Inclusive Excellence Leadership Program
McMaster University is committed to advancing inclusive excellence. In alignment with the institutional Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy, we are committed to enhance inclusive leadership capacity by establishing and delivering baseline EDI professional development requirements and to develop an inclusive leadership training program to meet the baseline EDI competency development needs of people managers.
Through a collaborative partnership between the Equity and Inclusion Office, Human Resources Services, and McMaster Continuing Education, and key consulted groups, the Inclusive Excellence Leadership Program is a professional development series designed to equip people leaders to action EDI priorities through their leadership practice. This program is open to academic and non-academic people leaders.
UPDATE – January 2024
Following the Winter 2024 term, please note the Inclusive Excellence Leadership Program is temporarily paused for program enhancement purposes, as part of continuous improvement efforts and delivering exemplary learning experiences to our people leaders.
In the interim, Faculty and Staff are encouraged to refer to the recently launched Inclusive Excellence Training and Resources page for additional learning opportunities.
LinkedIn Learning (free for McMaster employees) also offers several Equity, Diversity and Inclusion-related courses.
Please refer back for additional program updates.
Program Description:
The program comprises a series of hybrid synchronous and asynchronous learning modules, delivered by internal experts/facilitators from relevant offices at McMaster.
The program consists of seven courses and participants will engage in self-study/pre-work and interactive virtual sessions. Each course is up to three hours in length requiring 21 hours of combined asynchronous and synchronous learning to complete the microcredential. A short evaluation component is required after attending the virtual classroom session.
There is a maximum of 50 people per course.
Who should attend?
This program is currently being offered to non-academic and academic people leaders with supervisory responsibility.
What do I receive upon successful completion of this microcredential?
Individuals who successfully complete all seven courses of the Inclusive Excellence Leadership Program will receive a microcredential in a digital format. The digital microcredential is an indicator of accomplishment, competency or skill that can be displayed, accessed, and verified online. You can share it with whomever you want, upload it to social networking sites (i.e. LinkedIn), or add it to your personal website or resume.
Course Descriptions and Schedule
Human Rights & Equity Fundamentals is the pre-requisite course which encompasses foundational EDI curriculum. This course must be successfully completed prior to registering in any of the remaining six courses. Upon successfully completing the pre-requisite course, individuals will receive instructions to register in the additional six courses.
Session Dates and Registration Links:
- To Be Announced – Please refer to the January 2024 Program Update for more details
Course Facilitators:
- Renata Hall, Manager of Inclusion and Anti-Racism Education, Equity and Inclusion Office
Course Description: This first course will help you become familiar with fundamental concepts in the area of human rights and equity. You will learn about the overarching legislative framework in Ontario, as well as McMaster’s EDI strategy, and McMaster’s policies and resources. You will also learn the important role workplace supervisors play in maintaining a harassment and discrimination free workplace, and how to recognize, respond, and refer employees who report a potential violation of the Discrimination & Harassment Policy to you.
Session Dates:
- To Be Announced – Please refer to the January 2024 Program Update for more details
Course Facilitators:
- Paula Hearn, Manager, Accessibility Program, Equity and Inclusion Office
- Monica Poulin, Manager, Employee Health and Well-being, Human Resources Services
Course Description: This course will introduce McMaster leaders to concepts and strategies regarding workplace disability-related accommodation, accessibility, and disability-inclusion best practices. Through a combination of evidence-based pre-work and scenario-focused workshop participation, learners will gain an understanding of how to foster a disability-inclusive work culture. Relevant legislative frameworks (e.g., The Duty to Accommodate [Ontario Human Rights Code], The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 Employment Standard), McMaster’s Strategic Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Goals, and community-informed best practice will be introduced to frame this discussion.
Session Dates:
- To Be Announced – Please refer to the January 2024 Program Update for more details
Course Facilitators:
- Susan Sinclair, Program Manager, Talent Acquisition & Onboarding Strategies, Human Resources Services
Course Description: This course will provide hiring managers/search committees with the tools, resources, strategies, and foundational knowledge to conduct an equitable recruitment & onboarding experience for new hires. Components include the following recruitment and onboarding processes and strategies:
- establishing your recruitment need & strategy
- understanding the candidate journey and how to create an engagement strategy
- reviewing resumes (designing your resume screening tool, assessing candidates)
- interviewing (preliminary screenings, panel interviews)
- selection of best candidate
- critical data and metrics
- defining onboarding (who, what, where, when, why)
- the challenges of onboarding
- onboarding plan/agenda (How to create a custom onboarding plan)
- coordinating and executing your onboarding plan
Session Dates:
- Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 9:30am to 11:30am (rescheduled from Jan 24, 2023)
Course Facilitators:
- Helen Fisher, Program Manager, Organizational and Leadership Development, Human Resources Services
- Ayo Osinowo, Employment Equity Consultant, Human Resources Services
Course Description: Inclusive leaders are aware of their own biases and preferences, actively seek out and consider different views and perspectives to inform better decision-making. They see diverse talent as a source of competitive advantage and inspire diverse teams to drive organizational and individual performance towards a shared vision. This session seeks to inform, empower, and equip people managers with best practices, tools and resources essential to building a culture of inclusivity. It provides an opportunity for people managers to become more knowledgeable about inclusive leadership practices and how to be successful in cultivating diverse teams. This session will feature small group and large group discussion activities to examine and advance inclusive leadership practices.
