Repost Research Proposal: Proposal of improvement inclusiveness environment in UBC international Navigator club

To: Dr. Erika Paterson, ENGL 301 Professor

From: Christine Hsiao, ENGL 301 student

Date: February 15^th, 2022

Subject: Proposal of improvement for inclusive environment in UBC international Navigator club

 

Introduction

International Navigator fellowship assembled international students as well as Canadian students who are the believer of Jesus Christ. Acknowledging that we all have a different cultural background, major studied, mother language spoken, etc. We found that people with similar backgrounds tend to gather as a smaller group in the fellowship, which possibly creates an environment of exclusiveness.

 

Audience

The intended audience for this report is all the members and leaders of the UBC international Navigator club. Ideally, Amy Weidman, who oversees the international Navigator club would read this report.

 

State of the problem

This is an international club that includes a diversity of people. It has been repetitively observed that small groups are formed, and they usually gather similar backgrounds and people who speak the same languages. Therefore, although the Navigators strive to create a pleasant welcoming environment, some people in the group and others just joined may feel left out sometimes due to the distance created by the small groups. The exclusiveness problem has been raised.

 

Proposed solution

Based on the needs identified above, this proposal offers a realistic and practical plan responding to the exclusiveness issue. We first add the responsibilities to the leaders and then we will start generating activities to engage people to only speak English during the club time, detail as follows:

• If there is a member who creates an exclusive environment by constantly using non-English language, they would be informed privately by the coordinator to address the issue
• Promote the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the club
• Intentionally, mixing teams every month during sessions could possibly allow enhance perspectives
• Leaders are responsible for
  • reaching out to the group members for feedback so their voices will be heard as the whole group.
  • Make it easy for team members to participate in the main group. For instance, using vote function instead of just simply asking questions in the group chat
  • Have a monthly general meeting to discuss the feedback from intended members if there is anything that we can do to improve.
  • Facilitate ongoing feedback
    • This will be anonymous

If this proposed idea does not work out, we must reconsider other solutions.

 

Scope

To improved member’s experience in the club, I plan to research five areas of inquiry:

• What kinds of games/ activities can bring everyone closer?
• How many people have ever felt excluded before?
• Which language do they speak the most during the meeting?
• What are the benefits and limitations of the proposed solution?
• What is the most effective way to inform leaders/members of the problem?

 

Methods

Methods include observation, consultation, and some surveys. The basic information about the club, such as the number of club members and people who regularly join the meeting, will be using observation techniques to help us enter some primary data. The online surveys will focus on understanding members’ experience in the club and their definition of exclusiveness. The survey will also include the feedback sections.

 

My qualification

As a club member, I have joined many big and small events organized by international Navigator. Therefore, I can quickly put myself in members’ shoes and know their needs immediately. Also, I have previous experience helping my manager change the work environment into a more culturally diverse and inclusive culture. Therefore, I can efficiently conduct the research and turn that into a better outcome

 

Conclusion

Leaders’ roles need reconsideration to increase the members’ experience; they need reconsideration since they play an essential role in keeping the environment safe and welcome. Furthermore, we hope to improve an exclusive climate by understanding the problem in 5 scopes and the proper research and analysis of people’s feelings.