News

  • Human Rights Task Force invites final comments as it puts finishing touches on report

    Friday, March 17, 2017 | By

    The Human Rights Task Force is in the final stages of completing its report to the President on human rights at Brock University. After an extensive consultation period, including in person meetings, online submissions and drop in sessions, the Task Force has reviewed the feedback provided from faculty, staff, students and alumni and is preparing its final report. In response to requests from faculty for additional time to provide comments, the Task Force is offering members of the Brock community a final chance to submit feedback. Comments may be provided by email to the secretary to the Task Force, Chabriol Colebatch, at ccolebatch@brocku.ca by 3pm on March 24, 2017. Any feedback received will be reviewed by the Task Force at its meeting on March 28, 2017. The Task Force intends to provide its report to the President in April.

    For further information about the Task Force, and to review its Interim Report, please visit: https://brocku.ca/human-rights-task-force

  • Update from the Task Force

    Friday, December 23, 2016 | By

    The President’s Human Rights Task force convened on November 7, November 24, November 29 and December 15, continuing its thematic consultations and initiating a phase of debrief and drafting of the Task Force Interim Report.

    The thematic consultations focused on the issues of Racial Climate (on November 7) and Ableism (on November 24). The Task Force heard from the Racial Climate Task Force/Anti-Racism Task Force, Awareness Breaks Limits for Equality (ABLE) student group, and the Student Wellness and Accessibility Centre among other presentations and first-hand accounts from students, faculty, and staff. In-depth discussions around policies, processes, services and supports were held, to inform the development of interim recommendations.

    At its meeting on November 29, the Task Force debriefed in order to synthesize the learnings from the consultations to date. During this meeting, the Task Force formed a small working group comprising of members to assist in drafting the Interim Report. Following consultations with the Interim Report Writing Working Group, the Task Force reconvened on December 15 and reviewed a draft of the Interim Report.

    It is anticipated that the Task Force will reconvene in early January 2017 to finalize the Interim Report, which will inform the community consultations scheduled to take place mid-January to mid-February 2017. Once confirmed, the meeting details will be posted on the Human Rights Task Force website. Members of the Brock community are welcome to attend.

  • Update from the Task Force

    Thursday, November 03, 2016 | By

    The President’s Human Rights Task Force met again on September 26, and October 6, 20 and 24. The Task Force has concluded the first stage of its process, developing an understanding of human rights at Brock and refining the plan and process of the Task Force itself.

    The October meetings commenced the second stage of the Task Force process, entailing information gathering from sources and stakeholders within and outside the University. At the September 26 meeting, the Task Force heard concerns from administrative units regarding operational issues with the current policies, processes, services and supports regarding human rights. The Task Force heard from the Office of Human Rights and Equity Services, Human Resources, Campus Security and the Students-at-Risk Team, with a fruitful discussion about next steps and potential interim recommendations. Specifically, the topics of investigation processes, appeal processes, confidentiality, and reporting structures were discussed. This discussion was incredibly useful to the Task Force process, that the timeline was revised to include an October 20 meeting to continue the conversation and determine further interim recommendations.

    The October 6 meeting of the Task Force brought leading human rights practitioners from other universities together for a broad discussion of ‘best practices’ in the post-secondary sector. The Task Force enjoyed presentations by Milé Komlen, Director of Human Rights and Equity Services at McMaster University, and Jane Ngobia, Assistant Vice-President, Office of Diversity and Human Rights at the University of Guelph. Milé and Jane shared their perspectives on operational and policy aspects of administering human rights within a university, and provided several ideas for the Task Force to consider.

    The Task Force is now beginning a thematic look at the issues of sexual violence, racial climate and ableism. The October 24 meeting focused on sexual violence, with a presentation by Margot Francis, M.Ed, PhD and Allison Cadwallader, Sexual Violence Response and Education Coordinator. The presentations were followed up by a discussion during which the Task Force determined potential recommendations for December’s interim report concerning sexual violence supports at Brock University.

