Trent University is committed to making the University a fair and equitable workplace. In keeping with this objective, former President Bonnie Patterson re-established Trent University’s Advisory Committee on Employment Equity in 2005. The primary objective of this Committee is to heighten campus awareness and understanding of employment equity. Present membership is from all staff and faculty constituencies and is comprised of representation, where possible, from the four designated groups:

• women
• Aboriginal peoples
• persons with disabilities
• visible minorities

Major Initiatives

• Development of a Web Site

The Committee established this web site in order to raise awareness around employment equity issues and to inform the University community about progress towards implementation of employment equity on campus. The web site allows for reporting to the University community on a regular basis, and acts as a repository for key information with respect to employment equity issues. The Committee has recently added a number of important links and an Interfaith Calendar.

• Workforce Survey

One of the key goals of the Committee is to assist Trent University in revising, establishing, and updating policy and procedure guidelines. In conjunction with Trent’s Department of Human Resources, the Committee played an important role in educating the Trent community about the importance of a workforce survey. All of Trent’s employees are asked to complete a survey, in which they are requested to identify whether or not they belong to a designated group. This information is necessary to determine the present makeup of Trent’s staff and faculty. All results are kept confidential. The results of the survey assist the Committee in achieving a clearer picture of who is employed in the workplace and how Trent is faring in its progress towards equity.

• Compliance Review

Periodically, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) selects organizations that are involved in the Federal Contractors Program to undergo an employment equity compliance review. This process is designed to evaluate an organization’s progress towards implementation of employment equity. In Spring 2007 HRSDC advised Trent University that it had been chosen for review. According to this four-step process, Trent must

• Collect information on the employment status of designated group members (women, Aboriginal peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities), by occupation relative to all other employees;

• Compare this data to the availability data on designated group members locally, provincially and nationally;

• Review Human Resources policies, practices and systems shown to have or likely to have an unfavourable effect on the employment status of designated group members;

• Establish goals for the hiring, and promotion of designated group employees, considering projections for hiring, promotions, terminations, lay-offs, and retirements.

In support of the review, the Committee surveyed the University community a second time to compare Trent’s internal labour force (where designated group status is determined by asking employees to voluntarily disclose) to the external availability data (based on Statistics Canada’s Census data). Where the proportion of designated group members in the internal labour force is less than in the available labour supply, an under-representation exists. The survey results are available on the Survey page of this web site.

In Spring 2008, the Committee undertook an Employment Systems Review to help the University identify and remove discriminatory barriers in its existing employment policies, procedures and practices. The Committee met various members of the campus community and conducted focus groups designed to obtain feedback on employment practices from faculty and staff.

Based on the above two steps, an Employment Equity Plan was developed and submitted to HRDC which sets out how the barriers will be removed and establishes realistic goals for the future hiring and promotion of designated groups. A Compliance Review Report was submitted and approved by HRDC in January, 2009 which means the Trent University has passed its initial compliance review. Next steps are to implement the changes listed in the Plan.

In October 2010, Trent once again demonstrated its commitment to Employment Equity by establishing the amalgamated Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility.  The Office as it is today now has two staff members dedicated to working on Equity issues.