Equity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022-2023

Equity and Inclusion Strategy 2024-2025

Land Acknowledgement

The University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver is situated on the
traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the hən̓q̓ əmin̓əm̓ speaking
xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. As members of the Arts Undergraduate
Society (AUS), we deeply value the opportunity to operate on this land and would
like to extend our gratitude to its traditional caretakers. The AUS recognizes the
historical systems of colonization and dispossession, as well as the present
oppressive and inequitable structures that have led to inadequate housing and
health accessibility, as well as social ostracization against Indigenous peoples. The
AUS vows to acknowledge, honor, and respect the vitality of Indigenous
communities in our present and future successes and operations, as well as to
advocate for and amplify dialogue surrounding Truth and Reconciliation.

Statement of Purpose

The Equity and Inclusion (E&I) Department of the Arts Undergraduate Society
(AUS) puts forth this strategy to ensure that the AUS operations are equitable and
effectively implement diversity and inclusion. The AUS defines a safe environment as
one where every member of the Arts community feels valued, celebrated, and
comfortable to express their identity authentically. The AUS is committed to creating
a safe environment for people of all identities and backgrounds, which entails
fulfilling the needs of communities, including but not limited to the 2SLGBTQIA+
community, Indigenous communities, asylum seekers, racialized communities, and
marginalized ethnic, religious, and national groups in club initiatives. This document
provides guidelines for AUS operations to better embody and champion equity and
inclusion within each of its departments. It outlines what a safe and just environment
looks like and how these practices can empower and embrace marginalized
identities and groups in our Arts student community.

Section 1: Addressing Issues Of Mental Health and Harassment

Part 1: Addressing Issues Related to Mental Health

The AUS understands the varying lived experiences of the diverse Arts
community and actively works to foster a safe environment for all students to feel
open to sharing their own experiences with mental health.

Leaders within the AUS should establish a culture where team members are
encouraged to seek help from mental health services when needed and feel
comfortable reporting excessive workload, distress from work, or needs like mental
health days. When people are experiencing emotional distress, we do not
encourage self-blaming, hiding stress or symptoms, or invalidating mental health
issues. Furthermore, we encourage students to:

1. Understand the need for mental health awareness and engagement as a
crucial element of the well-being of our community.

2. Actively seek help and resources from the Student Health Center, Center for
Accessibility, Student Assistance Program, etc., when distress affects their mental
wellness and/or functioning.

3. Protect others’ privacy by not sharing any personal experiences of others
without their permission.

4. Actively seek opportunities to educate themselves on mental health issues
and terminology, such as the “Mental Health Literacy for Student Leaders” Canvas
course created by The Wellness Centre.

Part 2: Addressing Cases of Harassment

The AUS defines harassment as the act of repeated unwanted actions against
a victim - these actions are often aggressive and intimidating. This includes but is not
limited to racial epithets and malicious remarks, which may become a pattern of
repeated behaviour. The AUS condemns harassment based upon any facets of one’s
identity, both at its externally-facing events and internally. AUS members have a duty
to hold each other accountable for our commitment to equity and inclusion
practices through the implementation of the Equity and Inclusion Strategy, its social
media practices, the cultivation of events that are safe spaces for students, and the
transparent reporting of its progress on this action plan to the UBC communities.

Furthermore, the AUS is dedicated to creating a community where fairness
and inclusion are ingrained in all aspects of academic, professional, and campus life.
This is done in a manner that recognizes and works to prevent all types of
harassment on campus.
The AUS adheres and shall continue to adhere to the current UBC Equity and
Inclusion Action Plan to ensure that the AUS Community continually maintains
equity and inclusion, not only with regards to sexual harassment but all forms of
discrimination (gender, race, class, religion, sexuality, etc.). Additionally, within the
AUS Code of Procedures, any capacity of harassment (verbal, mental, physical, or
virtual) is not only condemned but may be grounds for termination from any
position. Likewise, the AUS is committed to maintaining and cultivating an
environment in which students are able to safely practice learning, research, and
engagement in an intersectional and multifaceted way of gathering
community-based knowledge.

