UVic is shutting down intake into its Indigenous Governance program in order to rebuild the program completely after an internal review returned a poor grade.
Nancy Wright, associate vice-president of academic planning at the University of Victoria, said rebuilding the program is expected to take at least one academic year. No new students will be admitted until September 2019 at the earliest.
“We are committed to redesigning the program and to developing a plan to support healing and reconciliation among students, faculty and staff,” Wright said in an interview Wednesday.
The Indigenous Governance graduate program, created in 1998, combines instruction in elements of First Nations history, traditions, philosophy, modern political realities and administration.
Last fall, UVic hired Indigenous scholar Madeleine Keteskwew Dion Stout and conflict resolution expert Jamie Chicanot to review the program after concerns were raised about its learning environment.
According to a CBC story, they found that the program suffered from “discrimination” and “hyper-masculinity.” Their report said many students described the learning environment as “stressful, in part, because of difficult classroom dynamics caused by a sense of entitlements, competition and unpredictability.”
The report said there was a feeling the program had “little tolerance for LGBTQ and two-spirited individuals” and that there were “inherent tensions” connected to the role and inclusion of “non-Indigenous students in the program,” CBC reported.
A statement from the university said the final report made several recommendations, including creating more room for alternative viewpoints and supporting Indigenous healing and reconciliation.
UVic fully embraces the reviewers’ recommendations, Wright said, and is prepared to redesign the Indigenous Governance program, its instruction and course content. To that end, a team of Indigenous scholars, local First Nations elders, community members, deans and students will be struck to work with UVic’s executive director of Indigenous academic and community engagement and the associate vice-president of academic planning.
Current students will be able to obtain degrees. The program now has 24 master’s students and seven who are working toward a PhD. All have completed their course work and are engaged in research. Those accepted for admittance this fall in the master’s program will be offered alternative programs in Indigenous nationhood. Options for incoming PhD students are being explored.
Wright said UVic is committed to truth and reconciliation processes with First Nations peoples now underway in Canada — and recognizes it has its own work to do. “We acknowledge that today’s universities, including the University of Victoria, are still colonial structures that need to evolve to create a better learning environment for everyone,” she said.
“We now have to make a commitment to say ‘we’re sorry’ to all those students who experienced anything less than a supportive and positive environment.”
