Had we been able to complete the tower we’d have been up there to take Him on face to face. And so to prevent this – He’s a jealous god, remember – He broke us up into different languages, so that when you asked me to “Pass that hammer!” I heard “Could be rain tomorrow!” And that’s why the tower was never built.
Back in the day there was an attempt to thwart this divide-and-conquer by reinventing a common language called Esperanto. But it never caught on, probably because then we’d be taking each other on face to face. I mean, let’s face it. What Italian would want to forfeit his linguistic superiority to that string of slushy phonemes called Polish?!
But even within a language there are dialects and accents and specialised vocabularies. I can’t understand a word of Nigerian English, not a helluva lot more of Ebonics, and I have to re-accent the syllables to decipher most telemarketers. But the worst of the babble from the Tower of Babel, at least for my ear, is Adminspeak. Adminspeak sounds like it’s English, and it confines itself to English grammar. But words in Adminspeak don’t mean what they do in English. And neologisms in Adminspeak don’t mean what they would were they neologisms in English.
For example, the ‘de’ in to decolonize would seem to mean what it does in to defund the police, namely to reverse (or reverse the effects of) whatever the ‘de’ is prefixed to. But decolonizing the classroom can’t mean reversing the effects of our classrooms having been at one time colonised, because if it did it would mean abolishing classrooms altogether. So it means something else. But what?
One helpful hint is that Adminspeak has to be taught using whole language rather than phonetics. So decolonisation need have nothing to do with reversing the effects of, nor, as it turns out, anything to do with colonisation. Worse yet, whole sentences in Adminspeak take their meaning from the entire discourse or document in which they’re embedded, and the entire discourse or document takes its meaning, in turn, from some agenda which is never to be articulated in intelligible English.
In this sense, Adminspeak is very much like religious patter. When the priest tries to console the mother whose child has just died of inoperable throat cancer that “Your child is now in the loving arms of Mary, Mother of God”, only at his peril is she to understand him as saying her child is now in the arms of another woman. The only difference between religious patter and Adminspeak – and it’s an important one – is that the former has no cognitive content, whereas the latter may. I say ‘may’ because more often than not calls to decolonize the classroom amount to nothing more than virtue-signalling. But the worry is that they could mean something. Like what? Impossible to know, because no one will tell you.
Notwithstanding the University of Lethbridge is facing a 15% cut in its funding, the Administration in its wisdom has recently posted a job ad, written entirely in Adminspeak, for someone to do … I was going to say I know not what, but I think I do know what. But I can’t be sure because I’m not bilingual. But if you are, I’d be in your debt if you’d read it yourself so you can tell me I’m mistaken.
On this date, February 19, 2021, there are 20 job postings at the University of Lethbridge, including the following posted here in its entirety.
University of Lethbridge, Executive Director, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (accessed Feb. 19, 2021). (This ad is also posted on the the job search site, indeed, accessed February 18, 2021. Pdfs of each link provided herein are available for download at the end of this post).
!! **Update, February 19, 2021 at 20:28. The Indeed website has now added a note that this job has expired on Indeed, “Reasons could include: the employer is not accepting applications, is not actively hiring, or is reviewing applications”. This note is not included in the Indeed .pdf at the end of this post, created at 13:01 today, so has been added in the past several hours. The job post on the Uleth website has not been altered at the time of this update.
