Expanded gender declaration options
UVic is pleased to announce expanded gender declaration options starting fall 2022 following the new guidelines and standards from Government of British Columbia.
Being able to report on the gender composition of students and employees can be useful in campus planning and policy decisions, and in advocating for our community. It can help to identify where non-binary students are under-represented in academic programs or identify areas with few transgender applicants. Having expanded data will be useful in developing priorities where UVic needs to better integrate gender and diversity-inclusive approaches to programs and services.
Gender options through Banner
Expanded gender declaration options for UVic applicants, students, and employees are being added to Banner. Banner is the primary system of record for UVic. It is used by some employees to search and manage personnel information, awards and scholarships, employee payroll records, and more. Information on Banner is confidential and protected.
The current option of responding to gender questions with female/male/not available is being replaced with two expanded gender questions:
- Gender identity: man/non-binary/woman/prefer not to answer
- Gender expression: cisgender/transgender/prefer not to answer
Update your information
We request UVic members update their gender identities on record so UVic can make well-informed and equitable decisions with the expanded data collected.
The implementation of gender identity and gender expression for the Banner system will be completed as resources and technology are available to update the integrated systems.
Student applicants
If you're a first-time applicant to UVic you can indicate and update your gender identity and gender expression in the profile section of your application. Please contact your admission assistant if you have any questions.
If you need to update your gender identity or gender expression after you submit your application, please see “current and past students” below.
Current and past students
You can update your gender identity and gender expression through the personal information change form.
Please contact Student Support Services if you have any questions.
New employees
Gender identity: New employees onboarding using UVic Careers will be given this option with the UVic employee information form. New employees not using UVic Careers can update their gender identity through the appropriate appointment form.
Gender expression: You will receive an automated email following onboarding to provide your gender expression within the Employment Equity Survey.
Current and former employees
Gender identity: You can update this by submitting a personal information change form for faculty and staff.
Gender expression: You can provide your gender expression through the Employment Equity Survey. Please contact eqhrdata@uvic.ca to arrange access to your survey to update the information.
Legal sex: If you are enrolled in a pension plan and there has been a change to your legal sex or name, please contact Pension Services to update your records. For a quick guide on updating your name at UVic, please visit trans inclusion services for faculty and staff.
Project considerations
Policies guiding UVic to implement expanded gender declaration options responsibly include:
- Discrimination and Harassment Policy (GV0205)
- Records Management Policy (IM7700)
- Protection of Privacy Policy (GV0235)
A person may hold one or more roles (i.e., student and staff) at any given time. Coordination across areas of UVic is in place to ensure a successful implementation into Banner.
Within the initial project there are three phases:
- Initiate and implement gender identity declaration
- Implement gender expression declaration
- Provide guidelines for reporting requirements
UVic’s next steps are to update systems beyond Banner to include expanded gender declaration options and to consider ways in which when a person updates their gender declaration through one system, it can signal for changes to be made to other UVic record systems.
Visit our trans inclusion information to learn more about gender diversity inclusion at UVic.
Questions
UVic is proud of the collaborative approach to implementing gender identity and gender expression declaration. We appreciate your patience as these options become available to all the people in our community. Please contact EQHR if you want more information.