On Wednesday morning, UBC’s Board of Governors met in-person on the UBC Okanagan campus for the first time in three years to discuss the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Task Force’s recommendations and approve the terms of reference for Campus Vision 2050.
Here is what you might have missed.
Governors discuss implementation of ARIE recommendations
Governors asked university leadership questions about the implementation of ARIE Task Force’s recommendations after hearing a short presentation from task force co-chairs Dr. Handel Kashope Wright and Dr. Shirley Chau.
The ARIE Task Force — which convened in March 2021 — released 54 recommendations aimed at addressing systemic and institutionalized racism in a final report in April this year.
Chau told governors that the recommendations could be read holistically, or as separate items presented by each of the six of the task force’s committees. Three of the committees represented equity-deserving groups — Indigenous people, Black people and people of colour (IBPOC) , and the three other committees represented students, faculty and staff.
The two co-chairs noted that some recommendations are already being worked on as part of phase one of the implementation process, including the Beyond Tomorrow Scholars program and the recruitment of more IBPOC faculty and staff.
Student Governor Georgia Yee and Faculty Governor Anna Kindler asked how the university planned to implement these recommendations given the decentralized structure of the university.
Ono said the deans and executives have been “gelling” over the past several years, which should help with the implementation process.
Governor Anthonia Ogundele asked how UBC planned to continue to support those who do emotional labour on his type of work in both formal and informal settings, such as the burden placed on people of colour to start and lead conversation about their experiences with racism on campus.
“We have already spoken about how to ensure that we allocate funding to support individuals who are directly moving these forward, recognizing that it's not easy work,” Ono said.
Campus Vision 2050 Terms of Reference are approved
Governors also approved the final terms of reference for Campus Vision 2050.
According to the UBC Campus and Community Planning website, Campus Vision 2050 is “a two-and-a-half year public land use planning process for the Vancouver campus that will shape how the physical campus changes and grows over the next 30 years.”
The terms of reference were first presented and approved by the board’s Property Committee two weeks ago. At that meeting, Michael White, associate vice-president Campus and Community Planning, said the Campus Vision project will be guided by extensive community consultations and guiding principles of affordability, livability and sustainability.
The AMS submitted a letter to the board on June 9 voicing support for the terms of reference.
During today’s discussion ahead of the vote, governors asked about land use and plans to expand academic and residential spaces on campus. Under Campus Vision 2050, according to White, UBC can expect to see a 20 per cent increase in the amount of both academic and residential spaces on campus.
Governor Alison Brewin asked about affordability, expressing concern that the university seemed to be approaching Campus Vision 2050 from a business, profit-driven model instead of a more affordable approach. Kindler echoed this in her comments later in the discussion.
White said the university was prioritizing affordable housing and that he will be coming to the Board in the fall with more modeling on the proportion of rental and leaseholding properties.
Faculty Governor Mark Mac Lean asked how Campus Vision 2050 would integrate non-academic uses like housing into academic spaces, noting that there should be conversations with faculty around issues of noise.
White said it will be important to keep the academic mission of the university at the centre of discussions around mixed-use planning. He added that Campus and Community Planning have been going to more meetings with academics to increase engagement.
Following the discussion, governors approved the terms of reference unanimously.