Equity, anti-racism central themes at A&S Advising Conference

November 23, 2020 by Sean McNeely - A&S News

Inclusion, diversity and working to overcome racism were key themes at the recent 2020 Faculty of Arts & Science Advising Conference held virtually.

The annual conference for over 200 staff staff who provide advising services to undergraduate A&S students, gave participants the opportunity to explore best practices to advise, support and engage the Faculty’s diverse undergraduate student population.

“Forums like these are just one of the ways we can come together to have important and creative conversations about how we can support students in Arts & Science, now and going forward,” says Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Attracting academic advisors, registrars, residence staff, deans of students, departmental administrators and student staff peer mentors, the conference reflects the Faculty’s commitment to ensuring that Arts & Science student services are in line with contemporary best practices and competencies, as adopted globally by professionals in the field.

The day-long event included sessions and workshops addressing issues such as best practices for advising students online, how to best support students in their academic decision making, how to effectively provide referrals to cross campus resources, and how to best support and empower domestic and international students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of colour.

We know some students don’t feel seen and heard and that we need to continue to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at A&S. While our student body is diverse, some groups are under-represented, and they may experience barriers to academic opportunities. We aim to change all this. We have to.

“We know some students don’t feel seen and heard and that we need to continue to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at A&S,” says Woodin.

“While our student body is diverse, some groups are under-represented, and they may experience barriers to academic opportunities. We aim to change all this. We have to.”

Headshot of Eternity Martis
The conference’s keynote speaker, Eternity Martis is an award-winning journalist, editor, writing consultant and author.

The conference’s keynote speaker, Eternity Martis, an award-winning journalist, editor, writing consultant and author, shared her experience as an undergrad student at an Ontario university in 2010, highlighting the need to address racism on campuses across the province.

Her debut memoir They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up was featured in the Globe and Mail’s 2020 winter books preview, and Quill and Quire’s most anticipated memoirs.

Martis candidly shared her frustration as she recalled continually seeing the seat next to her empty in lecture halls, no matter how crowded the room.

“When you're Black on campus, you are both hyper-visible and invisible. Both are detrimental to your well-being,” says Martis, whose work on race and language, namely on capitalizing “Black” and “Indigenous” identities, has influenced style guide changes across the country.

She also recalled difficult moments such as seeing blackface costumes at Halloween parties and hearing students question why slavery was still being discussed in class.

“My experience was happening at every single university campus in the country,” says Martis. There are thousands of students having my experience right now, some of whom might be in this crowd.

“We must bring our own tools to the table and spend the long days and nights breaking it down. Consistent work, genuine work and doing it together,” she adds. “This is critical transformation and healing and how we can bring about this change that we're all here hoping to achieve. I'm hopeful that we can.”

“It’s important that students feel welcomed to bring their true and authentic selves to Arts & Science,” says Woodin.

It is also critical they feel connected to others around them, when they look to leaders for mentorship and advice, and to those with shared lived experiences and cultural sentience. It is important that we have a diverse faculty, staff and student body, and that those students can participate fully and comfortably in all that Arts & Science offers.”

The 2020 conference marked the fourth annual professional development event for Arts & Science staff and is run annually by the Student Affairs unit out of the Office of the Faculty Registrar.

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