Working Group on Indigeneity in Infrastructure Planning and Development (WGIIPD)
The 2017 Final Report of the Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education presented the University with 52 Calls to Action, among which were 11 that addressed physical representation and symbolic recognition on campus.
The 2019 McGill Master Plan likewise addressed the need and opportunity to include Indigenous representation on the University’s campuses: “Specifically, the plan seeks to recognize and respect the specific and diverse cultural practices of Indigenous members of the community by providing interior and exterior spaces that serve their needs.”
The WGIIPD was tasked with formulation of guiding principles and best practices to address these imperatives in the context of the large-scale campus development and re-development activities that will take place over the coming years.
The Working Group submitted its final report in March 2023.
McGill University's Draft Policy on Academic Freedom
In June 2022, the National Assembly adopted a new law entitled, An Act respecting academic freedom in the university sector. This legislation requires every university in Quebec to develop an institutional policy on academic freedom. It also sets out specific elements that must be included within such a policy. Each university in the province must adopt its policy by 7 June 2023.
Read McGill’s draft Policy here. We invite your feedback on this draft on or before 28 February 2023 by writing to: academicfreedom.provost [at] mcgill.ca.
The Policy will be available in both English and French after its adoption by McGill’s Senate and Board of Governors.
Version préliminaire de la Politique sur la liberté académique de l’Université McGill
En juin 2022, l’Assemblée nationale a adopté la Loi sur la liberté académique dans le milieu universitaire. Cette loi exige de chaque université du Québec qu’elle élabore une politique institutionnelle sur la liberté académique, et elle énonce des éléments précis que cette politique doit contenir. Chaque université de la province doit adopter sa politique d'ici le 7 juin 2023.
Vous trouverez ici la version préliminaire de la politique rédigée pour l'Université McGill, sur laquelle nous aimerions avoir votre avis. Nous vous invitons à nous transmettre vos commentaires par courriel, à academicfreedom.provost [at] mcgill.ca, au plus tard le 28 février 2023.
La Politique sera disponible en anglais et en français après son adoption par le Sénat et le Conseil des gouverneurs de l'Université McGill.
Final Report of the Initiative against Islamophobia and Antisemitism (IAIAS)
Created by the Provost in March 2022 and led by Prof. Angela Campbell, Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) and Prof. Fabrice Labeau, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), the IAIAS was created to address and prevent Islamophobia and Antisemitism on our campuses.
The 
Final Report of the IAIAS contains a series of bold and concrete recommended actions that we will implement over the coming years. The University will act on each of these recommendations immediately to enhance inclusion and belonging for Muslim and Jewish members of our university community.
As the Report affirms, acts of discrimination and oppression, which include Islamophobia and Antisemitism, have no place at our University and will not be tolerated. Our diverse identities are not only accepted at McGill but honoured and celebrated; no one should ever feel that they must hide who they are to feel that they belong on our campuses.
We are indebted to all those who contributed to the consultations and the preparation of the Report, especially students, faculty, staff, and members of the wider Jewish and Muslim communities who took time to share their perspectives and insights, despite the often sensitive and difficult experiences recounted.
Rapport final du Programme de prévention de l’islamophobie et de l’antisémitisme (PPIA)
Le Programme de prévention de l’islamophobie et de l’antisémitisme (PPIA), qui a pour objectif l’examen et la prévention de l’islamophobie et de l’antisémitisme sur nos campus, a été mis sur pied par le vice-principal exécutif en mars 2022. Il est dirigé par la Pre Angela Campbell, vice-principale exécutive adjointe (Équité et politiques académiques), et le Pr Fabrice Labeau, premier vice-principal exécutif adjoint (Études et vie étudiante).
Le rapport final du PPIA comprend des recommandations audacieuses et concrètes, que l’Université mettra en œuvre dès maintenant et au cours des prochaines années pour favoriser l’inclusion des membres musulmans et juifs de sa communauté, et renforcer chez eux le sentiment d’appartenance.
Comme on peut le lire dans le rapport, les actes d’islamophobie et d’antisémitisme, au même titre que tout autre acte de discrimination et d’oppression, n’ont pas leur place à l’Université et ne seront pas tolérés. À McGill, la diversité des identités n’est pas seulement acceptée : elle est valorisée. Personne ne devrait avoir à cacher son identité pour se faire une place au sein de notre communauté.
Nous sommes reconnaissants à tous ceux qui ont participé aux consultations et à la préparation du rapport, tout particulièrement aux étudiant(e)s, aux professeur(e)s, aux employé(e)s et aux membres des communautés juive et musulmane élargies qui ont pris le temps de livrer leur point de vue et leur vécu, même si le sujet était souvent difficile ou douloureux.
Provostial Visiting Fellow-in-Residence on Black Life and History
Launched in Fall 2020, McGill’s Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism includes the following commitment, as part of a series of action items aimed at boosting research and knowledge that advances the Action Plan’s overarching objectives:
Establish a Provostial Visiting Fellowship-in-Residence on Black Life and History. This initiative will welcome to McGill, each year, a leading Black scholar whose research focuses on Black life and the Black experience, whether historically or in contemporary society.
Interested applicants are invited to send a cover letter outlining their record of experience and accomplishments, as well as their curriculum vitae, to karen.diop [at] mcgill.ca (Karen Diop). Queries about the Fellowship-in-Residence may also be directed to this address.
Fellowship submissions will be received and reviewed on a rolling basis.
Working Group on New Models of Academic Program Delivery
The McGill University Strategy Academic Plan includes a commitment “to supporting pedagogical and curricular innovation” and a diversification of “on-campus academic programming and modes of delivery”, including “alternatives to traditional degree organization and academic time-tabling.” In broad terms, University leadership will “encourage and support a culture of calculated risk-taking, with a commitment to ensuring agility, efficiency, creativity, and organizational learning across all our functions by eliminating barriers to change and through institutional support of the pursuit of new challenges.”
