Update from the Chair of the UPEI Board of Governors

The following message was also issued by email to students, staff, and faculty on November 29, 2023. UPEI is committed to providing resources and supports to members of our community. Visit the Response to the Independent Review website for more information.

Since the June release of University of Prince Edward Island Review (UPEI Review), which examined UPEI’s workplace policies and practices around harassment and discrimination, the University has been working hard to rebuild trust and create a safe space in which to learn and work.

With expert guidance, the University has created a collaborative process to help us respond to the report’s recommendations and make the necessary changes at both the Board and management level. We look forward to the framework being developed by the Action Plan Advisory Group as it will ensure we’re heading in the right direction with the work we have to do.

Let me be clear: the development of an action plan is not an exercise in checking off recommendations. This is a difficult and often painful process that involves listening, learning, and rebuilding trust—through our actions, over time—with those whom the University has let down, and understanding when it is our own selves who have let others down.

On the governance side, some early changes this fall included changes to the Presidential Search Committee process, which has been made stronger and more culture-focused through education about bias, group discussions, and updated candidate search guidelines. The Board has also enhanced our member selection process and has moved forward with changing one-third of our board members this month to enhance diversity. We are also committed to undertaking a comprehensive governance review early in the new year in which an expert in post-secondary education governance will assess and prepare a report on board and standing committee mandates and meetings; succession planning and existing membership; board evaluation and ongoing training; and board support functions.

At last night’s meeting, the Board passed two important motions. First, it created a new committee, the Campus Culture Oversight Committee, which will ensure Board oversight of the development of the UPEI Action Plan and that the recommendations in the UPEI Review are implemented in a timely manner. As the Action Plan progresses and resources become available, it is expected that the Committee will oversee and recommend to the Board the development and implementation of a framework to monitor, assess, and improve the experience of students and the health of the workplace for faculty and staff.  

In addition, the Board passed a motion, recommended by the Governance and Appeals Committee, to support the replacement of the existing Fair Treatment Policy with a new Harassment and Discrimination Policy that includes all of the recommendations in the UPEI Review, including specific provisions regarding complaints against senior administrators, conforms to OHSA Workplace Harassment Regulations, is trauma-informed and procedurally fair, and incorporates best practices and feedback from the Action Plan Advisory Group.

Also, I am pleased to update you that our formal reconciliation process with two survivors has begun. Wendy Carroll and Erin Casey, two former employees, were silenced previously by conditions of their settlement agreement with the University. Last night, they shared their experience in a formal Victim Impact Statement to the Board of Governors in a closed session. This was a very humbling and impactful experience for us to hear and understand as board members, and it will serve as motivation for each of us to do better and to work together for change.

I would like to note and recap some key messages from the Victim Impact Statement that Wendy and Erin have agreed I can share with our community:

1. The financial settlement that Wendy and Erin received served merely to recover most of their legal fees, leaving them with a final disbursement of $6,500 each to address damages or for harm. Although Erin and Wendy want to correct the claims about a “big payout” as it relates to them, they also were clear that regardless of the amount a victim may receive in a settlement, these damages are not a payment for silence but rather a remedy for harm.
    
2. After settling their complaints, Wendy and Erin felt they had little choice but to leave their homes, careers, and the UPEI community to start over in a different province. Their decision to come to campus to talk to the Board was an important step in our reconciliation as it was the first time they have been on the UPEI campus in over a decade.
    
3. Erin and Wendy’s efforts to secure protection for members of the University community have not been publicly recognized or even broadly understood.
    
4. We, the Board, have been guilty of using diminutive language when talking about issues related to sexual harassment. We need to acknowledge and correct this.
    
5. We, the board, had committed to adopting a policy to deal with harassment/discrimination complaints made against the president. We failed to uphold this agreement.

I would like to recognize the commitment of Wendy and Erin to ensuring that policy change is completed in the area of harassment and discrimination at UPEI. And I want them to know that they have a committed voice in me and the UPEI Board of Governors to completing this mission. They can expect that the load they have carried is now shared and hopefully lessened as a result.

Despite their traumatic experience, Wendy and Erin still care about the UPEI community, and I want to thank them for their commitment to this process, their courage to come forward, and their dedication to making improvements to ensure their experience results in positive change.

The world is, in many ways, more enlightened than it was a decade ago on the topic of sexual harassment, but we still have a long way to go. We need to create space for conversations and actions that lead to change. This is not the job of women or victims of sexual harassment; it is the job of all members of every community to not look away. I encourage us all to find ways to be part of this positive change.

Sincerely,

Shannon MacDonald, FCA, CPA, ICD.D
Chair, UPEI Board of Governors and Presidential Search Committee