the meetings.
• EDI-AC will normally meet once monthly between September and May, and meetings will be chaired by the AVP: EDI or the Director EDI, as designate.
• Quorum is 2/3 – 12 of 18 members and is required for meetings and decision making.
• To ensure maximum participation, the meeting format will be hybrid or virtual. Hybrid meetings will rotate between the Waterloo and Brantford campus. There is no obligation for members to travel outside their main campus for meetings. Staff and faculty who choose to do so may submit their mileage claims through Chrome River and charge their department index. Students-at-large who travel to another campus for meetings will be reimbursed for mileage or public transportation (with receipts) through the Office of the AVP: EDI.
• Members should make every effort to attend scheduled meetings. Front-facing EDI staff may designate an alternate if a conflict arises and they are unable to attend a meeting.
• Meetings will be used to make recommendations for change and prioritize initiatives in shifting the university culture through policy reviews, operational and functional assessments, forums to promote meaningful discourse, and training.
• Visitors may request to attend Council meetings to bring forward recommendations. Requests must be made directly to the Chair and brought to Council for confirmation. Special guests may be invited to make presentations on key issues identified by the Council.
• Minutes of each meeting will be kept, including discussion summaries, action items, and consensus decisions.
• The AVP: EDI will provide updates and recommendations to Cabinet twice yearly, and an annual report of activities will be posted to the Council webpage in June with a summary of steps taken toward the implementation of recommendations.
• Laurier shall provide administrative services and meeting space for the Council and its working groups.

Participation

Each member of the EDI-AC accepts that all members’ voices are valued and equal, and that each member brings a unique set of experiences and knowledges we need to collectively advance equity and justice. Students, for example, have unique knowledge critical to helping the Council understand the resources and supports students need. Seniority at the institution does not necessarily translate to greater expertise with respect to this council’s work, and the Chair will encourage as much as possible balanced participation across the membership.

Consensus and Voting

• Decision-making as much as is possible will be by consensus.
• To identify a consensus, the meeting chair will state the decisions as they understand it for the record.
• In the case where there is no clear consensus, the meeting chair should first ask every member in attendance to state their opinion on the subject at hand. If no consensus exists, the meeting chair may call a vote or defer the decision until the next meeting.