LGBT Staff Networks
14 March 2009
Greg Beaver BA, MBA
Vancouver Island University
Cork: 085-7791726
greg_beaver@hotmail.com
Goals and Objectives
This project was an exploratory study examining the structure, goals,
processes and outcomes of a diversity program targeting employees
and other stakeholders at a Canadian University.
The LGBT program called the Positive Space Alliance at Vancouver
Island University was the focus of my four-month MBA internship with
the university’s Human Rights Office.
My internship mentor requested that the final deliverable of that
internship be a five-year retrospective of the Positive Space Alliance,
to be used by the office to help define its future direction.
An objective of the VIU part of the study included the development of
an understanding of the employee-related outcomes, benefits, and
effectiveness of LGBT diversity programs at the post-secondary level in
Canada.
The secondary goal of this project was to provide a comparative study
of VIU’s Positive Space Alliance program with the LGBT Staff Network
initiative at UCC.
The purpose of this additional study was to examine the perceptions of
employees involved in Cork on the effectiveness of an employeradministered (human resource based) LGBT diversity program at UCC
versus the grassroots alliance of staff and students at Vancouver
Island University.
The outcomes and effectiveness for LGBT employees of the human
resources administered (top down) diversity program at UCC were also
examined in comparison to the outcomes of participants at VIU
(bottom up).
Participants
Vancouver Island University (VIU) – Structure and foundations
 A grassroots collection of staff and students, started as a result of
hate emails about the community LGBT newspaper being available on
campus and some students getting frustrated with the amount of
homophobic language they were hearing around campus.
 The Human Rights Advisor sent a group email around asking if
anyone was interested in meeting to discuss how to make the campus
safer for LGBT staff and students
 The main goals for the Positive Space Alliance are visibility, safety,
and education of LGBT issues on campus – with staff and students
University College Cork (UCC) – Structure and foundations
I don’t think I need to go through the origins and structure of the
LGBT Staff Network at UCC, but the key contrasts to the similar
program at VIU is that this one is an employer initiated program, it has
a formal structure recognized by the university’s administration, and it
is for staff and faculty only.
The primary goal of both LGBT programs was the similar: provide
visibility for LGBT people on campus. But UCC’s other goals included
providing an inclusive administrative structure for LGBT staff, as well
as liaising with other LGBT groups in Ireland and abroad – two goals
that differ from VIU, probably due to the fact that the LGBT Staff
Network was for staff only, and is coming from a human resources
perspective.
Participants at UCC were asked their opinions regarding the
effectiveness of the LGBT Staff Network and their experiences as
members of this group.
Outcomes
VIU
 Benefits for employees included a sense of community and openness
on campus for LGBT people and issues. The Positive Space Campaign
members disclosed that the program allowed them to contribute more
to the campus community, and to help create an inclusive and safe
environment
 Students were also thought to benefit from the program through this
sense of community and safety, as well as through the various
educational events that were organized by the Campaign
 On the other hand, challenges included the lack of involvement by
employees in the program, which makes the goal of visibility and
awareness more difficult.
 This group has not asked for a significant amount of support from
the university’s administration, aside from a small amount of funding,
and judging from the responses to the question “what do you feel is
the role of management in this program?” this is exactly how they
want it to stay. The program members felt very strongly that is should
not be institutionally run, that the level of support from management
was adequate
UCC
 Participants in the interviews mentioned that the university gains a
clear statement that they are inclusive, in line with equality legislation,
that it provides a positive place to work, and helps to create synergies
between other LGBT groups in the country, and abroad.
Conclusions
 Visibility for LGBT employee issues and support from administration
were the main benefits expressed by the participants at VIU
 My recommendation was for the Positive Space Alliance to become
formally funded by the university's administration, making it an official
diversity initiative under the Human Rights Office at VIU
 Also, I recommended the creation of a separate group for students
due to the different focus of two groups (education, visibility and
safety for employees and social networking for students)
If anyone would like to receive a PDF version of this project,
please email me at greg_beaver@hotmail.com.
Thank you!