EUS Equity

EUS Equity Committee

Established:	2014
Email:	equity@mcgilleus.ca
Current Executives Equity Commissioners Emilie Froeliger Emily Curling Workshop Coordinator Kwesiga Kahigi

Template:Incomplete The EUS Equity Committee is a committee under the President's portfolio. EUS Equity promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity in engineering at McGill University. The committee is chaired by the Equity Commissioner. The committee communicates mostly through the EUS Equity facebook page.

General

McGill’s EUS Equity Committee promotes diversity, inclusion and social equity in Engineering at McGill.

Social equity states that everyone should have access to the same resources and be able to succeed in our society. Contrarily to equality (is given the same resources) equity takes into consideration people’s identities and how that allows them to move through society. In summation: “Equality is giving everyone shoes, Equity is giving everyone shoes that fit.”

The committee creates discussions about how to make our university environment more inclusive. This group of students talks about issues regarding gender identity, race, sexual orientation, ability, mental health, universal design, teaching & learning and much more. EUS Equity conducts equity training for student leaders to incorporate equity values within our engineering culture. The committee also works with faculty in order to coordinate our efforts to increase diversity in engineering at McGill.

If you are looking to get involved, feel free to email the Equity Commissioner at equity@mcgilleus.ca or message the committee on the EUS Equity facebook page.

The EUS Equity policy can be found online.

Complaints

Equity complaints are brought up to the Equity Commissioner following the equity policy. The commissioner can provide safe, non-judgmental, and confidential support to the people involved in the complaint.

Events

Workshops

The objective of the workshop is to give the participants a different perspective and inform about equity and inclusivity. It is a meeting that engage a discussion or an activity between the participants and the workshop instructors. The norms of the workshops given by the equity Committee are respect, engagement, openness, inclusiveness and confidentiality. Scenarios are discussed, opinions are shared and list of resources are usually made accessible during the workshops. The Equity Committee wish to provide tangible tools for the audience to know how to make events accessible, use inclusive language, deal with students with specific needs, learn what resources and services are available and how to access them and solve real-life situations. The workshops are given to multiple councils of McGill University and during lectures like FACC 100 with an intro to safer space and diversity.

Architecture (ASA)

Mining (CMEUS)

Mechanical (MAME)

Chemical (CHESS)

Materials (MEUS)

Civil (CEUS)

Electrical, Computer, Software

Junior Council

Queer Engineer (QE)

POWE

Blues Pub Managers

EUS Execs

Forums

Fall Forums

Hosted by the EUS Equity Committee, the Faculty of Engineering and the Mary Brown Fund, the Fall Forum aims to bring up topics of diversity in Engineering at McGill. This event is a great way to meet people interested in making Engineering at McGill more inclusive and connect with different groups on campus, faculty or industry leaders. The Forum allows attendees to discuss issues and work towards solutions to implement. It usually consists of a talk by a speaker and it is followed by discussion from a panel of leaders in the McGill community. Attendees are able to share their experiences, discuss with speakers common problems and potential mechanisms and strategies to deal with them, and form allyships across the spectrum of the engineering community based on improved understanding. During the event, refreshments and food are be provided and the admission is free.

Audience

All members of the McGill engineering community are invited to attend this forum. One of the forum's purpose is to bridge the gap between students, staff and professors, in terms of perceptions and conceptions of diversity and inclusivity.

Benefits

This forum, included in a series of events, will aim at building long-term support networks within the engineering community, through sharing of perspectives and experiences; developing a shared understanding of the challenges and benefits of creating a truly diverse and inclusive community in Engineering; maintaining an atmosphere of common engagement and commitment towards this community. It initiated numerous conversations with McGill Staff, Faculty members and students. Collaborations, experiences, issues and potential actions were discussed. The subjects of inclusivity, accessibility and microaggressions in EUS events, in the classroom and laboratories, admissions process, design competitions and teams, student projects, internships and transition to the workforce, classroom material, leadership positions in students groups, and diversity within the student and the professors body were covered as well. At the end, over 40 stakeholders were consulted.

Stakeholders

• McGill Staff and Services

The McGill Engineering Student Center (MESC): Jessica Wurster, Industry Liaison Associate The SEDE office: Sarah Malik and Tynan Jarrett. CAPS: Cindy Mancuso, Diversity Career Advisor. The OSD: Tanja Beck

• Student Groups

The Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS). Promoting Opportunities for Women in Engineering (POWE). National Society of Black Engineers McGill (NSBE). The McGill Robotics Team. The Peer Support Network. The Sustainability in Engineering At McGill group. The Computer Science Undergraduate Society. The IEEE McGill Chapter. Queer Engineering. Graduate Department Representatives.

• Professors

Professor Joseph Kinsella and Dean Jim Nicell were also present.

Funding

Funded in part by the Mary Brown Fund.

