From Joy Johnson | New executive position: Vice President, People, Equity and Inclusion

This message is sent on behalf of Joy Johnson, president and vice-chancellor to all faculty and staff.

Dear faculty and staff,

Since I began my term in September, I have been having conversations about how to ensure we support making SFU an inclusive community. I am now pleased to announce that, with the support of our Board of Governors, we will add a new executive position to SFU’s leadership group. The Vice President, People, Equity and Inclusion will bring our faculty and staff relations functions into a single portfolio and will help shape a unified strategy to create a more equitable and inclusive SFU. Establishing an executive position that combines Human Resources and Faculty Relations functions, and is guided by an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) mandate, will allow for a comprehensive approach to recruitment, retention and development for the entire university.

Bringing together all “people” functions into a single portfolio will allow us to create a strategic approach to developing our organization and employees. It will also ensure faculty and staff have access to integrated programs for things like leadership development, non-academic training and career support. However, we recognize that there are some unique elements of Faculty Relations, and that faculty must continue to have a strong relationship to the Vice President, Academic. Where required by the collective agreement, and where academic considerations are paramount, Faculty Relations will continue to work closely with the VPA.

In recent years, several reports and recommendations, including the recent Diversity Meter survey, have called for a senior leadership role to guide an institutional approach to EDI. In my many conversations with our community, presidents and EDI leaders at other universities, and particularly equity-deserving groups at SFU, I have been compelled by feedback that this is the right step forward.

I recognize SFU is not as inclusive as we want it to be, and leadership at the executive table will hold us accountable for the systemic changes required to reach our goals. The events of this past weekend show me how critical it is, now more than ever, to think about our people and about how we ensure Black, Indigenous and People of Colour feel safe and included. Though institution-wide EDI responsibilities will be housed in this new portfolio, I want to stress that the work of creating a more equitable and inclusive university community is a responsibility we all share. And there is work to do.

Our first step will be to create a search committee per University Policy GP29 beginning in January 2021. The SFU community will be invited to give feedback on the position description. Once the position description is final, a search firm will be engaged and recruitment will begin. Communication will continue throughout the process. My intention is to welcome the Vice President, People, Equity and Inclusion in Fall 2021, at which time the portfolio will be established. Until that time there will be no changes to portfolios.

This is an important step forward on our journey. Thank you for your support and commitment. I encourage you to help shape this new role when consultation begins in the new year.

Joy Johnson

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)
President and Vice-Chancellor
Simon Fraser University