Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access

Discover the ways we are continuously learning and implementing practices within our daily work and institutional policies and procedures.

• Provide staff-wide IDEA training and stipends to staff for independent IDEA training and learning
• Created an organizational Code of Conduct and updated the faculty Code of Conduct
• Launched anonymous ethics and whistleblower through third-party reporting system
• Hired an employee assistance program, to provide employees with access to mental health and wellbeing counseling

Anti-Racism

• Re-activated our Employee Resource Group, the Work Life and Culture Committee (WLCC), to foster a company culture that is inclusive, equitable, and prioritizes wellbeing and work-life balance
• Ongoing review of hiring practices to ensure equitable and inclusive skills-based interviews
• Created transparent pay scales, for staff, dancers, and apprentices
• Developing a Land Acknowledgement statement and practice in collaboration with indigenous organizations
• Prioritizing hiring Minority & Women-Owned Business (MWOB) vendors and service providers for facilities, suppliers, and capital projects.

Accessibility

• Added Dance Center accessibility details to our Visit the Dance Center page
• Completed a digital accessibility audit and implemented contrast updates and alt text for some images on our website; installed UserWay accessibility plug-in to the website.
• Relaunched our Dance for PD website
• Providing faculty on-going professional development in:
  • Adaptive and Inclusive teaching practices
  • Culturally Responsive Pedagogy to ensure teaching practices center students’ voices and learning styles.
  • Employing the four learning modalities within each lesson plan (aural, kinesthetic, tactile, and visual)
• Hiring Assistant Teaching Artists as an additional resource in the classroom and to model adaptations and modifications as needed

Accountability

• Added a third party ethics hotline and general suggestion box
• Regular and transparent reporting on this website
• We are in the process of completing an ESG Consultation (started in 2022) from which we will have measurable benchmarks for our work in relation to Environment, Social and Governance.