Wellness and mental health grants

Please consider the following points in preparing your proposal:

• Projects that reflect innovative approaches to the promotion and enhancement of mental health and wellness are favoured. 
• Student involvement is strongly encouraged. 
• The outcomes of the project must be clearly articulated with a description of how the project will be evaluated at the end. 
• Applications need to be written so that someone who is not in your discipline understands the project details. 
• Applications need to include an introductory section with references to Wellness and Mental Health and other university reports (where applicable), along with a brief literature review, to help contextualize the project. 
• Any community involvement should be highlighted. 
• The WMHG is not meant to subsidize ongoing courses. 
• The budget should always be justified. 
• Any requests for budget for travel should primarily be for disseminating results of the project. 
• Ethical implications of projects must be addressed (i.e., the need for research ethics, any privacy issues, etc.)

Please also review your proposed plan in light of these additional considerations:

• Potential for sustainable benefit to faculty, staff and/or students. 
• Potential for sustainable enhancements to mental health and wellness at the University of Manitoba. 
• Integration of proposed project with other current or planned initiatives in the Department, Faculty, or broader learning community. 
• Additional sources of funding. 
• Consideration of related initiatives at the University of Manitoba or at other institutions. 
• Evidence of community participation and/or consultation process, where appropriate. 
• Opportunity for students to participate in learner-centered environments in a variety of roles (e.g., mentors, peer supports, facilitators, research assistants). 
• Projects promoting innovations in mental health and wellness; projects promoting and strengthening diversity; projects promoting partnerships between University of Manitoba units/departments and/or community organizations; projects promoting participation of non-traditional and/or Indigenous students in planning and implementation. 

Complete the application form by the deadline for submission to Arlana Vadnais, Campus Mental Health Facilitator, Human Resources and Student Support, mental.health@umanitoba.ca. Deadline extended to Mar. 7, 2023.

All members of the University of Manitoba are eligible to apply to the WMHG for support (e.g. students, staff, instructors, faculty, etc.).  For staff/faculty, proposals must be endorsed by appropriate administrative head of the unit. 

The proposals recommended for funding will significantly contribute to the enhancement and promotion of mental health and wellbeing at the University of Manitoba through their alignment with one or more of the six goals for the University articulated in Wellness and Mental Health.

Overall,

1. The projects will result in sustainable benefits to faculty, staff, and/or students. 
2. Outcome-based criteria will be used to evaluate the project’s success. 
3. The proposed budget is reasonable and in line with the objectives of the project.
4. Where possible, it is strongly encouraged that students be involved in development and/or implementation of the proposal.
    

To increase likelihood of approval, please ensure your proposal includes the following elements.

1. Clear benefits: Proposal targets the mental health and wellness of faculty, staff and/or students in a way that benefits a significant number of members of the University of Manitoba community directly (e.g., enhancement of programs, services, and resources) and/or indirectly (e.g., anti-stigma initiatives). 
2. Clear rationale, objectives and methodology: Proposal provides clear rationale and objectives consistent with WMHG mandate. It clearly explains methodology. 
3. Defined outcomes: Expected outcomes are well defined. 
4. Continuing benefits: Proposal explains how the project benefits will continue beyond the grant period (including an indication of the source of future ongoing funding should such be required). 
5. Evaluation process: Proposal outlines an evaluation process, which will be used to ascertain how well objectives have been met. 
6. Outline of any student involvement: Student involvement in preparing, reviewing and/or implementing the proposal is explained. Please note that students hired to implement a WMHG project may not occupy positions that significantly include duties normally performed by members of bargaining units at the University of Manitoba, unless the relevant collective agreement permits this. Please contact your unit’s Human Resources Consultant to review duties your proposal will require, to ensure that the University continues to comply with its contractual obligations to the unions.
7. Budget: Budget is appropriate and justified, with an explanation of associated costs. 
8. Any progress to date: For proposals involving enhancement to work already underway, the proposal must contain detailed progress to date. 
    

Please review the following guidelines in relation to project approval and allocations:

1. Proposals are invited for projects to a maximum of $1,500. 
2. Faculties/Schools may rank proposals if they wish. The committee will take the rankings into account as one factor in determining allocations. 
3. Wherever possible, proposals should take advantage of existing University of Manitoba resources, such as software licenses. Where an applicant wishes to make a case for developing new or additional resources not already available, the proposal should provide evidence that the relevant departments (e.g., IST or CATL) have been consulted about feasibility and usefulness of the new resource. 
4. When matching or additional sources of funding are available, the budget should show specifically what the matching funds cover, versus what the WMHG is being asked to cover. 
5. This is not an equipment fund. However, if the substance of the project merits equipment then that component may be considered for funding, if it is demonstrated that such equipment is unavailable at the University of Manitoba and instrumental to the project. 
6. Faculty-release time is not normally funded by the WMHG. 
7. If a project budget includes salary costs, any applicable benefits must be factored into the salary expense. There is no extra provision for benefit expenses within the WMHG or centrally. 
8. It is normally not permissible for a WMHG applicant or co-applicant to be hired for a position that receives salary from the project budget.
9. If a WMHG proposal has a potential to raise privacy or security issues (for example, the storage of electronic information outside of Canada), applicants are asked to consult University of Manitoba’s Access and Privacy Office prior to applying to the WMHG. 
10. Research supported by the Fund must comply with University of Manitoba policies on the conduct of research, specifically, the University policy on research ethics. It is the responsibility of the applicant to secure the proper approvals; funds will not be released until all such required approvals have been obtained.

Proposals and successful applicants must follow WMHG regulatory policies, as outlined below.

1. Successful applicants are required to comply with the WMHG reporting requirements outlined in the congratulatory letter and posted on the website. WMHG reporting requirements outlined in the congratulatory letter and posted on the website.
2. Quarterly progress updates and a final report is required within a month after the project completion date as indicated in the proposal. Please see the report templates; all sections of the template must be completed. 
3. Significant spending adjustments to budget categories must have prior approval from the Campus Mental Health Facilitator. 
4. Transfers of funds to or from a WMHG project to other budget accounts are not permitted. 
5. Any unused funds remaining in WMHG accounts at the time of account closure will be returned to the WMHG fund. 
6. WMHG funding may not be used for Professional Development activities unless the committee has deemed that the project’s success depends on the fund being used for this specific purpose (e.g., conference attendance by participating faculty and students), and has specifically approved this part of the budget request. 
7. Faculties and Schools must submit all applications they receive to Arlana Vadnais, Campus Mental Health Facilitator, Human Resources | Student Support. 
8. Any purchases or procurement of services must be made in accordance with the relevant University of Manitoba policies. 
9. Projects approved for funding shall meet with the WMHG committee to discuss the timeline and methodology. Once the project has been completed, the director of the project will be asked to share the results with the University of Manitoba community and other audiences as appropriate.