How we got here
The process of drafting and finalizing the University of Victoria’s Indigenous Plan has been guided by the diverse aspirations and needs of Indigenous members of the campus community.
Our engagement process
The process of renewing the Indigenous Plan was guided by the Indigenous Plan Steering Circle (IPSC) with leadership from the Office of the Vice-President Indigenous and membership from Indigenous faculty and staff across the university. The IPSC met monthly for over a year to develop a robust engagement strategy to incorporate the needs, interests, values, and aspirations of Indigenous students, staff, faculty, Elders and local community leaders. Bringing together and translating these hundreds of engagement responses into strategic priorities, the committee worked on aligning goals with existing institutional plans, broadening the resonance and actionability of all priorities and enhancing measurability.
Our approach to engaging the UVic community and drafting the renewed Indigenous Plan was purposefully connected with the process of creating the new UVic Strategic Plan. An extensive, joint consultation process through the Spring of 2022 was designed to ensure the priorities of this plan meet the needs and aspirations of diverse Indigenous members of the university community. We also circulated a survey to Indigenous members of the university community through Spring 2022. Seeking continued and additional guidance, in the Fall of 2022, we brought drafts of the Indigenous Plan back to a broad range of engagement participants for review and revision.
Methods, theming and coding
We approached the UVic community with the intent of understanding what the university needs to continue to do, and where the university needs to pivot. To capture the overarching visions and particular needs of Indigenous students, staff, faculty, Elders, and community leaders, we asked four questions in our survey and across our engagement sessions:
- What is UVic currently doing well?
- What does UVic need to do better?
- What will UVic look like in ten years?
- What steps need to be taken in five years?
We also received and included data from the Equity Action Plan’s engagement process, where participants were asked “how can UVic be a leader in decolonization, reconciliation, and Indigenization?”
We collected and reviewed 587 responses and reflections offered by an estimated 175 engagement participants. We categorized these responses by 19 broad themes that emerged from the engagement data.
To access our full report on the engagement process, please refer to: uvic.ca/ovpi/appendixes
Identifying goals and priorities
After working to integrate engagement responses into the vision of the renewed Indigenous Plan and to adjust our process to address criticisms of the first plan, we worked to find ways to organize, translate and present the data as strategic priorities.
Each engagement response was also coded by a participant’s positions as a student, staff, faculty, Elder, and/or community leader. This allowed us to focus in on ensuring that the distinct needs and interests of these groups were reflected in the plan.
Learn about the Indigenous Plan goals and priorities.