Monday, January 08, 2024

UPEI faculty union says changes promised in university's action plan need to happen now


CBC
Thu, January 4, 2024 

UPEI's five-year action plan to change a culture of harassment and discrimination on campus was drafted by an advisory group made up of staff and students as well as members of the wider community on Prince Edward Island. (Laura Meader/CBC - image credit)

UPEI's draft five-year action plan contains hundreds of proposed changes to address everything from discrimination to sexual harassment to bullying, but the university's faculty association says more could be done immediately to change the culture on campus.

The action plan, released this week, was in response to the June 2023 Rubin Thomlinson report that said a toxic environment had developed at the Charlottetown institution, and looked into how misconduct allegations against a former UPEI president were handled.

In the wake of the report, P.E.I. Premier Dennis King said UPEI's future provincial funding would be contingent on the university committing to change — and proving over the next five years that change was indeed happening.

In the draft action plan, released Wednesday, the university acknowledged it has not lived up to its values and "failed to create a safe, respectful and positive environment."

Margot Rejskind, executive director of the UPEI Faculty Association, said some of the same problems identified by the Rubin Tomlinson report still exist. She doesn't think the changes outlined in the action plan are happening fast enough.

'If we don’t change the structures that allowed those things to happen, it’s hard to see how things will go differently, even with all the goodwill in the world,' says UPEI Faculty Association executive director Margot Rejskind.

'If we don’t change the structures that allowed those things to happen, it’s hard to see how things will go differently, even with all the goodwill in the world,' says UPEI Faculty Association executive director Margot Rejskind. (Laura Meader/CBC)

"If you're not doing the things that need to be done now, to make things better for people on our campus now, what is it about this that's going to be different?" said Rejskind.

"Really, nothing has changed on our campus, and that is a source of frustration for us. We feel there are things that UPEI could be doing right now to fix those problems. There's no time like the present to start being accountable and transparent."

Widespread issues cited

The Rubin Thomlinson report brought to light allegations of sexual violence, bullying, racism and sexism on campus, with both students and staff as victims.

It outlined evidence of what it called a toxic workplace culture, especially during the term of former president Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. His sudden retirement in December 2021 came just as a misconduct claim was being filed against him. The third-party review was commissioned a few days later.

The action plan calls for a "cultural shift" at UPEI and includes new policies, offices and staff to address discrimination, harm and violence.

It also vows to improve transparency and accountability. An external auditor will review the plan on a yearly basis to ensure the university is following through on its promises.

Students, staff and community members made recommendations through a series of "listening sessions" in the leadup to the action plan's release.


'We need to change the culture that had historically happened here at the university and this is our roadmap to do so,' says interim UPEI president Greg Keefe about the university's five-year action plan to address discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying.

'We need to change the culture that had historically happened here at the university and this is our roadmap to do so,' interim UPEI president Greg Keefe said Thursday. (Laura Meader/CBC)

Interim UPEI president Greg Keefe said many of the changes are starting to take effect immediately.

"If you look at the plan, it talks about 'year zero' — well that's the year that we're in. So we have not waited until we had the full plan in place to begin the actions, but there are extensive actions through the full five years of the action plan," he said.

"We need to change the culture that had historically happened here at the university and this is our roadmap to do so."



We can put a different face up there, but if we don't change the structures that allowed those things to happen, it's hard to see how things will go differently. — Margot Rejskind

Over the next couple of weeks, there will be more public consultation on the action plan. A final version will be approved by late spring.

Presidential search underway

Meanwhile, a new UPEI president is expected to be hired by June, with a search committee doing its work as the university tries to rebuild trust with its campus community.

Rejskind said the university's approach to hiring a replacement is a step in the right direction, but she believes UPEI remains in a place of "major instability," with staff feeling a lot of skepticism and mistrust.

"The structures that allowed things to go so, so far wrong under the previous administration have not changed, and a lot of the people who were there for that are still here now," she said.

"We can put a different face up there, but if we don't change the structures that allowed those things to happen, it's hard to see how things will go differently, even with all the goodwill in the world."

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