Strategic Plan

Short term (1 year):

Professional Development: Offer EDI targeted professional development sessions and resources to advance goals in line with the strategic plan. The committee will maximize engagement across all career levels (e.g. by emphasizing the relevance of professional development for funding applications and/or the need for EDI statements in academia).
Support Working Group 3 in Providing Resources on How to Address Complaints:. Support of Working Group 3 could include, e.g.: revise FAQs on the website, create printed flyers for awareness of several paths for complaints, etc..
Inclusive Teaching Resources: Develop an inclusive syllabus template and introductory slides for instructors to introduce classroom norms and give guidance on group dynamics. Collect additional resources on teaching and learning for a new website.

Medium Term (2-3 years):

Develop common EDI Curriculum: Collaborate with PHAS partners to create a comprehensive professional development curriculum for implementing best EDI practices. This curriculum should focus on skills that promote equity, inclusion, and a healthy community. This curriculum should guide planned EDI events.
Canvas EDI Modules: Consider adopting and customizing the Canvas EDI modules developed by the Biology program. These can enhance the committee’s professional development efforts.

Long Term (5+ years):
Deploy common EDI Curriculum: Encourage and incentivize all department members to engage with available EDI professional development curriculum resources, and establish expectations for community EDI development and engagement. Organize EDI professional development events to enhance this curriculum.

Short term (1 year):

Strategic Plan and Values Statement: Develop a strategic plan and articulate the committee’s goals and path toward achieving them.
Improve Communication Channels: Enhance communication to reach all PHAS and QMI groups.
– Make information on existing community groups (e.g. how to join their mailing lists) accessible to all dept members.
– Updates and advertise what we do more (e.g. TV screen)
Town Hall Fall 2024: Organize a Town Hall in Fall to present the strategic plan, engage with the community, and recruit volunteers for the three committees.
New Community Avenues: Explores initiatives like “Monday tea”, communal lunches, department retreats, annual department barbeque, open houses, and department-wide poster sessions to foster community.
– New members introduction: Use events as introductions of new dept members
– Internal open houses: Monthly events to increase departmental community knowledge of research our labs are doing. This would be a useful tool for recruiting and enhancing the professional development of students.
– Community photos: Use the TV screen in Hennings to display photos of our community.
Colloquium Enhancements: Collaborate with colloquium coordinators to improve colloquium experiences based on feedback from town halls and climate surveys.
Photo Update: Remove old departmental photos from Hennings building’s walls and make them available as a digital archive.
Lunchroom Transformation: Revamp the lunchroom into an appealing space and expand the library.
Inclusive Space: establish a dedicated sensory-friendly working space within the Hennings building.

Medium-term (2-3 years):

New Member Orientation Checklist: Ensure the development of an orientation checklist with clear points of contact for all elements.
Henning 318 Redesign: Transform Henning 318 into a more inviting space for both community members and guests.
Pool of shared equipment tools: establish avenues to borrow/share equipment.

Long Term (5+ years):

New Member Introductions: A mechanism for introducing new PHAS members (faculty, staff, and graduate students) to the community is working well and is automated.
New Member Resources: All new department members automatically receive necessary resources to immediately participate in the department and the broader UBC community, including: building/room access, community events
New Member Orientation: All new department members automatically receive a guide to benefits and resources, access to mentors, etc.
Welcoming Spaces for Department Members and Visitors: Advocate for access to welcoming working spaces for visitors, and welcoming spaces for department members to make connections across career stages. For example, renovating Hennings 318 with modernized AV capabilities.

Short term (1 year):

LaunchPad for Summer 2025: Establish the target audience and organize a LaunchPad program for this Summer. Collect data from attendees to assess barriers that make it less likely they will choose UBC.
Outreach initiatives: Develop/support initiatives to target communities where physics careers are not traditionally expected, such as high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds and indigenous youth. Consider linking LaunchPad to seed2STEM and scholarships.
Equity vs. Equality Scholarships: Establish mechanisms to assess scholarship needs, distinguishing between equity-based and equality-based criteria in collaboration with the Faculty of Science.
Graduate Student Involvement: Provide a clear set of expected outcomes and a timeline in advance for graduate student involvement in hiring committees.
Initiate Incident Response Contacts: Develop a process for designating and updating points of contact across all permanent department employees (including staff, faculty, and research associates) to address incidents of misconduct. Assess training paths for these designated contacts to ensure effective support.
Workshops: Develop workshops and events that can benefit specific minority groups for providing support and resources (e.g. “uncover hidden curriculum for applying in grad school” or “affinity groups presentations”. )
Recognizing Faculty EDI Work: Recognizing EDI work of faculty as service within the department through any relevant merit and job performance review processes; leveraging this year’s service review process.

Medium Term (2-3 years):

Subsidized Housing Proposal: Investigate avenues for subsidized housing for graduate students with families to alleviate cost-of-living challenges.
Scholarship Planning: Identify the department’s highest priority recruitment barriers based on data collected during the graduate admissions process (e.g. Open House attendees) and LaunchPad attendees. Determine target groups for scholarship support.
Scholarship Fundraising: As soon as Planning for target groups is in place, engage in fundraising efforts to support endowed scholarships and other forms of financial support.
Dept-Wide EDI Curriculum: Develop a common department-wide EDI curriculum and provide resources to normalize best practices, including mentoring agreements or contracts.
Peer Mentoring Programs: Create peer mentoring programs for all levels and orientations for new department members.
Tutoring Services: Offer free tutoring or tutorial services for Physics/Astronomy courses, e.g. through providing resources to existing services such as PhysSoc.
Deploy Incident Response Contacts: Designate points of contact across all permanent department employees (including staff, faculty, and research associates) to address incidents of misconduct. Offer regular training for these designated contacts based on the identified training plan.

Long term (5+ years):

Recognizing EDI Work: Recognizing EDI work as service within the department through any relevant merit and job performance review processes. Develop dept awards for excellence in supportive mentoring.
Deploy New Scholarship Programs: Leveraging mechanisms to assess scholarship needs and scholarship fundraising efforts, launch new scholarships as soon as funding is in place (in collaboration with the Faculty of Science).
Inclusive Working Spaces: Ensure a working space is available for those in the department with sensory sensitivities.