Council of Fellows apology
September 23, 2020
To the Council of Fellows, STLHE membership as a whole, and the general public:
Over the past few months, the enduring and systemic inequities in our culture and the ongoing traumas experienced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC), and other marginalized groups have become inescapably visible and pressing. Many institutions have stepped forward to declare their commitment to address and redress these inequities. We, the executive of the Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, provide this letter as both our apology and our commitment to action. We, as a collective, recognize that acknowledging the inequities is only a beginning step and that change (interpersonally and systemic) is what is critical.
A statement of apology is empty unless it comes with concrete plans for redress and long-term, sustained intervention. Thus, following our June 2020 Annual General meeting, a working group of Teaching and Student Fellows was formed, and it is evident that they have worked diligently over the summer to research and explore the issues and compose a series of demands for short-, medium-, and long-term actions to be taken by both the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) and the Council as a constituency group. These demands were sent to the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Council on August 12th, and presented in a public webinar on August 26th,, which coincided with the release of a petition and letter of support that as of this date has 31 signatories.
You may watch the webinar, and review the demands and the petition here:
- Webinar link: https://keepteaching.ca/webinars/co-constructing-an-anti-racist-stlhe-community-demands-for-us-all/
- Demands: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eITJd6EyoQQdE4zs1XLyTHNCDCJYRjQRjC_4HYJo2Ic/edit?usp=sharing
- Petition link: https://forms.gle/NPDsW6Wkk5UFeJnF6
We would like to thank the members of this working group, and especially the Student Fellows who have taken a strong leadership role in this exceptional, difficult, and important work. What follows is our initial response to that work.
Even a cursory overview of the roster of Fellows reveals that we as a Council have done a poor job of supporting BIPOC and other marginalized people who are unacceptably under-represented in the Council, and within the Fellowships-at-large. We admit that our mandate to celebrate and foster excellence in teaching and educational leadership in higher education cannot be met until the Fellowships truly reflect, in a deep and meaningful way, the diversity of our communities. We are not truly celebrating and honouring our vocation so long as some of us are invisible and, worse, labour in environments that do harm to and limit the capacity of racialized and marginalized members to contribute fully and equally and to be recognized for their contributions. An apology, while it is heartfelt, can only be meaningful if it is accompanied by action for change.
The Council apologizes for this legacy of under-representation and pledges to make changes in order to begin to heal our community and live up fully to our aspirations and mandate. Because we recognize that meeting this goal will not be achieved quickly or without sustained effort, we have identified immediate interventions and those that will need to unfold over the longer term.
Immediate actions:
- REPRESENTATION: We understand that it is important to make structural changes to how the Council conducts its business and decision-making. The Council By-Laws permit the appointment of additional members to the Executive beyond the stipulated roster who are duly elected.
- ACTION: Increase representation of diverse voices on the Council Executive by appointing additional Fellows-at-Large.
- ACTION: Commit to actively seeking diverse nominations in future elections to the Council Executive.
- REMUNERATION: The working group emphasizes that BIPOC and members of marginalized groups often carry a disproportionate burden when it comes to doing EDI, anti-racist and decolonizing work, often to the detriment of their health, resources, safety and advancement. Particularly for student members and precarious faculty, this work must be recognized with remuneration.
- ACTION: Provide remuneration from Council funds for Fellows-at-Large who sit on the Executive and fall into these categories.
- BROADER REPRESENTATION: We recognize that the Council is a partner to STLHE and that STLHE has also committed to EDI, anti-racism and decolonizing work.
- ACTION: We commit to contributing to that conversation and to representing Council in that venue. Member of the Executive, Pamela Rose Toulouse (Anishinaabe from Sagamok First Nation in Northern Ontario), is sitting on the STLHE EDI Task Force as our representative.
Long-term actions:
- RESEARCH and EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP FUNDING: We acknowledge that EDI, anti-racism and decolonising work must be supported by appropriately funded research.
- ACTION: We will revisit and revise the Scholarship of Leadership in Education (SoLE) grant criteria to include, and specifically seek projects, that address EDI, anti-racism and decolonisation.
- CONFERENCE PROGRAMING and LEARNING IN COMMUNITY: The Council recognizes that this work will be meaningful only if it becomes integrated into all of its the Council’s activities where we can work together to share and learn from each other. We further also recognize that this commitment must be made explicit and public.
- ACTION: We will make explicit calls for EDI, anti-racism and decolonisation-focused presentations in all of our conference activities: Welcome to My Classroom, Open Books, Pre-Conference Workshops.
- ACTION: We will make explicit calls for EDI, anti-racism and decolonisation-focused presentations in all of our conference activities: Welcome to My Classroom, Open Books, Pre-Conference Workshops.
- ADJUDICATION OF AWARDS: The Council recognizes that there are systemic barriers to Fellowship nominations from BIPOC and other marginalized groups. Furthermore, our standing ways of assessing nomination dossiers are likewise structured around systemic and often invisible systems of value that need to be brought to the surface, interrogated and revised so that the process upholds and embodies our commitment to increased equity.
- ACTION: The criteria and terms of reference for the 3M NTF and NSF are currently under review. Once the committee has completed its work on the revisions of the NTF and NSF criteria, we commit to the following: a review of our role in adjudication practices in light of the insights gained from EDI, anti-racism and decolonization work; ongoing learning in community; and revised instructions to adjudicators to ensure a more equitable process.
- ACTION: Through our mentoring network, we commit to actively mentoring and encouraging more diverse representation in the nominations.
- CAPACITY-BUILDING AND LEARNING: We understand that policy change alone cannot bring us closer to our aspirations and mandate. It is necessary to undertake learning in community and to increase capacity in the areas of EDI, anti-racism and decolonization. This is not work for BIPOC and marginalized members to do alone. We must each take on the labour of learning and action and to share the burden of activism, advocacy and creating change.
- ACTION: As the above long-term commitments suggest, the Council pledges to create opportunities for ongoing learning in community about the serious and systemic inequities in which we participate and to work together to redress these inequities.
Once again, we offer a heartfelt apology to all the BIPOC and other marginalized members of our community. We know that the actions we propose can never fully right the wrongdoing of the enduring and systemic inequities found in our culture, and the ongoing traumas they have caused. We pledge to take concrete action and create a better teaching and learning space together.
Respectfully,
Dr. Pat Maher
Chair
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Dr. Lisa Dickson
Vice-Chair
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Project Lead, 3M NTF National Mentoring Network
Heather Carroll
Communications and Finance Officer
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Dr. Maureen Connolly
Fellow-at-Large
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Dr. Deborah Dawson
Coordinator of the 3M National Teaching Fellowship
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Dr. Aline Germain-Rutherford
Fellow-at-Large
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Dr. Cynthia Korpan
Coordinator of the 3M National Student Fellowship
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Dr. Pamela Toulouse
Fellow-at-Large
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Dr. Christl Verduyn
Fellow-at-Large
Council of 3M National Fellows for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
