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Employment Equity

 

The University of Windsor is a signatory to Employment and Social Development Canada's Federal Contractors Program. It strives for fairness and equity in all academic career matters. All applicants for faculty positions at the University of Windsor can be confident that their applications will be treated fairly and equitably.

The University ensures that all employment equity procedures recommended by the Review Committee on Employment Equity (RCEE), as per Article 30 of the Faculty Collective Agreement, shall be followed by all AAUs and Libraries. These include:

About the PCEE

The Presidential Commission on Employment Equity was established by the Senate of the University of Windsor in November 1988 in accordance with the President's Four-Point Positive Action Plan for Achieving Equity in Hiring Women Faculty. Its mandate and membership was amended in 1992 to include the other designated groups, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal Peoples and sexual minorities. PCEE membership is approved by the President.

While accountable to the President of the University, the PCEE operates at present through the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility, providing recommendations to the Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic. Questions concerning the PCEE may be addressed to Director Kaye Johnson.

Please visit the PCEE subpage for further details.

Employment Equity/Procedures Assessors (EE/PAs)

The University of Windsor is one of a few universities that uses the services of academic volunteers known EE/PAs who monitor the equity procedures of academic appointment and renewal, tenure, and promotion committees and other special processes as listed in the University of Windsor Employment Equity Infrastructure. The EE/PA also promotes fairness and equity in all faculty appointments processes and academic decision-making.

The EE/PA monitors and ensures that the each committee follows procedures in fairness and equity. Listed below are AAU committees that require an EE/PA:

  • Departmental Head Search
  • AAU and Librarian Councils and Appointments
  • Adjunct, Cross-Appointments (joint and hybrid), Limited-Term, Regular and Visiting
  • Renewal, Promotion and Permanence Committee for University Librarian Member (RPPCULM)
  • Renewal, Promotion and Tenure (RPT)

Listed below are University committees that require an EE/PA:

  • Honourary Degrees
  • Senate Steering
  • Senior Academic and Administrative Searches
  • Special Appointments - Emeritus/Emerita; Honorary Professor; and University Professor
  • University Committee on Academic Promotion and Tenure (UCAPT)
  • University Committee Renewal Promotion Permanence Library Members (UCRPPLM)
  • University Review Committee on Faculty Workload (URCFW)
  • University Review Committee on Librarian Workloads (URCLW)

The EE/PA reviews material related to any one of the above committees, which may include:

  • Curricula Vitae (CVs)
  • Letters of Reference
  • Letters of Application
  • Research Papers
  • Statements of Teaching
  • Nomination Forms
  • Background Materials Related to the Nomination Forms
  • Any other Related Materials Pertaining to a Particular Committee
  • An EE/PA’s Role on an Appointment or Search Committee

When an EE/PA is a member of an Appointments or Search Committee, the EE/PA should ensure the following:

  • Short-List Stage: That the Committee prepares a NUMERIC PRE-INTERVIEW GRID to rank all candidates according to the qualifications identified on the advertisement (e.g., research, teaching, etc.).
  • Recommended Stage: That a NUMERIC POST-INTERVIEW GRID is used to evaluate each candidate based on new criteria used for the interview.
  • Designated Group members and sexual minorities: That the committee pays close attention to identify applicants from the four designated group members (aboriginals, visible minorities, women and disabled persons) and sexual minorities. The EE/PA should ensure that the Appointments Committees gives consideration to applicants from the four designated groups and sexual minorities, such as assigning points on the pre-interview and post-interview grids for candidates from designated groups/sexual minorities.

Employment Equity Statement

In compliance with the provisions for advertising, all academic advertisements contain the employment equity statement:

The University of Windsor is situated on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations: the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi.  The University is a comprehensive research and teaching institution with more than 16,000 students. We are a welcoming community committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in our teaching, learning, and work environments.  In pursuit of the University's Employment Equity Plan, members from the designated groups (women, Indigenous/Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) persons, racialized persons/visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and persons of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity) are encouraged to apply and to self-identify. If you need an accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Faculty Recruitment Coordinator. Should you require further information on accommodation, please visit the website of the Office of Human Rights, Equity & Accessibility. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Hiring of Persons in Under-Represented Designated Groups

In a related way, we have positive obligations when it comes to the five under-represented designated groups at the University of Windsor (Women, Aboriginal Peoples, Visible Minorities, Persons with Disabilities, and Members of Sexual Minorities).

  1. To be considered as a member of a certain under-represented designated group, a candidate must self-identify. The committee should not impose a designated group category on a candidate. If candidates do not self-identify on their application, there should still be an opportunity at some point during the interview process to ask all candidates whether they would like to self-identify.
  2. Where two candidates are deemed approximately equal, and one candidate is a non-Canadian under-represented designated group member and the other is a Canadian non-designated group member, the Canadian candidate takes priority. Citizenship must take precedence.
  3. The Review Committee on Employment Equity (RCEE) will be identifying under-represented designated groups in specific AAUs, to which the following policy must be applied by the appointments committee.

When the difference between two candidates’ hiring grid scores is less than 8% of the total number of available points, the candidates are deemed to be approximately equal. In this event, the candidate self-identifying in one or more of the five under-represented designated groups must be selected over the other candidate.

For example, where the top-scoring candidate is not a member of a under-represented designated group and has scored 85 out of a possible 100 points, and the other candidate is a member of a under-represented designated group and has scored 79, the latter must be offered the position over the former. The scoring difference here is only 6 percentage points, less than the 8% mandated in the University’s equity hiring goals.

To procure an equity assessor:

Please contact the Faculty Recruitment Coordinator, Office of the Provost, ahead of the day of the meeting.

For more useful information on equity visit the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility website.

For further details regarding academic appointments, please visit the Academic Appointments Process section of this site.

The University of Windsor has recognized several staff members for their commitment to Employment Equity. To learn more about specific honourees, please consult our Employment Equity Awards page.

Note: This site is a living document, the goal of which is to improve, in some small way, the working lives of University of Windsor faculty. We are eager to collaborate with the campus community to better this service over time. If you can identify any knowledge gaps, missing resources, or outdated or erroneous information on this site, please contact Iva Gentcheva, Director, Office of the Provost and Faculty Recruitment, without hesitation.