The main mandate of the Faculty of Education Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (FEEDIC) is to advance equity, diversity, and inclusivity for students and employees, particularly those from groups that have historically encountered or continue to face systemic barriers. As part of this mandate, the FEEDIC acts in an advisory capacity for the Deanery and other leadership within the Faculty of Education to bring forward new initiatives.
Part of this mandate includes:
- Liaison with the EDI office at the office of the Provost to oversee diversity surveys to represent the Faculty’s reality and ensure appropriate conclusions can be drawn;
- Interpretation of Faculty diversity and equity data for advising the Dean’s office on procedural changes within the Faculty; and
- Oversight of relevant university equity and diversity policies, so they can properly enact at the Faculty level, when relevant to the Faculty’s strategic goals and requirements.
To advance its mandate, FEEDIC:
- works to identify systemic barriers to equity and inclusion at the departmental level, individual level, and community level;
- works to identify institutional solutions to advance diversity and inclusion;
- promotes the idea of addressing barriers with the vision of creating a different kind of faculty overall;
- liaises with University committees on issues related to equity, inclusion and diversity;
- promotes diversity at the Faculty in curricular and extracurricular activities (e.g. meetings and seminars); and
- maintains updated information about EDI in the Faculty of Education.
Overall, the committee strives to represent numerous equity groups including women, racialized people, visible minorities, ethnic/ethno-religious minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ (sexual orientation and gender identity minorities).
FEEDIC's Strategic Orientation:
1) Student Experience
Develop an established fund for student-led EDI initiatives.
Establish a mechanism in which students, academic staff, and non-academic staff can consult, give feedback, receive support, etc., regarding EDI issues; this mechanism should be clearly communicated and have some accountability in response built into it.
2) Research and Knowledge
Establish a permanent fund to give honoraria to (non-McGill) guest lecturers within courses, especially those pertaining to EDI considerations (e.g., Indigenous Knowledge keepers) and to ensure that the honoraria are issued efficiently.
Create Faculty-endorsed ongoing professional development strategy on EDI that is data-driven and educates our community to prevent prejudice against marginalized individuals and groups. Some areas to focus on include but are not limited to Anti-Black racism, Indigenous peoples, ethno-religious minorities, 2SLGBTQAI+, differently-abled people, etc.
3) Outreach
Provide dedicated funding, staff support, and delegated leadership for the Faculty’s “We Will Walk Together” event (held on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day).
4) Physical Spaces
Addressing physical spaces where Faculty of Education study and work takes place on McGill campus to maintain access for all.
5) Strengthening Equitable and Transparent Decision-Making
Audit rubrics used by student award/fellowship and admission committees to assess to what extent EDI is reflected in such; provide clear evaluation criteria and recommendations for all committees to have items pertaining to EDI for all such decisions. Develop and provide support for implementing equity-based guidelines for awards and scholarships across the Faculty.
FEEDIC Symposium 2023:
The FEEDIC Symposium hosted two separate roundtable panels in March 2023; one was on research and EDI, the other on dismantling colonialism. The event provided a chance for each department and student group to provide their visions and concerns about the different EDI issues like Anti-Black racism and students from diverse language and social experiences. It allowed the students and academics to discuss their projects and initiatives regarding EDI issues along with a slideshow presentation from the various EDI-related events that took place throughout the academic year.
