Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative

The University of Guelph has strengthened its ongoing commitment to ensuring diversity and inclusivity in teaching and learning through its Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative (BIHI). 

The $3.6-million initiative, launched in 2022, aims to significantly increase the number of Black and Indigenous faculty and staff members in curriculum, pedagogy and instructor/student support. Under this initiative, at least 15 Black and Indigenous faculty and four or more Black and Indigenous professional staff will be hired across the University by 2025. 

This unique Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative is a sustainable, multi-year approach, unlike cluster hire initiatives that may have a narrow disciplinary focus or do not consider the supports required after someone is hired. The BIHI outlines a clear vision and a plan for longer-term practices concerning the recruitment, retention, resourcing and support of talented Black and Indigenous faculty and staff.   

An increasingly diverse community will make U of G more attractive to prospective students, staff, and faculty from all backgrounds. This new hiring initiative reflects U of G’s recognition that diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our mission to improve life.  

The University of Guelph’s commitment to advancing Indigenization, equity, diversity, and inclusion on its campuses is stated in the 2022-27 Strategic Plan. The plan includes Transforming our University Through Indigenization, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as one of six main priorities for U of G.  

The BIHI follows several U of G initiatives intended to redress racism and foster inclusion across our campuses. Those existing initiatives include the University’s Anti-Racism Action Plan (Action Plan), which provides critical guidance to the U of G community. As well, the President’s Advisory Committee on Anti-Racism was formed to ensure the Action Plan is fully implemented, to work collaboratively to develop an Anti-Racism Policy, and to help build inclusivity and diversity across our campuses. U of G further strengthened its commitment to combatting racism by signing the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Canadian Higher Education.  

The Action Plan also supports and builds on the work of the President’s Advisory Committee on Indigenous Initiatives, which commissioned the Indigenous Initiatives Strategic Task Force to develop an Indigenous Initiatives Strategy for U of G. Created with the support of students, staff, faculty, and community members, the strategy includes recommendations for Indigenization and reconciliation activities in governance, pedagogy and curriculum, research and scholarship, Indigenous student support, and campus environment.  

U of G is working hard to build a campus community where everyone is respected, feels supported, and has a voice and the opportunity to thrive. While it will take years of effort and commitment to bring about meaningful change, this Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative is an important step toward addressing underrepresentation of Black and Indigenous people and advancing U of G’s commitments to inclusion, anti-racism, Indigenization and decolonization. 

Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative Advisory Committee
 

The Provost is working with an Advisory Committee on implementation of the BIHI, with membership that includes the Provost and Vice-President (Academic); Associate Dean of Academic Equity and Anti-racism; Associate Vice-President, Diversity and Human Rights; Associate Vice-President, Human Resources; Assistant Vice-President, Indigenous Initiatives; Assistant Vice-President, Faculty and Academic Staff Relations; Chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Anti-Racism; and two college deans. 

Identification
 

The BIHI has been designed to meet the requirements of a special program under the Ontario Human Rights Code. This enables the University to seek Black and/or Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) applicants for approved positions. 

The University of Guelph recognizes and affirms the importance of Indigenous identities grounded in ancestry, kinship and community, and acknowledges the harms created by tenuous and fraudulent claims of First Nations, Inuit and Métis identity. We are conscious that past approaches used to determine Indigenous identity in academia have had shortcomings and limitations. We recognize the need to develop better processes to ensure that we uphold our responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and communities to make certain that opportunities and resources earmarked for Indigenous peoples are distributed with careful consideration. 

Applicants will be asked to self-identify through the Applicant Tracking Questionnaire (ATQ) facilitated by Diversity and Human Rights (DHR). Applicants who self-identify as Indigenous on the ATQ will be asked to confirm their Indigenous citizenship/membership and/or ancestral and kinship connections to a recognized and inherent Indigenous nation, community, treaty, land claim, territory or region through a confidential follow-up process facilitated by DHR and Indigenous Initiatives. 

Employment Opportunities
 

Faculty and staff positions approved under the BIHI will be posted to U of G’s Faculty and Academic Staff Relations and Human Resources web pages. 

Positions created under the Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative (status) 

Faculty

  • Assistant Professor in Black Canadian History, Department of History, College of Arts (filled) 

  • Assistant Professor in Indigenous Languages and Cultures, School of Languages and Literatures, College of Arts (filled)

  • Assistant Professor in Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ontario Veterinary College (filled) 

  • Assistant or Associate Professor in One Welfare, Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College (filled)

  • Assistant Professor in Indigenous Management and Leadership, Department of Management, Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics (filled)

  • Assistant Professor in Community Health and Lifestyle Promotion, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, College of Biological Science (filled)

  • Assistant Professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Biological Science (filled)

  • Assistant Professor in Sociological Criminology: Racialization, Crime and Social Control, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (search in progress)

  • Assistant Professor in Critical Race Studies, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (filled)

  • Assistant Professor in Food Science, Department of Food Science, Ontario Agricultural College (filled)

  • Assistant Professor in Computer Engineering, School of Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (filled)

Staff

  • Coordinator, Indigenous Programs, Student Experience (filled)
  • Project Coordinator, Indigenous Initiatives (filled)
  • Associate Director, Student Experience (filled)