New VP of People, Culture & Diversity to conduct audit alongside Veza Global
Bridget Stringer-Holden (she/her) // News Editor
Valeriya Kim (she/her) // Illustrator
An equity, diversity and inclusion audit — initiated by the Capilano University (CapU) Board of Governors in June 2021 as part of CapU’s Envisioning 2030 strategic plan — is now underway with some help from Kartik Bharadwa (he/him), the University’s new VP People, Culture and Diversity.
“There’s been a number of employee engagement surveys that have been completed over the years, but I believe this is the first of its kind,” said Bharadwa. “Prior to moving forward, I’d like to focus on the gap, versus looking at where we want to be and getting too far ahead of ourselves.”
Veza Global was selected to conduct the audit as an external third-party, thanks to their experience conducting audits for other post-secondary institutions, such as the University of British Columbia, as well as their work with the Vancouver Board of Trade.
The audit is set to consist of around thirty focus groups held throughout the Spring and Fall 2022 semesters in order to get as many participants as possible. The groups will consist of employees, faculty and students in an effort to obtain a holistic overview of practices across the University.
Recommendations from the external auditors are due in December 2022, after which they will be shared with the CapU community. With these findings, Bharadwa will be forming a “people plan” that aligns with CapU’s Envisioning 2030. “We already have the Top 100 Employer B.C. [designation] — I’d like [CapU] to get the Top Employer in Canada designation at some point.”