Executive Director, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Posting Details
| Job Title | Executive Director, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion |
|---|---|
| Position Details | Our University’s Blackfoot name is Iniskim, meaning Sacred Buffalo Stone. The University is located in traditional Blackfoot Confederacy territory. We honour the Blackfoot people and their traditional ways of knowing in caring for this land, as well as all Aboriginal peoples who have helped shape and continue to strengthen our University community.The University of Lethbridge, founded in 1967, has a tradition of driving creative teaching, learning, and research opportunities built upon the support of a visionary community which saw its formation. The UofL is widely recognized as one of Canada’s destination comprehensive universities, offering liberal education enhanced by quality teaching, scholarship, and community engagement. Recognized for both undergraduate and graduate programs, the University’s success is built on its student-focused experience and cross-disciplinary academic programming, as well as its commitment to research and creative activity.The Office of the President at the University of Lethbridge invites applications for the newly created role of Executive Director, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. As a senior administrator at the University of Lethbridge, the Executive Director will work closely with the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, Dean’s Offices, Research Services, Human Resources, Student Services, and the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Unions to provide strategic direction and vision, and day-to-day operational leadership to enhance and advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University. Reporting to and supported by the Office of the Provost, the Executive Director of EDI will lead the development, promotion, and implementation of equity, diversity, and inclusion policies, programs, and initiatives through engagement with university leaders, faculty, staff, and students, all with the view to effect systemic change and enhance a university community that is equitable, diverse, and inclusive.The Executive Director’s Key Responsibilities are:Strategic Planning • Lead the development, awareness of and commitment to an equity, diversity, and inclusion strategy to advance the University’s equity, diversity, and inclusion goals. • Chair the University’s EDI Advisory Council that has diverse representation from students, faculty, staff, and key stakeholders. • Work closely with the Office of Research and Innovation Services to implement the Canada Research Chair (CRC) EDI Action Plan. • Partner with other Senior Administrators to ensure the principles of EDI are integrated into the University’s strategic planning, institutional operational planning and program planning processes and policies.Policy and Program Implementation • Lead the organization through strategic development and transformation to integrate pressing EDI issues (e.g. anti-racism, decolonization, inclusive excellence) into institutional processes for systemic change. • Through consultation, create innovative programs that advance and support diversity and inclusion on campus. • Lead development of learning and awareness programs regarding elements of EDI. • Coordinate an EDI network on campus to foster the implementation and dissemination of programs as well as foster open communication regarding relevant dialogue. • Facilitate the bridging of initiatives across the campus with the intent of gaining alignment of all activites focused on EDI.Campus Capacity Building • Consult, advise, and collaborate with University officials, offices, faculty, staff, students, and equity-deserving/seeking groups regarding diversity and inclusion issues and opportunities. • Collaborate with Human Resources and Student Services to review and enhance services and programs to support EDI, and to ensure initiatives that are undertaken with impacts on students, staff, and faculty correspond with the University’s EDI goals. • Collaborate with Human Resources to enhance recruitment and hiring strategies to achieve the University’s diversity goals. • Partner with faculty members to encourage diversification of curriculum to ensure EDI is incorporated. • Serve as a liaison to University committees established to address various dimensions of EDI. • Create communication channels and foster dialogue to engage and address EDI issues and opportunities concerning students, staff, and faculty. • Partner with the Director of Indigenous Education & Communications, the Manager of Iikaisskini Indigenous Student Centre, Indigenous Faculty, and others working within Indigenous programs to facilitate the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in teaching, learning, and research, and to further respectful and meaningful responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to action.Accountability and Assessment • Oversee a university-wide self-assessment process, including employment systems review, policy and procedure review, and an environmental scan to collect data and information regarding the lived experience of students, faculty, and staff in relation to EDI, to guide EDI program development. • Maintain knowledge of equity, diversity, and inclusion related issues, legislation and best practices, including knowledge of any municipal, provincial, and federal legislation pertaining to accessibility, equity, diversity, inclusion, and human rights. (such as the Alberta Human Rights Actand Occupational Health and Safety Act, Regulation, and Code)). • Engage with a network of post-secondary institutions to ensure alignment of EDI best practices. • Acknowledgement of the intersection of social identities, systems of oppression, and the discrimination that is connected to unequal distributions of power in general and also those within university structures, hierarchies, and power relations.Stakeholder Engagement • Build strong relationships with university stakeholders (including students, staff, faculty, as well as community members beyond the university campus) to drive change and to implement university-wide equity, diversity, and inclusion programs and initiatives. • Promote the University’s commitment and accomplishments regarding diversity and inclusion to internal and external communities, including building partnerships with external organizations and building relevant community relationships. |
