St Mary’s University is fully committed to creating an inclusive culture by promoting equality of opportunity and respecting difference amongst its staff, students, and other stakeholders. The University has a long tradition of widening access to education for all, while fostering respect and mutual tolerance in society as a whole, in line with its mission and Catholic identity. Our equality, diversity, and inclusion ambitions are complemented by the contemporary theological reflection recognising that each human being is unique and valued.
We are proud that our University is a richly diverse community, where we draw on the talents of all our staff and students to create a culture of mutual respect and recognition. At St Mary’s we understand that our continued success is dependent on the contributions of every member of our community and it is this collective spirit which makes us unique.
We aspire to go beyond our legal obligations and with this in mind our People Strategy has clear aims for equality, diversity and inclusion. This will help to create a diverse and inclusive University community that enables creativity, imagination, innovation and is truly represenative of our student population. Our 2020/21 Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Objective have been prepared with this in mind.
Our Equality and Diversity Policy Statement and Code of Practice sets out our committment to equality and diversity. Overall responsibility for this lies with the Board of Governors. Leadership for the implementation of the policy comes from the Vice-Chancellor and Senior Staff.
The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Staff Board is tasked with the strategic management of the Staff EDI Programme within St Mary’s University. It sets the Staff EDI agenda across the University, overseeing implementation and monitoring progress on a regular basis. It also provides oversight of Charters Programmes, currently including the Advance HE Athena Swan and the Race Equality Charters and the Disability Confident scheme. The Board is made up of a number of representatives from across the University.
EDI Staff Board Terms of Reference
If you would like to learn more about the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Board please email equalitycharters@stmarys.ac.uk.
Our six Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) staff networks are key to operational delivery of the People Strategy and engaging staff in this work. The network leads work closely with the SU to ensure collaboration and promotion of activity to students as well as staff as relevant. The networks produce an enormous amount of opportunities for engagement in EDI-related initiatives, particularly in terms of events open to staff and students. The networks also provide consultation to senior leadership on best practice for addressing EDI-related issues on campus.
The networks report into the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Staff Board to ensure a joined up approach to delivering equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives across the University and to enable collaboration across the networks. Please click on the links below to learn more about each of the networks, including how you can get involved.