Advisory Group Weekly Updates
In the spirit of transparency, the UPEI Action Plan Advisory Group (APAG) is providing weekly updates to the UPEI Community. These are designed to be a high-level overview of the APAG’s activities as they examine issues and provide perspectives on the UPEI Review and its recommendations to provide input on actions and expectations of the community for rebuilding trust and safety within UPEI’s learning and work environments.
Over 10 weeks, the Advisory Group will review the recommendations and provide feedback to help inform the development of the public UPEI Action Plan.
Week 1 – Orientation, September 27, 2023
Week 2 – Orientation, October 4, 2023
Week 3 – Recommendation Review, October 11, 2023
Week 4 – Recommendation Review, October 18, 2023
Week 5 – Recommendation Review, October 25, 2023
Week 6 – Recommendation Review, November 1, 2023
Week 7 – Feedback Discussions, November 8, 2023
Week 8 and Week 9 – Feedback Review, November 15 and November 22
Week 10 – Finalizing Feedback, November 29
Week 1 – Orientation, September 27, 2023
The UPEI Action Plan Advisory Group held our initial meeting and focused on getting to know each other, better understanding the role of the group, and what we are trying to accomplish over the next ten weeks. In general, folks were looking forward to getting started on this work.
The role of the UPEI APAG is to reflect on and examine issues related to the UPEI Review and recommendations, and provide input on actions and expectations of the community for rebuilding trust and safety within UPEI’s learning and work environments.
UPEI President Greg Keefe stopped by to welcome and express gratitude to the group. We discussed the importance of rebuilding trust and finding a better path forward at UPEI. The group asked questions and began to discuss how they want to work together, including how to navigate difficult conversations and topics, best use our time together, understanding what happens when we disagree, and confidentiality.
Week 2 – Orientation, October 4, 2023
In our second meeting, the facilitator provided an orientation to conflict resolution and interest-based problem solving. Everyone completed a conflict styles assessment. We discussed how and when different styles could be used in the context of the work of the APAG.
We discussed what members need to work together effectively. Based on the discussion of the first two sessions, the facilitator will create group guidelines for decision-making and communication. This will be used to guide the discussions of the Rubin Thomlinson recommendations over the next eight weeks.
Week 3 – Recommendation Review, October 11, 2023
This week the Action Plan Advisory Group began to review the recommendations in the UPEI Review. The group started with the recommendations related to "Accountability and Acknowledgement" and recommendations related to "Strengthen Leadership."
The intention is to review all recommendations before providing feedback to UPEI to inform the Action Plan. However, given that the selection process for the new president is in progress, the APAG provided immediate feedback to the Chair of the Board of Governors regarding "Selection of the next President." Finally, the group reviewed the draft Group Guidelines which will be finalized next week.
Week 4 – Recommendation Review, October 18, 2023
In our fourth session together, the Action Plan Advisory Group reviewed the recommendations related to "Other Cultural Initiatives," which include ‘Create a culture of listening’ and ‘Public awareness campaign.’ They also reviewed ‘Restrict the use of NDAs’ and ‘Review of climate and management practices’ under the recommendations related to "Improve Policies and Practices."
The APAG session included rich discussion of these topics with some key themes beginning to emerge. As we wrapped up our meeting, some group members commented that they are feeling hopeful that this process could be the beginning of healing and transformation for them personally and the UPEI community as a whole.
Week 5 – Recommendation Review, October 25, 2023
This week marks the midpoint of the Action Plan Advisory Group’s work together. The group reviewed the recommendations related to “Improve practices related to addressing harassment and discrimination” and “Improve practices related to addressing sexual violence.”
The group has one more week of reviewing the recommendations before beginning to finalize our feedback on the UPEI Action Plan. We wrapped up our meeting by discussing the next phase of work, including decision-making, communication, and managing the tight timelines.
Week 6 – Recommendation Review, November 1, 2023
The Action Plan Advisory Group completed discussions of the UPEI Review report this week by considering the recommendation to "Revise the Sexual Violence Policy."
The group also took time to reflect on the conversations and raise issues we didn’t spend enough time on over the past sessions. Finally, we shared our thoughts and impressions at this changing point in the overall process. The APAG will now spend three weeks determining the feedback they will share with UPEI to help inform the Action Plan.
Week 7 – Feedback Discussions, November 8, 2023
The focus of the Action Plan Advisory Group shifted this week from discussing and reflecting on the UPEI Review and recommendations to formalizing our feedback to UPEI.
We reviewed our process and considered how we will reframe our collective time-shortage consciousness, given the size of the task and the time we have left.
We decided that success for the group is providing feedback for each recommendation, which means we may not have time to dig as deeply as we would like or reach a consensus on every point.
Week 8 and Week 9 – Feedback Review, November 15 and 22
In our eighth and ninth sessions, the Action Plan Advisory Group focused on formalizing our feedback to UPEI. The group spent two weeks of intense focus on reviewing the feedback, providing further refinement and ultimately coming to agreements on what will be communicated to UPEI. Folks were generally surprised and pleased at the amount of consensus they could achieve.
In week nine, we also had a short visit from Shannon MacDonald, Chair of the UPEI Board of Governors. She answered several questions and thanked the group for contributing to developing the Action Plan.
Week 10 – Finalizing Feedback, November 29, 2023
In our tenth session, the Action Plan Advisory Group finalized our feedback on the UPEI Review recommendations. We were pleased to have 100% consensus on all the feedback except one point.
UPEI shared the preliminary outline of the draft Action Plan with us. Unfortunately, time did not allow us to review the document thoroughly to understand the degree to which our feedback was integrated throughout it.
However, as our input will be provided in its entirety as an appendix to the Action Plan, the campus community will be able to see the degree to which our input was accurately captured and reflected for the next steps in drafting the Action Plan. Members of the APAG appreciate the transparency and clarity with regard to their input.
The group felt our last session was too rushed, so we will meet again in January to wrap up.