| Position Qualifications | We acknowledge that those doing effective EDI work may build their EDI knowledge, administrative skills, and competencies in a number of ways. We welcome candidates from a breadth of backgrounds, that bring the experiences, competencies and skills outlined below. • An advanced degree and a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in designing, implementing, sustaining, and advancing EDI programming, training, and strategies, preferably within an academic context. or • A Ph.D. (or equivalent terminal degree) with a record of scholarly achievement in a disciplinary area related to EDI, and a minimum of 3 years of demonstrated administrative work, preferably in an academic context. or • An equivalent combination of relevant education and administrative experience in designing, implementing, sustaining, and advancing EDI programming, training, and strategies, preferably within an academic context.Note: The successful candidate may be eligible for a tenured academic appointment, dependent on the candidate’s qualifications and academic history, and subject to the provisions of the University of Lethbridge Academic Staff Collective Agreement.A deep understanding of the systemic realities faced by members of underrepresented equity-deserving/seeking groups gained through lived experience is crucial to success in this role. As such, in accordance with Section 10.1 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, selection for the position will be limited to racialized persons/persons of colour, Indigenous/Aboriginal People, women, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+ candidates. In keeping with the University’s recent statements of commitment to racial equity and justice, preference will be given to BIPOC candidates. Candidates will be asked to self-identify as part of the application process.Experiences, Competencies, and Requirements • A deep understanding of intersectional issues, systems of privilege and oppression, and the discrimination that is enabled by unequal distributions of power. • Demonstrated knowledge of current and emerging educational and employment EDI issues, legislation, practices and strategies, preferably within the post-secondary context. • Demonstrated ability to work at a strategic level to integrate pressing EDI issues (for example, inclusive excellence, anti-racism, decolonization, accessibility) into institutional processes for systemic change. • Demonstrated ability to guide and work at a strategic level, alongside the ability to transition from planning to effective implementation. • Demonstrated ability to build effective relationships with diverse stakeholders; to build and sustain trust through openness, transparency, and listening in order to build consensus and advance systemic change. • The candidate should understand the Nation to Nation relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples, including Treaty 7 Blackfoot Nations, the Métis Nation of Alberta – Region 3, and other Indigenous Peoples of Southern Alberta. They should seek to uphold these relationships through demonstrated knowledge that Indigenous peoples are political entities with unique constitutional rights as well as political goals. • Demonstrated success working to promote EDI with at least one equity-deserving/seeking group. • Demonstrated experience implementing EDI programming, addressing systemic racism, sexism and homophobia, or ableism, and incorporating intersectional and decolonial analyses in programming including development of intercultural competence amongst diverse stakeholders.Interpersonal Skills • Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to influence and inspire individuals across diverse demographics and perspectives. • Excellent organizational and project management skills. • The ability to maintain a positive outlook and attitude in order to see opportunities within challenges and effectively solve problems. • Visionary, collaborative, respectful, strategic, decisive, politically astute. • Proven capacity to build and sustain trust through openness, transparency, and listening, while demonstrating an uncompromising commitment to ethical values and the highest level of integrity. |
| Hiring Range | The University offers a competitive compensation package, including a full range of benefits. |
| Campus | Lethbridge |
| Employment Group | Executive Director |
| Position Category |
| Open Date | |
|---|---|
| Close Date | |
| Open Until Filled | Yes |
| Special Instructions to Applicants | To explore this exciting opportunity further, please submit your resume via the blue “Apply” button by visiting the Boyden Canada Opportunities website at https://www.boyden.ca/canada/opportunities/ or submit your application and related materials to opportunities@boyden.com and state the title of the position in the subject line of your e-mail. The application portal will remain open until the position is filled. We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those under consideration for the role will be contacted. |
| Employment Equity | The University acknowledges the potential impact that career interruptions can have on a candidate’s record of achievement. We encourage applicants to explain in their application the impact that career interruptions have had on their record. The University of Lethbridge invites applications from all qualified candidates; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given preference.The University of Lethbridge is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, including through all aspects of the hiring process. If you require support during the hiring process, please contact Human Resources at human.resources@uleth.ca so that accommodations can be put in place to support you. All private information received in relation to your request for support will be kept confidential, only information required to facilitate the accommodation will be shared with the selection committee. |
Supplemental Questions
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Documents Needed To Apply
Required DocumentsOptional Documents
Pdfs:
Accessed, February 19, 2021,
Accessed, February 19, 2021,
Accessed February 18, 2021,
!! **Update, February 19, 2021 at 20:28. The Indeed website has now added a note that this job has expired on Indeed, “Reasons could include: the employer is not accepting applications, is not actively hiring, or is reviewing applications”.
This note is not included in the Indeed .pdf below, created at 13:01 today, so has been added in the past several hours. The job post on the Uleth website has not been altered at the time of this update.
Categories: Everything You Wanted to Know About What's Going On in the World But Were Afraid to Ask, Social and Political Philosophy, Why My Colleagues Are Idiots
Paulosophical Vimplications 
In order to be an executive director, one needs others to direct.
If I wanted job security during this time of severe cutbacks to university funding, I’d apply to the EDI office and any related sub-positions in other departments. I’d also be padding my application and resume with EDI workshop certificates and anything else that demonstrates my commitment to the programme.
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Oh my. “If you have to ask, you’ll never know.”. But at least with jazz I can still enjoy it.
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I wonder if the successful applicant has already been chosen from the University’s own Cultural, Social, and Political Thought PhD programme?
https://www.uleth.ca/future-student/graduate-studies/doctor-philosophy/cultural-social-and-political-thought
Excerpt:
“The program’s key learning outcomes are:
Comprehensive expertise and advanced understanding of theoretical frameworks related to cultural, social and political thought such as Feminism, Poststructuralism, Postmodernism, Postcolonialism, and Critical Theory.