With this in mind, together with the recent experience of the rapid reorganization of teaching and learning in 2020 and emerging trends in university-level pedagogy, the Working Group on New Models of Academic Program Delivery is tasked with recommending a strategy and direction for the evolution of academic program delivery at McGill that will serve as a basis for growth and change over the next decade or more.
The Provost's Faculty Mentorship Network
Set to launch in summer 2021, the Provost’s Faculty Mentorship Network will be an important source of guidance and support to all pre-tenure professors. Mentors who are part of this network are outstanding teachers and researchers who have experience as institutional leaders at McGill. As their profiles show mentors possess a range of strengths and capacities that will contribute to guiding and advising junior colleagues.
All pre-tenure faculty are eligible to participate in the mentorship program. Information about how to be matched with a mentor within the Network, and about what participation as a mentee, see our Becoming a Mentee page.
Applications for the Provost's Faculty Mentorship Network will be accepted starting May 2021.
Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism 2020-2025
I am pleased to share McGill’s Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism.
This Plan was developed further to a mandate that our Principal & Vice-Chancellor, Suzanne Fortier, gave to me on 30 June 2020.
I am grateful to the many members of the McGill community who provided input and ideas that were crucial to this Action Plan. I especially wish to recognize and thank the Dr. Kenneth Melville McGill Black Faculty Caucus, the Black Students’ Network, the McGill Black Alumni Association, and the Subcommittee for Racialized and Ethnic Persons.
This Action Plan sets out a series of bold and concrete actions that we will implement over the coming years. Work on the Action Plan begins immediately. Through this work, we will deepen and strengthen our commitment to addressing systemic racism, especially anti-Black racism, with a view to building a more inclusive and justice campus community for all.
Sincerely,
Professor Christopher Manfredi
Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic)
Université McGill Plan de lutte contre le racisme anti-noir 2020-2025
Chers membres de la communauté mcgilloise,
J’ai le plaisir de vous présenter le Plan de lutte contre le racisme anti-noir de l’Université McGill.
Ce Plan est le résultat du mandat que notre principale et vice-chancelière, Suzanne Fortier, m’a donné le 30 juin 2020.
En nous transmettant leurs opinions et leurs idées, de nombreux McGillois ont apporté une précieuse contribution au Plan, et je leur en suis reconnaissant. Je tiens à remercier tout particulièrement le Comité professoral noir Dr-Kenneth-Melville, le Réseau des étudiants noirs, l’Association des diplômés noirs de McGill et le Sous-comité mixte sur l’équité pour les personnes racisées et de minorités ethniques.
Le Plan présente les mesures audacieuses et concrètes qui seront prises dès maintenant et au cours des prochaines années. Nous mettrons tout en œuvre afin de réaffirmer avec force notre volonté de combattre le racisme systémique, et plus particulièrement le racisme anti-noir, pour ainsi bâtir une communauté universitaire plus inclusive et équitable pour tous.
Cordialement,
Professeur Christopher Manfredi
Vice-principal exécutif et vice-principal aux études
Provostial Research Scholars in Institutional Histories, Slavery, and Colonialism
Provost and Vice-Principal Academic, Professor Christopher Manfredi, has establishd the Provostial Research Scholars in Institutional Histories, Slavery, and Colonialism, as one important way in which McGill is seeking to develop a critical understanding of its past.
Meet the postdoctoral researchers appointed as the McGill Provostial Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Institutional Histories, Slavery and Colonialism
Joana Joachim
Earned her PhD in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies and the Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies at McGill University with Dr. Charmaine A. Nelson. Her research interests include Black feminist art histories, Black Canadian studies and Canadian slavery studies.
Photo cred: Ève Lafontaine
Melissa N. Shaw
Currently completing her PhD in History at Queen’s University (to be defended in the fall of 2020). Her dissertation entitled, “Blackness and British ‘Fair Play’: Burgeoning Black Social Activism in Ontario and its Responses to the Canadian Colour Line, 1919-1939,” explores the symbiotic relationship between anti-Black racisms in Canada and the rise of Black Canadian socio-political activism in Ontario.
McGill Reporter: Postdoctoral fellows to study slavery and colonialism
As McGill prepares for its Bicentennial, the University community looks forward to celebrating 200 years of innovation and excellence. But an institution with a history stretching back to the 19th century will have blemishes mixed in with momentous achievements. Like many storied universities – McGill is reflecting critically on some troubling elements of its past by confronting its historical connection to the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism.
Working Group on Online Programs
McGill University’s Strategic Academic Plan, implemented in 2017, includes an explicit commitment “to accelerate the development and delivery of online degree programs and professional masters programs, with the goal of implementing five online programs in five years.”
The Working Group on Online Programs is tasked with recommending a strategy for achieving this goal and means to ensure that McGill develops a sustainable framework for a new online presence and the further incorporation of digital tools (where desirable) into existing programs.
Review of the Student Life and Learning Portfolio
With the approaching conclusion of the term of appointment of the second Deputy Provost, the University will undertake a review of the organizational structure of the Student Life and Learning portfolio with particular respect to internal coherence, the relationship of SLL priorities and responsibilities to other units within the University, and responsiveness to student needs and concerns.
Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming
The Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming is tasked with undertaking an examination of McGill’s relationship (past and current) with underrepresented groups, in the context of a broad-reaching reflection of our institutional history, with a view to recommending a set of principles by which the University may be guided in its decision-making with respect to any future commemorative or renaming initiative.
(Version française.)