Priority 1: Inclusive Excellence

McMaster Continuing Education continues to collaborate with Human Resources Services to develop McMaster’s Inclusive Excellence Leadership Program. Over 100 people managers have participated in this program.

The Office of Continuing Professional Development in the Faculty of Health Sciences has generated digital artifacts, as well as digital modules and microcredentials, and continues to run programming that seeks to foster inclusivity in various formats across different learning environments – clinical, virtual and classroom.

The iArts program in the School of the Arts launched in 2022, emphasizing interdisciplinary creative practice and preparing students for professional careers in the arts. Along with its focus on student-directed learning, the program is also strongly committed to issues of social justice, equity, diversity and environmental responsibility.

The McMaster Co-Design Hub for Vulnerable Populations, led by researchers in the School of Rehabilitation Science, the Faculties of Engineering and Business, and the schools of Medicine and Social Work, along with representatives from OCAD University, hosted the CoPro 2022 International Forum at Six Nations Gathering Place by the Grand. The forum hosted over 30 speakers from eight countries.

The Black Student Success Centre engaged in outreach to high school students in partnership with Hamilton school boards to support an inclusive application process for prospective Black students.

The Spiritual Care and Learning Centre officially opened in Fall 2022, offering pluralistic spiritual care. Students can attend programming or schedule opportunities with scholarly spiritual leaders across religious, secular and spiritual identities.

The Office of the Registrar is participating in a data-sharing project that makes information about Hamilton students’ academic pathways available to researchers and policymakers. In November, the partnership released a paper that tracked the educational pathways of Hamilton students and a blueprint for the community data infrastructure.

The Faculty of Humanities’ leadership certificate (open to all students) has been redesigned and renamed with a focus on EDI: it is now the Concurrent Certificate in Leadership, Equity & Social Change.   

To remove barriers and facilitate opportunities for international students, the Student Success Centre hosted “lunch-and-learns” and other educational sessions for Faculty career offices, community partners and employers. Topics included work permits, logistics and Ministry requirements.

Supported by funding from the McMaster Okanagan Committee, the Student Wellness Centre introduced the Home Cooked at Mac program. This program features four cooking instructional videos highlighting a dish from their culture. Up to 30 meal kits per video were made available for pick-up.

In 2020, McMaster established the Black Excellence Faculty Cohort hiring initiative aimed at hiring emerging and established academics and scholars to advance Black academic excellence at McMaster. To date, 18 Black scholars have been hired across all Faculties, supporting a new generation of innovative scholars and students with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

In recognition of McMaster’s dedication to employment equity, the university earned the distinction of being named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers in 2023 for the fifth year in a row. Additionally, for the eighth year in a row, McMaster was recognized as one of Hamilton-Niagara’s top employers, driving increased talent attraction and retention. Employing approximately 17,000 people annually, McMaster is one of the largest employers in the Greater Hamilton Area. 

Human Resources Services is piloting the use of Vidrecruiter, a digital interviewing and screening technology, to achieve a more structured and streamlined approach to recruitment with an emphasis on elevating candidate and hiring manager experiences and reducing potential instances of bias during candidate assessments. More than 54 positions representing over 10 departments have been processed through Vidcruiter resulting in more than 28 hires as of March 2023.

The Department of Family Medicine launched a Racialized Community of Support to provide confidential peer support to Indigenous, Black and/or racialized faculty and staff. The department also established a multi-faith and spiritual space at the David Braley Health Sciences Centre.