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We have received many questions since the strategic evolution to access, community and belonging; we will endeavour to provide more answers and insights as deeper discussions are held and we hear more from the many voices at the ß÷ßäÉçÇø.

Last updated: April 10, 2025

1. How is the approach to EDI changing at the U of A?

The University is undergoing a shift in its approach to EDI and aiming for a more expansive vision. We have previously used the acronym “EDI” to express our commitment to a University that treats all of its community members fairly and with dignity, and that creates spaces for vital and challenging conversations across different disciplines, experiences and worldviews. Although equity, diversity and inclusion work continues to be a big part of that project, we have also increasingly drawn from a broader set of tools to help the institution to better address the significant and complex barriers and challenges in and to this work, as well as to better leverage the many opportunities. These tools include frameworks and concepts like human rights, decolonization, intersectionality, pluralism, universal design, social justice and interculturality, to name a few.

These expanded tools needed a more expansive container, one that is better able to hold a wide range of aspirations while remaining responsive and sustainable. The decision to evolve our strategic approach toward access, community and belonging is driven by a deepened focus on who we want to be as an institution, and our relationships to one another and to the communities we serve. By inviting reflection on the desired outcomes of our strategic actions and initiatives rather than on the tools to get there, we strive to offer a more context-specific, integrated and holistic approach to the critical and complex issues surrounding institutional change.

2. Aren’t we just swapping one set of letters for another?

No. While EDI is an established framework for institutional change, “ACB” is not. The concepts therefore do not work in the same way. For that reason, we cannot merely replace all mentions of EDI with ACB, nor can we replace each mention of equity, diversity and inclusion with access, community and belonging. And that is intentional. For the shift to be authentic and meaningful, for us to truly change the story, we have to resist the urge to take a “find and replace” approach to our commitments and efforts.

Instead, we have to ask ourselves difficult and specific questions, such as: What change do I want to see in this particular working or learning context at this particular moment? What role does this group or committee or project play in that change? What barriers are in the way and for whom? What tools or approaches could I use to mitigate or remove these barriers? What else do I need to know to make change and how can I find answers?

In this way, we hope to move beyond conversations that double-down on the prescriptiveness of language and address the often-heard critique of performative or box-checking approaches. Instead, we encourage critical reflection that maps actions to outcomes as we work toward creating a university community where everyone feels valued, barriers to success are removed and thriving connections are fostered.

3. What do we mean by the words access, community and belonging when it comes to institutional transformation?

The following are working definitions for the three words in the context of institutional change:

Access is the means and opportunity for each and all community members to fully, meaningfully and equitably engage with a space, program, community or service. Our goal is fairness in access while honouring our obligation to uphold human rights.

Community is how we come together around our core mandate of education, research and engagement. Many internal and external communities contribute to the vibrancy of our U of A community. Our goal is to cultivate a diverse community marked by pluralism that recognizes our interdependence and where we are all in good relations.

Belonging is the feeling of being part of a larger group that values, respects and cares for us, and to which we feel we have something to contribute. Our goal is to create a culture guided by a collective responsibility to ensure individuals and groups feel affirmed, respected and connected.

4. Why does “equity, diversity and inclusion” or “EDI” still appear on the U of A websites or in other documents?

The university is not abandoning the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion. Rather, it understands these as a framework among others to help us achieve our strategic goals of access, community and belonging. If the words equity, diversity and inclusion, or EDI, best describe what you are trying to convey, we encourage you to use those words. This decision should not be viewed as inconsistent to the U of A’s strategic direction, but rather pays testament to the many different approaches through which the goals of access, community and belonging can be achieved.

At the institutional level, over the course of the next 12 months, you will see a variety of changes to websites and other documents in order to ensure alignment with our overarching strategic goals. For example, you will see academic leadership titles change, most significantly the title of the Office of the Vice-Provost (Access, Community and Belonging). Anything published prior to January 1, 2025 will not be updated to reflect the current title.