Format

A keynote presentation followed by questions to the speaker, followed by a panel which is interrupted at some point to launch into roundtable discussions within the audience; at the end of these discussions, each table brings back the results of its discussions to the general audience and the panel, to relaunch the panel discussions.

2014

2014"2015",

Speaker

Dr. Karen Tonso,

Wayne State University (Michigan). A presentation that includes some background information on the challenges that affect underrepresented and excluded groups in engineering (women, queer people, people with disabilities, Indigenous people). The presentation might also discuss how these identities intersect with race and will open for a discussion about how to make changes.

Panelists

Charmaine Lyn

Charmaine Lyn Director of Medical Admission, Faculty of Medicine

Prof Tal Arbel

Prof Tal Arbel Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering:

Sara Houshmand

Sara Houshmand, PhD student. doing research on coping and responding to microaggression, and recipient of the McGill University’s inaugural Award for Equity and Community Building.

Loréane Goma

Loréane Goma, third year mining engineering student at McGill university. Cameroonian and Congolese from my parents, I was born and raised in France before moving to Montreal for my studies. I have been a member of POWE since my second year in university and now hold the position of vice president outreach in this club. My responsibilities include managing the EM(ePOWE)R mentoring program, organizing General engineering panels as well as high school visits and presentations.

Speaker

Brie Code

Brie Code has been a programmer in the video game industry for almost 13 years. Until recently, she was working at Ubisoft Montreal, where she led programming teams on Child of Light, Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin's Creed II. Before that, she wrote code at Relic for Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War. She was also a founding member of the Ubidiversity Team at Ubisoft Montreal, volunteers with Pixelles, and is part of the advisory committee for YES Montreal's Advancing Women in STEM through Mentorship Project. Her ambition is to make games for her friends who don't play games.

Panelists

Adeola Odusanya

Adeola was born in Nigeria and lived there until moving to Canada when she was 11 years old.  Currently, she is completing her degree in Chemical Engineering here at McGill.  She is very involved in the Engineering Undergraduate Society, whether as a member of one of the design teams, Frosh coordinator or President of NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) McGill chapter.  She truly has enjoyed her almost 4.5 years as a McGill engineer, she has learned a lot in terms of her formal and social education.  She hopes to apply what she has learned in the Renewable Energy industry in higher education and eventually, the workplace.

Prof Gaskin

Professor Gaskin joined McGill in 1997, adding to the environmental engineering expertise in the Department of Civil Engineering. She was the 2nd women in the department and the 6th women in the Faculty of Engineering. She has a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and obtained her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. She teaches and does research in environmental hydraulics and water resources. She is (co-)chair of the Senate Sub-Committee on Women since 2012, which provides advice to the administration on policy improvements to support improvements towards equity for women in academia.

Tynan Jarrett

Tynan Jarrett is Equity Education Advisor (LGBTTQ) at McGill University's SEDE office, where since 2009 he has trained staff, faculty and students on equity issues, advised units and departments on policy and programming, and worked to increase access to McGill for groups that are typically underrepresented in the post-secondary setting.

Winter Forums

Forum on Accessibility and Universal Design in the Faculty of Engineering

The aim of the forum is to create awareness and further discussions about accessibility and Universal Design as an integral part of the profession of engineers, planners and architects. The forum will focus on applications of Universal Design (UD) as implemented in industry and in the fields of engineering, technology, architecture and urban planning. This discussion hopes to introduce the concept and principles of Universally Designed technology, products and services. It will focus on three topics of UD within industry: technology interface design, industrial product design, and physical space (architectural) design and planning. Design is fundamental to the engineering curriculum; therefore, there is a need to ensure that design curriculum addresses these issues so that McGill’s graduating engineers will have the tools and knowledge to design products and projects with everyone’s needs in mind. The aim of introducing UD in classrooms (e.g. in a design project form) is to build awareness and skills related to Universal Design and to improve inclusivity and accessibility of the engineering design curriculum through resulting development of Universally Designed ideas and products.

Format The forum consists of a 1.5hr panel discussion with experts working at the forefronts of UD and accessibility and are implementing Universal Design into their work.

Target Audience All members of the McGill Faculty of Engineering community are welcome. One of the forum’s goals is to create a common understanding of Universal Design amongst students, faculty and staff.

Benefits

This forum is the second in a series of events that will aim at building long-term support networks within the Engineering community, through sharing of perspectives and experiences; developing a shared understanding of the challenges and benefits of creating a truly inclusive and accessible community in Engineering; maintaining an atmosphere of common engagement and commitment towards this community.

speakers The panel was comprised of four experts whose work focuses on accessibility, and who implement universal design in their work. Before the discussion began, keynote speaker Isabelle Cardinal, the Consultation Services Director at Société Logique, a non-profit that promotes creating universally accessible spaces, explained the concept of universal design. The panel was comprised of four experts whose work focuses on accessibility, and who implement universal design in their work. Before the discussion began, keynote speaker Isabelle Cardinal, the Consultation Services Director at Société Logique, a non-profit that promotes creating universally accessible spaces, explained the concept of universal design. Michael Kokkolaras, a mechanical engineering professor, noted during the discussion period that accessibility is often not incorporated in design because of the way engineers are taught.

