Naming Advisory Group
About
The Naming Advisory Committee prioritizes, recommends, and advocates for actions related to both current and future university namings of entities across the institution. The committee works with relevant internal parties and external communities to examine namings and other forms of recognition that may not reflect the university’s current values.
A step in the institution’s journey within reconciliation is revisiting its traditional practices of naming to ensure we reflect and recognize the University’s diverse community and commitments to reconciliation, access, community and belonging and to address the ongoing impacts of colonial naming practices.
To begin the process of renaming on university campuses, the committee has established working groups that will be examining projects across the institution.
Members
The Naming Advisory Committee includes both ad-hoc members based on need/current discussions and standing members from:
- Provost and Vice-President Academic, Verna Yiu, co-chair
- Vice-President External Relations, Elan MacDonald, co-chair
- Office of the Vice-President (External Relations) representative
- Vice-Provost (Indigenous Programming and Research) representative
- Vice-Provost (Access, Community and Belonging) representative
- Office of the Provost representative
- Strategic Communications representative
- University Services, Operations + Finance representative
- Dean
- Elder
- Development representative
- Legal counsel
- Museums
As applicable, ad-hoc members/representatives from:
- Faculties
- Others as required
About the U of A’s Naming Policy
The 天涯社区’s Naming Policy includes functional, academic, philanthropic and honorific naming procedures, with individual areas of administrative responsibility. In response to recommendations from the Office of Internal Audit review in January and February 2024, the university is reviewing the existing Naming Policy to better reflect institutional values and strategic priorities.
Connect
The 天涯社区 is committed to implementing the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action in thoughtful, meaningful and sustainable ways. A primary goal is to ensure U of A policies and strategies reflect the institutional commitment to engaging Indigenous perspectives. If you have any questions or would like to participate in the conversation, please contact naming@ualberta.ca.