Comprehensive expertise and advanced substantive knowledge in interdisciplinary area of cultural, social and political thought. Research topics are not constrained, but are likely to include such problems, issues, and concepts as gender, race, class, disability, sexuality, equality, citizenship, justice, power and resistance.
Comprehensive expertise and advanced understanding of relevant methodology and method pertinent to cultural, social and political thought, such as Historical Materialism, and mastery of applicable methods, such as Discourse Analysis, Ethnography, and Interviewing.
Comprehensive expertise and advanced ability to propose, design, present, and disseminate original and relevant research in the interdisciplinary area of cultural, social and political thought.
The Ph.D. program is administered centrally by the School of Graduate Studies rather than by individual departments or Faculties.”
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I should apply for this position. I haven’t the faintest idea what all that means, so I am perfectly suited to the position, because those writing the ad also can’t have the faintest idea what it means. We were made for each other.
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I think I am most opposed to the American spelling of colour. The job application written in the modernized version of native Anglo Saxon failed to address the oppressive use of “color” as an American spelling robbing Anglo Saxon heritage for the correct modernized version colour. There is a trickle down to this as well as the use of “color” spits in the historical eye of Francish influences on the Anglo Saxon language, and in turn, spits in the eyes of the Latin speakers.
So with great distress, I find “color” without the ‘U’ to be colonial in nature. I hope the successful applicant addresses the job description they are applying for as one of their first duties.
For those of you with a good understanding of Latin may note that coloro is colour in Latin so one might argue that the American account of colour is the most native of the word. But I would like to point out that Rome (having been an imperial power) was suppressive and therefore cannot be used as a respectful baseline for the spelling of the words it (Latin speaking Rome) invented.
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I’m surprised – and deeply offended – that the Society of the Collective in Advocating for U in Colour seems utterly indifferent to the far more egregious American misspelling of analysing. The American penchant for replacing the s with a z is an offence not only to decent people the world over but also to God!
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We the Collective, are willing to acknowledge our damning position of indifference of the ‘Z’ as long as “God” is acknowledged as ‘JGJuZOABBr$+’.
Naturally; Jehovah, God, Jupiter, Zeus, Odin, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Money, & + being any additional deities that due to administrative costs have been left from the acronym list of deities that one may or may not acknowledge and may or may not consider.
We must also acknowledge that deities are oppressive by nature and must be discredited as imperial oppression.
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Translation:
“Tweet and re-tweet EDI stuff, run tons of struggle sessions, create a bunch of EDI committees, attend catered luncheons with senior management, write a bunch of reports about tweeting and meeting, tweet about it some more.”
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Interesting.
The Indeed listing now has a warning that this job, Executive Director, EDI has expired,
https://ca.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=fa6df6c4c7400305&from=serp&from=mobRdr&utm_source=%252Fm%252F&utm_medium=redir&utm_campaign=dt
“Reasons could include: the employer is not accepting applications, is not actively hiring, or is reviewing applications.”
If you look at the Indeed .pdf saved earlier today (the .pdf is time stamped 13:01, saved on one of Paul’s computers, Feb. 19) in Paul’s original post, this note is not to be found.
I don’t know what this development means, if anything. I’m just trying to keep information current.
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Alberta Human Rights Code. 10.1 is referred to in the job posting. I suspect this article of the code refers to the people the programme is supposed to serve, not to the person recruited for the position of EDI director.
Ameliorative policies, programs and activities
10.1 It is not a contravention of this Act to plan, advertise, adopt or implement a policy, program or activity that
(a) has as its objective the amelioration of the conditions of disadvantaged persons or classes of disadvantaged persons, including those who are disadvantaged because of their race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation, and
(b) achieves or is reasonably likely to achieve that objective.
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The University just announced, March 12, that it received a federal EDI grant for $400,000.
https://www.uleth.ca/unews/article/university-lethbridge-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-initiatives-boosted-federal-grant#.YE4oci2ZOMI
I suppose a portion of that money will go to the salary of whomever they hire as executive director.
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Hm. Lethbridge College also received a $400,000 grant. So, that’s $800,000 between the two institutions — nearly one million dollars for EDI programs in a city of under 100,000 people.
https://twitter.com/uLethbridge?ref_src=twsrc%255Etfw%257Ctwcamp%255Eembeddedtimeline%257Ctwterm%255Eprofile%253AuLethbridge&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.uleth.ca%252Funews%252Farticle%252Funiversity-lethbridge-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-initiatives-boosted-federal-grant
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