About the network
Co-chaired by the vice-principal, academic, and dean and director of equity, diversity, and inclusion, UTM's equity network brings together leaders from 25+ departments across campus to:
- Discuss insights on established and emerging equity themes.
- Build awareness and understanding about equity-based policies, practices, and services, including UTM-led contributions toward university-wide efforts.
- Develop, and collaborate on, new equity initiatives, especially those that address commitments in U of T’s anti-racism reports.
Anti-racism and equity reports
Since 2021, U of T has published three major anti-racism reports, with a fourth on the way. Each contains detailed recommendations that touch every part of university operations — from teaching and research to governance and space planning.
They also share several themes that intersect powerfully with priorities of our strategic framework. These themes are highlighted below to prompt conversation, action, and further reading, including of the full reports.
They invite innovation, too. UTM can meet and exceed U of T’s equity commitments, with new initiatives, supports, and spaces that do even more than the reports imagined.
Enrolment support
- Tailor recruitment strategies to engage, and create access pathways for, equity-deserving students
- Embed equity principles in student retention, engagement, and program progression initiatives
- Inform, analyze, and improve student supports with equity data, including demographics
Curricular innovation
- Develop academic courses and programs focused on equity, justice, and diverse ways of knowing
- Incorporate equity principles into assignment design, learning outcomes, and course policy
- Draw on teaching workshops, communities of practice, and educational development support at RGASC and CTSI, including for, e.g., anti-racist pedagogies and universal design learning
Research impact
- Consider nominating equity-deserving faculty for major research funding and awards, such as CRCs
- Advance research projects focused on questions of equity, justice, and anti-racism
- Promote culturally attuned supports for graduate trainees in lab and mentorship practice
People strategy
- Recruit, hire, and retain excellent and diverse faculty, staff, and librarians
- Open career progression and professional development opportunities for equity-deserving employees
- Embed equity practices in job searches, university governance, and employee on-boarding, learning, and performance assessment
Operational excellence
- Incorporate equity in campus design, such as signs, art, and spaces for equity-deserving groups
- Support student and employee navigation of U of T’s complaint resolution processes
- Offer inclusive, culturally relevant campus services, including in food, recreation, and mental health
Community building
- Promote reciprocity, civil discourse and understanding across difference
- Develop communications that amplify, and report on progress toward, equity initiatives
- Host events, networks, and committees, including with alumni, oriented around belonging
Explore the reports
The themes highlighted above are just a starting point. For more detailed history, context, and analysis, along with the 100+ recommendations themselves, explore the full anti-racism reports online.
Work in progress
To explore U of T's progress on these equity commitments, and see opportunities for new work ahead, visit our equity dashboard.
Answering the call: Wecheehetowin
UTM's equity network learns from U of T's progress answering the 34 calls for truth and reconciliation. This work is led by Indigenous Initiatives teams.
