U of A Sexual Assault Centre hiring assistant dean, adds drop-in hours

The University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre (UASAC) is hiring an assistant dean and has increased drop-in hours, according to an update posted to the U of A’s website on May 6.

Associate vice-president (student experience) Tim Tang has been serving as interim director of UASAC since former director Samantha Pearson’s termination on November 18, 2023. Pearson was let go following her and the UASAC being listed as signatories on an open letter addressed to members of parliament. The letter questioned reports of sexual violence during a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Vice-provost and Dean of Students Ravina Sanghera and Tang signed the May 6 update on UASAC’s operations. According to the update, the university is replacing the UASAC director role with an assistant dean (community wellness and sexual violence supports). The university is currently hiring for the position.

Prior to fall 2023, UASAC’s drop-in services ranged from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. The volunteer program, which is currently unavailable, allowed for extended hours. Drop-in services were first paused in November 2023, however psychological support services and both in-person and virtual services continued.

According to U of A media relations, drop-in services were temporarily reinstated for two afternoons a week from December 1 – 24 to ensure support during exams. This accommodation was made through Counselling and Clinical Services (CCS).

On February 12, 2024, limited drop-in services resumed for three days a week at variable hours. On February 26, drop-in services were still held three days a week, but for two hours a day. On May 2, drop-in services expanded to four days a week for two hours a day.

Most recently, on May 6, drop-in services were expanded to five days a week. In the update, Sanghera and Tang committed to full-time drop-in hours becoming available for fall 2024.

The university is consulting with Possibility Seeds, an initiative that advocates for safe, trauma-informed spaces. According to Melissa Padfield, deputy provost (students and enrolment), Possibility Seeds’ recommendations will ensure UASAC has “a full scope of services that are aligned with best practice.”

University amidst hiring for assistant dean, “will be looking at the entirety of UASAC’s services”

The assistant dean (community wellness and sexual violence supports) will oversee UASAC and student community wellness, Padfield said.

“In addition to ensuring that UASAC is well-stewarded and led, they’ll be focusing on bringing in more wellness and proactive supports that will help survivor education. And, making sure that survivors have the support they need,” she explained.

Following Pearson’s termination, Padfield said the university reassessed the position. Padfield said the change was necessary in order to expand the position’s scope. The assistant dean will report to the associate vice-president (student experience) and the dean of students, “making it an even broader and higher-level voice within the student wellness space.”

The assistant dean position opened for applications on February 13. Padfield said that it took time to reconstruct the position and secure a search firm that has expertise in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). She added the university aims to have the successful candidate “in place prior to the start of the [2024-25] academic year.”

On January 23, three UASAC employees were terminated for creating a chat to communicate with volunteers after being told not to engage with them. When asked if restructuring or rehiring is happening at the staff level, Padfield said Possibility Seeds’ recommendations will inform the staff model.

“We will be looking at the entirety of UASAC’s services, making sure that we have the right folks in place to deliver those services,” Padfield said. She added that trained counselors, social workers, and community workers have been available as supports in the meantime.

UASAC’s volunteer program and full-time drop-in hours to relaunch fall 2024

Through an update posted on February 1, the university said that community educational programming had become unavailable. As a result, UASAC’s volunteer program was also paused. The program had over 30 volunteers prior to it becoming unavailable.

Padfield said that the current plan is to relaunch the volunteer program in fall 2024. However, “what shape that takes is still under-development.” She said it will be informed by Possibility Seed’s engagement and action planning.

“That will allow us to make sure that volunteers have the best and most appropriate engagement with survivors,” Padfield said.

According to the latest UASAC update, in addition to increasing drop-in hours to five days a week, UASAC “will continue to add more hours when possible.”

“We’ve always had five days a week service. We’ve always had the ability for survivors to connect during the same kind of hours that they were able to connect to before. Just not always through drop-in,” Padfield said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to beef-up.”

“My heart goes out to any survivor that didn’t feel that we were available for services and supports. We are here for them when they need us through multiple different channels, whether in-person, drop-in, or virtually.”