Session Dates:
- To Be Announced – Please refer to the January 2024 Program Update for more details
Course Facilitators:
- Renata Hall, Manager of Inclusion and Anti-Racism Education, Equity and Inclusion Office
Course Description: In this course, you will become familiar with fundamental dimensions of anti-racism in the workplace. In particular, you will learn about the core concepts and definitions of anti-racism, along with the basic tools for naming and analyzing streams of racism, such as conceptualizing power, privilege, social location, unconscious bias, and racial microaggressions. You will also consider the important role that workplace supervisors play in maintaining anti-racist practice in the work environment, including how to recognize and respond to racism in the workplace, strategies for implementing anti-racist organizational development and allyship, and additional considerations for recruitment and retention. This will be further contextualized through case scenarios and discussion points during the online, live course facilitation.
Session Dates:
- Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – 9:30am to 11:30am
Course Facilitators:
- Christine Costa, Instructor, McMaster Continuing Education; Owner/Facilitator, Christine Connects
- Ayo Osinowo, Employment Equity Consultant, Human Resources Services
Course Description:
Our behaviour is impacted by the assumptions, biases, and stereotypes (both positive and negative) that exist in our subconscious. Accordingly, the assumptions we hold inform the decisions that we make – but these decisions may create unequal outcomes for those that we lead. It is therefore important for leaders to be aware of how our experiences, shaped by intersecting factors, can influence the ways we communicate, how we approach and resolve conflict, and ultimately how we lead. This necessarily involves recognizing and managing our biases so that we are better able to promote diversity and inclusion through our decision-making while fostering creativity and productivity in ways that promote a healthier and happier workplace culture. This course will provide you with the skills and techniques for achieving these goals. It features self-awareness activities and large group discussions to help us explore our biases and develop risk mitigation strategies to address bias in leadership and decision-making.
Session Dates:
- Thursday, March 7, 2024 – 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Course Facilitators:
- Alexandra Trottier, Executive Director, Indigenous Health Learning Lodge
- Lori Davis Hill, Assistant Professor, School of Rehabilitation Science
Course Description:
Following the 2015 release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, Canadian universities and colleges have felt pressured to indigenize their institutions. This session will provide participants an opportunity to learn more about the Indigenous experience related to higher education and to critically reflect on key elements of Indigenous allyship and a self-determining approach to systemic change.
Course Delivery Format:
Each course consists of up to three hours of content delivered in online self-study (Avenue to Learn) and a live virtual classroom session (Zoom). After attending the virtual session, participants will complete a short assessment (quiz or case study analysis) that is administered in Avenue to Learn. Individuals are expected to review content in Avenue to Learn, attend the virtual classroom session, and pass the learning assessment for each of the seven courses to complete this microcredential.
Each course is structured to be completed in approximately one week as described below:
Avenue to Learn access to review readings, policies, videos begins the Friday preceding the virtual classroom session.
Virtual Classroom Session is typically scheduled for a Wednesday or Thursday and is led by one or more McMaster facilitators who will present the content and engage participants in discussion and other learning activities.
Learning Assessment is available after the Virtual Classroom Session until the following Sunday at 11:59pm. Participants will complete a short quiz or assignment in Avenue to Learn.
Frequently Asked Questions
While there may be some overlap in the content of some of the modules with existing one-off EDI training offerings delivered by the Equity and Inclusion Office, Human Resources Services and other offices across campus, the Inclusive Excellence Leadership Program differs in the following ways:
- Curriculum is tailored for people leaders (leaders with supervisory responsibility);
- It is a comprehensive, integrative, and stepped program comprised of seven modules that align with McMaster’s EDI priorities and strategies; and
- This microcredential recognizes completion of the robust content across the seven modules.
No, attending the virtual classroom session is a requirement to fully engage with the curriculum, leverage an opportunity to ask subject matter experts your questions, collaborate with other people leaders and build your network within McMaster’s leadership community.
No, these courses have been specifically designed as a comprehensive learning program, tailored for people leaders and the curriculum has been approved under the microcredential-provider.
If possible, please notify us of your absence as soon as possible at WeAreAllLeaders@mcmaster.ca. Space is limited in these sessions, so we may be able to fill your spot. We will let you know what options are available with regards to registering in the course you missed, or if eligible, a different course.