Page 25 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

GENERAL NEWS
The RVC’s Equality and Diversity Committee
The Equality & Diversity Committee (EDC) was established in 2013 with the aim of setting strategic and cohesive direction to embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) throughout the RVC. The Committee brings together staff and student representatives from across the RVC,
all of whom are Equality and Diversity Champions, with the remit to progress the equality and diversity agenda within their departments. It is the EDC’s role and aspiration to continually consider and challenge our approach, practices, and development in equality and diversity to enable all students and staff to embrace and embody the RVC’s values.
Working closely with the Human Resources Department, the Heads
of all departments and the Students’ Union, the work of the EDC touches
on all aspects of equality; this includes supporting the development and monitoring of equality objectives and action plans, supporting the work
of charter marks and new equality initiatives, and the overall promotion
of the values of equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the RVC. The EDC’s initiatives aim to encourage the participation of the RVC community and to engender the ownership of EDI by all. Some of the initiatives the EDC has been involved in championing include Dignity at Work Ambassadors and the creation of networks to support specific groups.
Our success in achieving the Athena SWAN Bronze Award in 2017 has been one of the notable developments in the EDI agenda. The Athena SWAN charter
focuses on advancing gender equality within the HE sector and requires institutions to commit to addressing gender inequalities at all levels of the organisation and to genuinely seek change culture and attitude so as to tackle the unequal representation of women within organisations. Institutions are obliged to renew the award every five years and to demonstrate progress towards their action plan. This therefore remains ongoing work for us as we strive to achieve the goals we set ourselves in achieving gender equality. A wonderful example of success under this charter is the support of annual cohorts of staff to attend the Aurora programme, a women- only leadership development programme run by Advance (HE).
More recently, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and
the recognition that it was imperative we address this agenda in our own institution, the EDC established the Race Equality Task Group (RETG) to consider and address race equality at the RVC. This task group, made up by
equal numbers of students and staff,
will ultimately produce a report and an action plan which will be taken forward by the EDC. Some of the specific issues being explored relate to the experience by students on rotations and placements, training opportunities for students
and staff relating to race issues, and reporting and support structures.
There are challenges in overcoming inequities and for the EDC to succeed
in its endeavours, it is vital that the responsibility for promoting equality, diversity and inclusion is shared by everyone in the RVC community. In pursuing our mission to educate, undertake research
and provide clinical care, we must remain committed to creating an inclusive, diverse and welcoming community, where our students and staff work together to ensure professionalism, mutual respect and collegiality are at the core of all activities.
Read more about the RVC’s commitment to Equality and Diversity here: rvc.uk.com/equality-and-diversity
Dr Christine Thuranira-McKeever,
Chair of the E&D Committee, and Professor Dan Chan, Chair of the RETG
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