The Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration) is committed to creating and promoting a healthy and sustainable community. The BeWell@VPFA Wellness Grant provides funding to support small-scale workplace well-being activities and projects as we work together to establish and nurture a vibrant, caring, and thoughtful portfolio environment.
Eligibility
Any department/team within the VPFA portfolio is eligible to apply for funding from the BeWell@VPFA Grant pilot program.
The Funding Opportunity
You play an important role in fostering a healthy portfolio and campus community. This initiative provides an opportunity to be innovative as you test out a new healthy workplace idea in your department.
The number of grant applications funded will be dependent on the number of applications received and the amount distributed for each successful grant. In the application review process, selected applications with similar goals or ideas may be matched to collaborate on their workplace wellness idea.
Guidelines
Programming and ideas must fit within one or more of the following four priority focus areas outlined in the Queen’s Campus Wellbeing Framework.
- Culture: Expand opportunities for reflective, positive leadership and recognize a shared responsibility among all members of the Queen’s community to advance a culture of care, equity, inclusion, respect, and empathy.
- Belonging and social connection: Recognize the important role that strong, active, and inclusive interpersonal connectedness plays in supporting well-being and in sustaining a vital community.
- Personal well-being: Promote the multiple dimensions of personal health and recognize the roles and responsibilities of both the university and of individuals in supporting personal health. The following eight dimensions of personal well-being are the responsibility of each of us to recognize, nurture and support: Physical health, Social health, Mental / Emotional health, Intellectual health, Career / Workplace health, Environmental health, Spiritual health, and Financial health.
- Places: Create and maintain inclusive, accessible, sustainable, and inspiring indoor, outdoor and online places that promote learning, enhance social connections, advance active living and contribute to overall personal, environmental, and community well-being.
Expenses that do not fall within the scope of this program and will not be approved for a grant include and are not limited to:
- Operational expenses, i.e. expenses incurred during normal business operations
- Coordinators to support the program. Note that instructor/facilitator/speaker are eligible expenses.
- Purchase of fitness tracking devices such as Fitbits
- Current ARC programming that is already open to the university community
- Wellness activities that may already be in progress in your departments
- Individual employee health and fitness memberships and related expenses
- Building renovations, furniture, or large-scale fitness equipment
- Expenses related to physical changes to your workspace or safety equipment for your team. If adjustments to your workspace are required as a result of a medical disability, please contact employee.wellness@queensu.ca as you may be eligible for the Accommodation Fund.
- Activities that take place off-campus
If you have any questions about the eligibility of expenses, please contact Ishana Gopaul, Manager, Special Projects, VPFA Office, ishana.gopaul@queensu.ca
Grant applications will be assessed by a Selection Committee comprised of representatives from the Office of the VPFA, Employee Wellness Services, and the Campus Wellness Project. Each Lead Applicant will be notified of the committee’s decision.
Applications will be reviewed by the committee using the general criteria below:
- Promotes one or more of the priority focus areas of the Queen’s Campus Wellbeing Framework
- Includes a clear description and objectives, including anticipated benefits
- Benefits several employees at the team or department level
- Includes a budget that is appropriate and justified, with an explanation of associated costs
- Outlines how project outcomes will be evaluated
While not required, the committee will also be looking for the following elements. We encourage proposed efforts that enable:
- Collaborations with other portfolio groups to submit a joint application
- Initiatives that are inclusive of a range of abilities and perspectives
- Meaningful engagement and participation for a range of employees
- Innovation where grant funds will be used in new and thoughtful ways to reach objectives that would not otherwise be achievable
January 26, 2023 – VPFA email announcement and applications open
March 31, 2023 – Application deadline
April 5 – 12, 2023 – Selection Committee reviews and ranks applications
April 13 – 19, 2023 – Selection Committee meets to debrief and select applications to be funded
May 5, 2023 – Applicants notified of decision
May 8, 2023 – Funds transfer to departments
October 16, 2023 – Mid-year progress check-in and survey
April 30, 2024 – Funding spending deadline, final report due along with explanation of expenses
- Team initiative – up to $1000;
- Departmental initiative - up to $2000;
- Cross-department - up to $5000
For the purpose of this grant application:
- A Team is defined as a group at the Director level.
- A Department is defined as a group at the AVP level.
- Cross-department is defined as between groups that are under different AVPs.
The approval and amount of funding will be contingent upon:
- The availability of funds and the total amount of requests received.
- The alignment of the project, initiative, or event with the selection criteria.
As part of the BeWell@VPFA Wellness Grant Program, Wellness Grant Champions have been identified across the VPFA portfolio. The Champions are well positioned to partner with the Planning Team in the VPFA Office in their collective efforts to promote ample interest in the BeWell@VPFA wellness grant program.
- Finance/Strategic Procurement Services/Investment Services/Internal Audit - Grace Zhu and Tasha Drexler
- IT Services - Ingrid Gagnon
- Human Resources - Linda Henderson and Allison Bailey
- Facilities - Scott Garrett
- Risk and Safety Services - Erin Haworth and Tracey Kawamoto
- VPFA Office - Ishana Gopaul
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Funds are expended solely for your funded project. Please contact vpfa@queensu.ca for approval if there are any changes to the project before they occur.
All activities/projects should be completed by April 2024 when final reports will also be due.
Yes! This is a great way to break silos between departments within VPFA and encourage collaborative projects. Note that this is currently a pilot program for the VPFA portfolio only and we are hoping to expand it campus-wide in the near future.
Examples include:
- Track attendance numbers
- Send around a pre-and post-survey
- Hand out an evaluation form
- Host a focus group or interviews
- Collect testimonials from colleagues
Of course. The program is designed for VPFA staff, but we recognize that student interns may also work in your department. They are more than welcome to participate in the project.
Inquiries: Ishana Gopaul, Manager, Special Projects, Office of the VPFA, ishana.gopaul@queensu.ca
Thank you to the following organizations for consultation and use of their documents to guide the development of the BeWell@VPFA Wellness Grant Program.
- University of British Columbia, Healthy Workplace Initiatives Fund Program
- University of Guelph, Wellness@Work Grant Program
- Dalhousie University, Workplace Wellness Grant