    The Task Force will be considering these and other recommendations at future meetings, which are open to the entire University community. The next Task Force meeting is on November 7, 2016 at 1 PM in TH 253. Members of the Brock community are welcome to attend.

  • Update from the Task Force

    Thursday, September 22, 2016 | By

    The President’s Human Rights Task Force has held three meetings to date: July 7, August 29, and September 12. During these meetings, the Task Force has approved its procedures, elected a Vice Chair, Dr. Dolana Mogadime, established a communication protocol, and refined the Task Force’s timeline.

    Revisions to the timeline included an extension of the final report deadline to April 3, 2017. The Task Force was in agreement that the inclusion of thematic meetings focused on sexual violence, racial climate and ableism (inclusive of mental health and physical disabilities) would help focus the discussions on human rights at Brock University, without excluding other important issues. The Task Force will strive to raise awareness about the intersections that may be experienced between these three focused concerns. For example, the growing diversity among the university population means racism and xenophobia may also be linked to discrimination in the context of multi-faith based realities.

    The five-staged timeline includes:

    1. Stage 1: Developing an Understanding of Human Rights at Brock and Refining the Plan and Process of the Task Force
    2. Stage 2: Information Gathering
    3. Stage 3: Interim Report
    4. Stage 4: Consultation on the Interim Report
    5. Stage 5: Final Recommendations and Report

    Discussions to date have included a contextual discussion of Human Rights from a global perspective, an overview of the Human Rights Landscape at Brock (committees, task forces, services and policies), discussion about the Ontario Human Rights Code, and a review of the complaint procedures under the Respectful Work & Learning Environment Policy, which are administered by the Office of Human Rights and Equity Services at Brock University.

    The Task Force also agreed that it would develop a shared human rights vocabulary (a list of definitions) to accompany the Committee’s Final Report and also investigate and include a recommendation with regard to an Equity Audit.

    The Task Force looks forward to inviting speakers from other universities and leading human rights researchers to present their findings on human rights in the university context, with a focus on practical applications at Brock University.

    The next meeting of the Human Rights Task Force is on September 26, 2016, from 9-11 AM in Sankey Chamber. Members of the Brock community are welcome to attend. For more information, please visit the Human Rights Task Force website.

  • Human Rights Task Force to hold first meeting

    Wednesday, July 06, 2016 | By

    Brock Campus at sunset

    Brock University’s new Human Rights Task Force has now been established, and the group will hold its inaugural meeting this Thursday, July 7 in Cairns 207 at 3 pm.  Members of the Brock community are welcome to attend.

    The Task Force, created by a directive last March from then-president Jack Lightstone, was established to improve and advance human rights at Brock. The Task Force will provide recommendations to the incoming President to improve Brock’s human rights policies, processes, services and supports.

    The membership of the Task Force was drawn from an open call for nominations from the Brock community. Members were appointed by Lightstone, in consultation with numerous campus stakeholders, including the University’s labour unions, the Graduate Student Association and the Brock University Student Union.

    The Task Force consists of:

    • Chair — Anna Lathrop, Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning
    • Vice-Chair — to be selected by the Task Force
    • Students — Aniqah Zowmi (undergraduate), LeeAnn Cayer and Samantha MacAndrew (graduate students)
    • Faculty members — Margot Francis, Ingrid Makus, Dolana Mogadime
    • Staff members — Andrew Bassingthwaighte, Brad Clarke, Sandra Wong
    • Faculty Dean — Tom Dunk
    • External member — Julie Rorison, member, YWCA Niagara board of directors

    The group’s Terms of Reference can be found on a new web page that has been created to publicly report on the progress of the Task Force. The mandate includes making recommendations regarding:

    1. Renewal and harmonization of all policies and procedures that impact human rights at Brock;
    2. Building awareness of human rights obligations and culture at Brock;
    3. Enhancing diversity and inclusivity within the Brock community; and
    4. The organization, staffing and resources of Brock’s human rights office.

    The first meeting will encompass the process and schedule to be followed by the Task Force and will include a broad discussion on human rights.