Researchers interested in reputation signalling as a driver of EDI initiatives in Canadian Universities might be interested in investigating the following organization:

AASHE

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AAHSE): https://www.aashe.org, accessed June 9, 2023.

Who We [AASHE] Are

"AASHE is the leading association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education. We serve a full range of higher education faculty, administrators, staff and students who are change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation. Established in 2005, AASHE is comprised of over 900 members across 48 U.S. states, 1 U.S. Territory, 9 Canadian provinces and 20 countries."

Mission, Vision and Commitments

"Transparency, Collaboration, Hope, Stewardship, Innovation, Courage, Accountability, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion."
"We are committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in who we are and what we do in ways that align with our mission to inspire and catalyze higher education to lead the global sustainability transformation."

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

"We welcome and value diversity in its broadest possible view, going beyond visible differences to affirm the essence that makes each person who they are and encourage an organizational culture that can be an example to the higher education community that we serve."

Bibliographer’s note: “[AASHE affirms] the essence that makes each person who they are” Does that affirmation include psychopaths? See: https://wordpress.com/post/keepinganeyeonedi.ca/2664]

Bibliographer’s note: The AASHE has incoherent definitions of at least two of its central concepts: 1) Well-being; 2) Sustainability:

Simple and Complex Definitions of Well Being

Both AASHE’s simple and the complex definitions of well-being are bafflegab.

“Defining Well-Being in Higher Education,” Webinar, December 17, 2020, https://www.aashe.org/calendar/defining-well-being-in-higher-education/, accessed June 9, 2023.

Refer to the following document for both the simple and the complex definition of well-being,

Simple Definition (p2): 

"We define well being as an optimal and dynamic state that allows people to achieve their full potential."

Complex Definition (p2): 

"We define well-being as an optimal and dynamic state that allows people to achieve their full potential. Our focus is on two interdependent types of well-being: 1) individual and 2) community. Individual well-being is defined within three broad and interrelated categories: (a) the perceived assessment of one’s own life as being generally happy and satisfying, (b) having one’s human rights and needs met, and (c) one’s contribution to the community. Community well-being is defined by relationships and connectedness, perceived quality of life for all people in the community, and how well the community meets the needs of all members. By focusing on the whole — the whole person, the whole educational experience, the whole institution, the whole community — well-being becomes a multifaceted goal and a shared responsibility for the entire institution."

Bibliographer’s comments:

ALL members (second to last sentence, complex definition)? Including psychopaths? — of which there is apparently a much higher representation in the student population than in the broader community https://wordpress.com/post/keepinganeyeonedi.ca/2664.

Re: “full potential” (simple definition). What if I’m chronically-and-treatment-resistant depressed? If I never perceive my own life as generally happy and satisfying? Will I never achieve my full potential? Leonard Cohen would be surprised to hear of this criteria: 

"“I don’t think anybody gets into this kind of activity unless their personal level of distress reaches a certain unendurable point,” Cohen said, discussing his anguish. “To be serious about. Nobody gets into a very rigorous activity unless they’re suffering.” Cohen then noted that personally, depression was just one thing, but he had been suffering from “just a general sense of confusion, bewilderment, a sense of shipwreck, that you’ve screwed up badly.”

The simple definition is, at best, vague. Do suboptimal and inert states allow people to achieve their full potential? What if I want to sponge off the system? Do optimal and dynamic states (examples of each would not go amiss) ever get in the way of people not achieving their full potential? Perhaps the jealousy of a colleague will get in the way? Did Ted Bundy achieve HIS full potential as a serial killer vis a vis his being in an optimal and dynamic state? Or did he do so while working a suicide hotline? While saving lives, did he not, as in the “complex definition”, contribute to the community?

Note: ‘full potential’ requires an indexical and some metric by which to evaluate whether that full potential has been reached. ‘Full potential’ of whom to what or for what? How is one’s ‘full potential’ evaluated, and how will she or anyone else know when she’s arrived? Is her full potential met as a skilled (or mediocre) surgeon or as a med-school flunk-ie? She might be happier as the latter. Ah, but the definition uses the word allows people to reach their full potential. The conditions are such that one may, if she desires, do so. Flunking out allows one to couch surf if she so desires, and happily fulfil her full potential as a freeloader. To meet the “contributes to the community” requirement stipulated in the “complex definition”, she need only volunteer at the soup kitchen on Saturdays. Between naps.

The simple definition dies the death of a thousand qualifications. The complex definition is too much bafflegab to unravel.

Sustainability

Bibliographer’s Note: AASHE’s ‘definition(s?!)’ of sustainability is(are?!) bafflegab. 

"The concept of sustainability has shaped the development of STARS and is fundamental to the rating system. AASHE defines sustainability in a pluralistic and inclusive way, encompassing human and ecological health, social justice, secure livelihoods, and a better world for all generations. STARS attempts to translate this broad and inclusive view of sustainability to measurable objectives at the campus level. Thus, it includes performance indicators related to, for example, ecological integrity, social and economic justice, and democratic governance...Before exploring popular definitions and models of sustainability, it is important to note that Indigenous peoples practiced sustainability long before the term existed and that Indigenous and local knowledge – the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings – are often essential in addressing sustainability challenges."

About STARSR, a program of aashe:

“The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System(STARS) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.” https://stars.aashe.org, accessed June 9, 2023.

  • Scoring is: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze. ‘Reporter’ status doesn’t display scores.
  • Each institution has a ‘valid through’ expiration date for its rating.
  • You can click on each institution to read its submitted reports as well as view the liaisons name. E.g. University of Saskatchewan’s Reports: https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/university-of-saskatchewan-sk/report/ , accessed June 9, 2023.

FYI: A list of the most recent Canadian Universities’ STARS ratings (you can continue to search the list on the websitesite):

University of Saskatchewan (Gold)

Universite Laval (Platinum)

Universite Montreal (Silver)

University of the Fraser Valley (Silver)

Universite de Sherbrooke (Platinum)

Polytechnique Montreal (Gold)

Thompson Rivers University (Platinum)

Carleton University (Gold)

University of Ottawa (Gold)

Concordia University (QC) (Gold)

Western University (Gold)

The King’s University (Bronze)

University of Waterloo (Silver)

Universite du Quebec a Montreal (Silver)

Dalhousie University (Gold)

British Columbia Institute of Technology (Silver)

HEC Montreal (Gold)

University of New Brunswick, Saint John (Silver)

University of Toronto Mississauga (Silver)

McGill University (Gold)

Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) (Silver)

Brock University (Silver)

University of Guelph (Gold)

University of New Brunswick, Fredricton (Silver)

University of Alberta (Gold)

University of Victoria (Gold)

York (Gold)