The Status of Women Committee was established at the University of Calgary in the mid 1970s to advise the President on women's issues. In 1989, the position Advisor to the President on Women's issues was created with the mandate to advise the President on policy relating to the status of women at the university. The Advisor chaired the President's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, participated in the development of employment equity policies and procedures, facilitated communication among university groups concerned with women's issues, encouraged research bearing on the status of women, organized special events related to the status of women at the university, acted as a liason with officers concerned with women's issues in other universities and organizations, and represented the President as requested in activities within and outside the university related to women's issues.

Advisors prior to 2011 appear to have included the following: Susan Stone-Blackburn (1990-1992), Mary Valentich (1992-1994), Eliane Silverman (1994-1998), Helen Holmes (1999-2000), Ann Katzenberg (2000-2002), Hermina Joldersma (2002-2005), Claudia Emes (2005-2009).

In 2011, Adrienne Kertzer was appointed Special Advisor to the President on Women's Issues. In 2012, she submitted a report advising that the university establish an Office of Diversity, Equity, and Human Rights to serve as a centralized resource to all members of the university community and provide educationand leadership on a wide range of equity issues. When Kertzer's three year term was up in 2014, she was appointed interim director of the newly created Office of Diversity, Equity and Protected Disclosure (ODEPD), an office with a far-reaching mandate that incorporated many of the former functions and responsibilities of the Advisor to the President on Women's Issues.