5. How do we comply with expectations around EDI in research?

EDI remains an essential framework to the research ecosystem, not the least because it reflects the language used by Tri-Council. However, access, community and belonging should not be perceived as disconnected from the individual concepts of equity, diversity or inclusion nor the framework of EDI. Access, community and belonging expands upon EDI by incorporating it alongside other frameworks like human rights, intersectionality, universal design, interculturality and pluralism. Researchers should actively integrate EDI and other frameworks into their research methodologies and practices in a way that reflects the specificity of their research areas and needs.

For example, researchers can use intersectionality to analyze how overlapping social identities influence research outcomes, or apply universal design principles to ensure research participation is accessible to diverse populations. Researchers are encouraged to reflect on how they will work to identify and remove barriers, bring in more diverse perspectives and ways of knowing and account for differences in impact on communities to help them achieve their research goals.

6. Are institutional requirements around hiring changing?

At the ß÷ßäÉçÇø, we have always prioritized excellence by striving to hire the best, most qualified candidates. As fields, disciplines, pedagogies and workplace practices continue to innovate and evolve, we, too, must expand how we understand and recognize excellence. Only then can we truly have the impact imagined in SHAPE. If we stick to an understanding of excellence informed by what we already know, then we will diminish our potential for growth, creativity and transformation.

We must continue to identify and remove barriers in our hiring processes, from application through to offer, to ensure that the very best faculty and staff join our ranks — and stay here.

7. Were community members consulted on this change?

Our vision for the future was shaped collaboratively. Through numerous discussions, consultations, and co-creation workshops with executive leaders, councils, committees, and over 1,000 community members, we developed Changing the Story: An Integrated Action Plan, which launched on February 12, 2025.

As we processed the rich responses, we returned again and again to the possibility of name changes, especially in response to thoughtful critiques offered by those at the forefront of the work. Over this year-long process of conversation, development and refinement, many local and global challenges have put existing EDI frameworks, approaches and responses to the test. It became increasingly clear that EDI alone could not help this University meet these challenges in the ways that the people we were in consultation with were asking of us.

As we moved through the governance processes in the lead up to the launch of Changing the Story on February 12, 2025, we drew our new name from those very consultations. "Access," "Community" and "Belonging" were three of the words most often used by students, faculty and staff when speaking aspirationally about what they hoped this work could do for them, their communities and for the University as a whole.

8. What led to this shift?

The language used to define the work of imagining a University that treats all members fairly and with dignity, and creates vibrant spaces for different disciplines, experiences and worldviews has always shifted over time in order to continually centre what is vital to the work, and to the growing communities it serves. As outlined in Changing the Story, the U of A, like many Universities, has shifted its institutional terminology and frameworks often. Work of this kind began under the umbrella of human rights (1990), followed by “diversity” (2005). U of A’s first Scoping Group on EDI was established in 2017, followed by a Strategic Plan for EDI (2019) and the position of Vice-Provost EDI (2022).

Even as we reached these last few milestones, many Universities and communities had already expanded the acronym (for example to II & EDI, IDEA or JEDIA) in an attempt to recognize the communities, perspectives, frameworks and strategies that were underrepresented in earlier iterations of EDI. Each shift in this history has been driven both by the recognition that the work needs to grow with our learnings and intentions, and also that it must shift its strategies to best meet the challenges and opportunities of our specific time and place.

Throughout our consultations, we repeatedly heard that EDI did not capture the full breadth and depth of the work students, faculty and staff have been engaging in, and that they wanted us to engage with institutionally. Over this same period, we have tried to learn from how various Universities’ approaches to this work have prepared them to meet some of the greatest challenges and opportunities of this specific moment. This latest shift in terminology attempts to incorporate both sets of learnings in ways that will support more nuanced, agile, invitational, comprehensive and collaborative approaches to this work, leading to greater experiences of access, community and belonging for the broadest possible range of U of A’s students, faculty and staff.

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We want to hear from you. Please reach out to us at equity@ualberta.ca.