Part 3: Addressing sexual harassment

Sexual harassment can be understood as acts such as unwelcome sexual
advances, remarks of a sexual nature, requests for sexual favours, and
gender-based discrimination, which are all examples that foster a hostile work
environment. There are many different types of sexual harassment - some examples
are listed below:

1. Quid Pro Quo: This Latin phrase means "one thing in exchange for another." In
a workplace, this can be the practice of linking an employee's advantages,
such as receiving a raise or avoiding termination, to the exchange of sexual
acts from their employer or supervisor. This applies to any circumstance in
which the harasser is in a position of power over the victim (which is rarely
consensual), not only those involving the workplace or the academic
environment. In the AUS, this relationship can be between a volunteer and
their executive, assistant vice president, or director.

2. Hostile Work Environment: This phrase describes circumstances in which a
worker is exposed to unpleasant sexual imagery or language, as well as
unwanted advances. This can also describe any threat of sexual harassment.
Coworkers, a manager/employer, or even customers or clients might foster an
unfriendly work environment. Employers are responsible for making sure that
sexual harassment does not occur at their workplaces and for ending any
instances of sexual harassment that they become aware of.

3. Non-consensual physical contact: This can include hugging, patting,
touching, and other unwanted physical interactions.

The AUS condemns any form of sexual misconduct or harassment within the
AUS or within the Faculty of Arts. Sexual harassment is prohibited under the AUS
Code of Procedures and will be grounds for termination. This is true of all types of
harassment, verbal or physical, regardless of whether it is motivated by gender,
ethnicity, class, religion, or sexual orientation.

Section 2: Social Affairs

All AUS events will thoroughly employ principles of equity and inclusion in
their planning and execution. To continue to improve AUS events, the E&I Event
Approval Form must be completed by each team during their event planning
process in order to facilitate discussion between the E&I Department and other
portfolios. The Equity Commissioner shall work with the Vice President Finance to
ensure form is completed in order to gain reimbursements for events.

a) Considerations Required By The Form Include:

Location of the event and the relative accessibility of the venue
Price of event and if financial support is available if there is an associated cost
Contact for accessibility concerns included in the promotion of the event
Creating an appropriate and effective land acknowledgement
What sensitive topics may be covered during an event? Should there be a content warning in advance?
If food and beverages are being served, how are allergies and dietary preferences being accommodated

The form will serve as a way to consider E&I principles and receive resources
from the E&I Department. The form must be submitted 4 weeks in advance of the
intended event date, and E&I Strategists will review and respond to the form within 1
week of receiving it.

The form should be updated as necessary and be required to be reviewed on a
yearly basis.

Section 3: Communication with the Arts Community

The AUS engages with Arts students in a variety of ways, including on social media, using accounts like @ubcaus, @ausequity, @ausfyc, @aushewe on Instagram,
and the AUS Elections Facebook page. The AUS upholds this commitment by
following a strictly codified set of procedures that guide the manner in which we
post to social media to uphold standards for our social media posts. The following
standards, in accordance with the AUS Brand Guide, are to be adopted by these
accounts:

Part 1: Social Media Standards

Sans-serif fonts should be used when selecting fonts, as they are cleaner and less distracting when reading than Serif fonts.
Colour use and contrast should be considered when creating visuals to ensure the text is legible.
Captions should be provided on all pre-recorded video content, and where this is not possible, transcriptions should be provided in the comments of the post for those using screen readers.
The creation of an ‘AUS dictionary’ is recommended to be shared on these accounts to assist users in understanding the jargon that may be used in posts (such as Arts Student Centre ‘ASC’, etc).
Any media posted should contain no content that flashes over three times sequentially within the period of time of one second.
When sharing video content, be mindful of playing loud music or the existence of distracting background noise to ensure the speech is intelligible.
When filming or photographing events, the consent of participants must have been acquired in advance of such activities taking place, and those wishing not to be included in photos should have been given adequate notice to remove themselves from the shot.

Part 2: Survey Standards

In surveys, questions should be appropriate and mindful, considering how to best qualify the needs of students when addressing equity concerns.
- This can be achieved by using scales, such as the Likert Scale;
- Open-ended opinion question to move the assumption of needs or opinions of the diverse community the AUS serves;
- Categories of demographic information, if being collected and analyzed, should be constructed based upon best practices at that time. Beneficial resources include UBC Research Ethics.
- Data should be disposed of after its use or on a defined, periodic basis;
  - More information on responsible data collection can be found here.

Lastly, communications within the Arts community should also remain respectful (e.g., use indicated pronouns to refer to people), confidential (i.e., keep one’s identifiable information private unless their behaviours may harm themselves or others), and professional (e.g., remember one’s representation of the AUS and keep communications organized and on-topic, only use official working accounts forAUS-related communication).