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Message from the Presidential Search Committee: Executive search and EDI firms engaged
| University
The following message was also distributed by email to students, staff, and faculty on July 14, 2023.
Dear Members of the University Community,
The Presidential Search Committee, which includes six Senate-selected and six Board of Governors-selected members, remains very active. On behalf of the Search Committee, I am pleased to share that we have engaged two organizations to aid us in building the open search process and in developing the position profile for UPEI’s next President and Vice-Chancellor.
As the recent Rubin Thomlinson report stressed, it is absolutely essential that the next President’s credentials reflect a deep understanding of workplace fairness and are consistent with the University's aim of creating a respectful environment, free of harassment and discrimination. Candidates will be expected to have a clear vision of how to address the issues contained in the report and will be thoroughly vetted to ensure that they conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the University’s values and mission.
To assist the search committee, we have engaged Perrett Laver, one of the world’s leading international executive search firms, to support us with the search process. While the search firm will assist and provide expertise, the Presidential Search Committee will be responsible for establishing the direction, driving the process, and vetting the candidates. Perrett Laver recently supported two dean searches at UPEI.
The University has also retained CCDI Consulting Inc., a leading Canadian human resources consultancy for organizations looking to create inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplaces. CCDI Consulting Inc. is a partner of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, a national charity established in 2013 with the mandate of building a more inclusive Canada. CCDI will be available to provide consultative support in conjunction with the participation of the EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) resources of the University to ensure that the role of the future president of UPEI is one that attracts an inclusive leader.
The Presidential Search Committee takes our role—to make certain that the future leader of our great institution embodies the University’s values—very seriously. Members of the Search Committee will participate in CCDI instructor-led training so that in their role they can best differentiate between representation and diversity, and between equity, equality and inclusion; understand how their own dimensions of diversity impact their worldview and workplace behaviours; reflect on the diversity in Canada compared to the diversity in the labour force; and describe the case for developing a work culture that values inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.
As noted previously, we also remain committed to provide a number of opportunities for input from a wide range of representatives of the University community as the search process and candidate profile are developed. We will be conducting rigorous consultation exercises during the next three months, and we encourage your participation. Our next communication will outline the mechanisms to be used for our consultations and the timeline for the twelve-month process going forward.
The next twelve months will be busy and transformative for the University. We remain optimistic about the future and greatly anticipate a high level of constructive engagement throughout the process. Your thoughtful contributions will be critical to ensuring we have a clear vision of what we need to look for in the next President and Vice-Chancellor.
This message and future updates and resources will be available on our web pages for the Presidential Search at upei.ca/presidentialsearch.
Sincerely,
Shannon MacDonald, FCA, CPA, ICD.D
Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Media Contact
Nicole Phillips
Director of Communications and University Relations
Marketing and Communications
902-566-0947