Jenna Laham?, a U3 student in chemical engineering and member of the EUS Equity Committee, noted that in classrooms, students are taught to think ahead when it comes to costs and to under-budget, but not so much to consider costs of accessibility.

Engineering design is fundamental to the engineering curriculum; therefore, there is a need to ensure that design curriculum -- especially in the design classroom or lab -- addresses these issues so that McGill’s graduating engineers will have the tools and knowledge to design products and projects with everyone’s needs in mind. The aim of introducing UD in classrooms (e.g. in a design project form) is to build awareness and skills related to universal design and to improve inclusivity and accessibility of the engineering design curriculum through resulting development of UD-ed ideas and products. The forum will consist of a panel discussion with experts who are implementing Universal Design in their work.

Other Events

UDL

EUS Equity Committee, EUS executives, OSD (Tanja Beck), TLS (Maria Orjuelde Laverde)

Event Synopsis

This event aims to generate discussion on increasing access to the Engineering curriculum by implementing Universal Design for Learning principles.

The forum will focus on creating learning environments which are accessible, inclusive and respect the diversity of the Engineering student body. Just as physical barriers can hinder students to access the classroom in our physical environment, curricular barriers can exist in the instructional environment that can hinder learning for students with diverse learning styles. Universal Design (UD) as a concept originated in the field of architecture. UD is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." UD as a concept is now widely applied in the field of education, curriculum design and the design of learning environments where it is known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL is a sustainable, educational framework that guides the design of learning goals, materials, methods, and assessments as well as the policies surrounding these curricular elements with a diversity of learners in mind.

Engineering design is fundamental to the engineering curriculum, so there is a need to ensure that the design curriculum -- especially the design classroom or lab --tries to address these issues to be more inclusive to all. The aim of introducing UD in classrooms (eg. in a design project form) is to build awareness and skills related to universal design and to improve inclusiveness and accessibility of the engineering design curriculum through resulting development of UD-ed ideas and products.

Format

Our plan is to mimic the structure that the OSD used at Senate. We’re going to have a facilitator give a brief 10 minute introduction about what UDL is and then break our audience (estimated 20 people) into three groups that will go to three different stations with different speakers. We’d like to have 1 TA, 1 professor, and 1 student speak about their experience with UDL in engineering and why it’s especially valuable in our field. We’re planning on each person giving a 10-15 minute presentation, and they’d be giving it three times to each of the groups.

Date/Location

Location: FDA 5

Date: September 30, 2015 1-2:30pm (1.5hr)

Sources of Funding: Equity budget (SSMU and EUS)

Speakers

Professor Jeff Gostick -TA Jonathan Verrett - TA Mikhail Smilovic ntroduction Emily Curling - EUS Equity Committee

Today’s speakers: Jonathan Verrett - PhD student in Chemical Engineering Prof. Jeff Gostick - joined the department of Chemical Engineering in 2010 McGill’s PMEAL lab Attended conference this summer by National Effective Teaching Institute (NETI-1) Mikhail Smilovic - PhD student in Civil Engineering Integrate sustainability into the curriculum opportunities to promote innovation within faculty

Outcomes

Opportunity for students and profs to meet outside the classroom, and meet people in the same program but with a different perspective and experience. Build alliances between students and faculty. Provide a support network for students. Provide a learning experience on what universal design is, and what it means in the design of STEM classrooms and curriculum Look to improve engineering curriculum and find ways to incorporate UDL into the classroom and lab

Structure of the Committee

The committee is based on commissioners and there are several other positions. These positions are the financial officer, the workshop coordinator, the forum coordinator, the communication director and the outreach coordinator. These positions can be filled by one or more people. Their respective duties are listed below.

• Commissioners: ?

  Financial officer: The financial officer is responsible for creating the committee’s budgets, keeping the Committee’s financial records up to date (filling out check requirements & updating budgets), and applying for funds both within EUS and externally.

  Workshop coordinator: The workshop coordinator is responsible for booking, scheduling facilitators and all logistics regarding the EUS Equity Committee’s workshop series.

  Forum coordinator: The forum coordinator is responsible for organizing the forums (fall & winter) with the help of the committee. They head the team organizing the forum.

  Communications director: The communication director is responsible for sharing articles and information on the Facebook page, maintaining the wiki page up to date and the overall social media part of the committee.

  Outreach coordinator: The outreach coordinator is responsible for planning events to recruit new members, collaborate with other equity organizations, etc. (Ex. Open forums, tabling)