The President's Standing Committee for Employment Equity

There are a number of significant factors which have had an impact on Western's employment equity initiatives over the past five years. The most significant of these has been the drastic cut in government funding to universities. This led directly to an unprecedented elimination of staff positions and an institution-wide hiring freeze in September, 1995 on all regular full-time positions. Staffing and budget reductions led to the decreased capacity of various individuals and units to focus on employment equity related actions. PSCEE itself had difficulty maintaining its membership during this period and therefore stopped meeting on a regular basis.

However, in 1997 the Committee was re-established and regular meetings were continued. As one of its first priorities, the Committee reviewed Western's employment equity database and concluded that there was a need to update it. This was the focus of much of the Committee's work throughout this period. The employment equity census which resulted is discussed further below.

As at January, 2001, the membership of PSCEE is as follows:

Sue Desmond - UWOSA
Linda Dittmer-Pino - UWOSA
Susan Grindrod - Associate Vice-President (Housing and Ancillary Services)
Roma Harris - Vice-Provost & Registrar (Co-Chair)
Margaret Kellow - President's Appointee for Women (President, Western's Caucus on Women's Issues)
Colin Laine - President's Appointee for Persons with Disabilities
Les Ste. Marie - PMA
Peter Mercer - Vice-President Administration & General Counsel (Co-Chair)
Charlene Milloy - CUPE 2692 Food Services
Jane O'Brien - Associate Vice-President (Human Resources)
Vivian Peters - President's Appointee for Aboriginal People (Coordinator, First Nations Services)
Jennifer Schroeder - Director, Equity Services
Jon Thomas - PSAC Local 00610 GTA
Aniko Varpalotai - UWOFA
Tom Wonnacott - UWOFA