- Admission
- Programs
- Learning
- Community
- 91ÅÝܽ
- Research
- Strategic Research Plan
- Implementation Plan
- Supporting Health and Wellness of Individuals, Populations and Communities
- Expanding the foundations of knowledge and understanding our origins
- Strengthening Democracy, Justice, Equity and Education
- Supporting Research Graduate Students
- Supporting Postdoctoral Fellows
- Valuing and Measuring Scholarly Impact
- Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives into Research Ethics
- Building World-Class Research Space and Infrastructure
- Involving Undergraduate Students in Research
- Supporting Early-Career Researchers (Faculty)
- Funding Research Chairs
- Reducing Administrative barriers to Research
- Implementation Plan
- Performance & Excellence
- Innovation
- Knowledge Mobilization
- Researcher Resources north_east
- Institutes, Centres & Facilities
- Leadership & Departments
- Strategic Research Plan
- Dashboard
- Campuses
- Contact Us
- Emergency
Enhancing Belonging
Increasing Indigenous faculty and staff representation across SFU
Conversations have been ongoing for decades around how to meaningfully include Indigenous voices in decision-making around Indigenous policies, programs and initiatives at SFU. Although we continue to welcome new Indigenous staff and faculty members, we still face ongoing challenges in recruitment and retention, and recognize we need to do more in this area.
Building off the recommendations in the SFU-ARC and Pathways reports, work is underway to expand Indigenous participation at SFU as part of a new Indigenous-led governance framework, in collaboration with Indigenous leaders.
From establishing new Indigenous leadership positions that expand capacity to supporting a new governance model to advancing recruitment of Indigenous scholars, researchers, students and staff to the university, we are moving forward to address these challenges and improve Indigenous education.
Establishing new Indigenous leadership positions
Progress continues towards establishing new Indigenous leadership positions at SFU. These new roles will work in partnership with each other, the SFU community and Host Nations to collectively support and advance Indigenization and Reconciliation initiatives at SFU.
Learn more about these positions:
Indigenous Executive Lead
(President’s Office)
Chris (Syeta’xtn) Lewis was , effective Nov. 20, 2023. Through this appointment, continues his long and meaningful connection with SFU, most recently as the Director, Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation. The new role is intended to bring Indigenous Leadership to the Executive Team and to ensure that Indigenous voices are represented at the highest levels of SFU’s governance structure. This position aims to strengthen reciprocal relationships with Host Nations, other Indigenous organizations and Government, and foster an environment of cultural wellness for Indigenous faculty, staff, student and visitors. One of the first responsibilities of the Indigenous Executive Lead will be to bring together Truth and Reconciliation activities from across the university and lead the creation of a renewed Indigenous Strategic Plan.
Vice-Provost, Academic Indigenous Initiatives
(Provost and Vice-President Academic)
A new senior position, embedded within the Provost’s office, will provide strategic leadership around decolonizing and Indigenizing curriculum. This role will be responsible for ensuring the academic mission of the institution is accountable with . The VP, Academic Indigenous Initiatives will oversee the development of new Indigenous pathways and the strengthening of existing ones. The position will also provide leadership and contribute to a renewed Indigenous Strategic Plan. The Indigenous Leadership Listening and Implementation Task Force has worked on defining the role and is now looking to finalize the role’s key duties and responsibilities in consultation with Indigenous community members at SFU.
Director, Indigenous Initiatives
(Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion)
This new role is focused on improving Indigenous outreach, recruitment, hiring and retention efforts for Indigenous faculty and staff. This role will create a strategic plan and framework based on Indigenous ways of knowing, as well as developing institutional Indigenous practices that align with policies, faculty and staff agreements and relevant legislation. Additionally, the role will act as a central resource, providing awareness education on Indigenous cultural safety, training and advice to leaders and employee committees. The Director, Indigenous Initiatives will work collaboratively with Indigenous community members to advance Truth and Reconciliation and Indigenization and Decolonization efforts, including supporting Indigenous faculty and staff. The position is will be in place and announced in early 2024.
Establishing a new Indigenous governance structure
As SFU takes its next steps toward upholding Truth and Reconciliation, developing a university-wide Indigenous governance structure will ensure that Indigenous initiatives are visible and given adequate administrative capacity, and that work is not siloed. This also aligns with the recommendations of .
The path forward involves creating a robust structure that reflects SFU’s culture and values to meaningfully weave Indigeneity into SFU. Within this foundational structure, we envision the creation of supporting bodies with representation from Indigenous Elders and student, faculty and staff representatives to support and provide guidance for Indigenous initiatives, policies and programs:
- Indigenous Council
- Indigenous Caucus
- External Advisory Committee
One of the key responsibilities of the new Indigenous governance structure will be to oversee the development and implementation of a renewed Indigenous Strategic Plan.
We envision the structure continuing to evolve and change through a process of collaboration and co-creation with internal and external Indigenous communities at SFU. Once the Indigenous leadership positions are in place, work will begin to form these additional bodies in partnership with Indigenous communities.
Supporting Indigenous students, faculty and staff
The Canadian education system’s colonial legacy continues to impact Indigenous students, faculty and staff. Indigenous people are significantly under-represented in faculty and staff positions at many post-secondary institutions in Canada.
A key challenge is creating a critical mass of faculty and staff to meet the demands of university governance. Those already present at SFU contribute significantly by filling roles on committees and acting as directors and chairs.
To address underrepresentation of Indigenous faculty and staff at SFU (experiential and demographic findings from the 2019 Diversity Meter Survey) and build a more inclusive and diverse community, SFU sought and received approval to conduct a limited and preferential hiring of at least 15 Indigenous staff. SFU’s application process for an additional targeted hiring of Indigenous faculty is underway
This designation is a key part of the university’s approach to strengthen recruitment and retention for qualified candidates from equity-deserving groups who are historically and currently underrepresented.
Increasing Indigenous representation within the university benefits Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The special program is anticipated to build SFU’s capacity to:
- Help enhance knowledge generation
- Contribute to the development of more inclusive curricula and pedagogy
- Help promote culturally sensitive operational policies and practices