Strategic Priority Fund 2010/11

The Strategic Priority Fund was established as part of the University’s 2009/2010 operating budget to fund new programs that support the vision and values of UWindsor’s strategic plan.

“The Strategic Priority Fund is a way to allow the University, even in challenging times, to continually renew and reinvent itself in a manner that makes us better, in keeping with the goals of our strategic plan,” Provost Leo Groarke says.

“It has provided a means for faculty and staff to see their creative ideas come to fruition and encourages the campus community to take part in building the future of our University.”

The fund supports initiatives that will allow the University to enhance its operations and meet its strategic objectives.

Below is an overview of the campus projects that won support from the 2010/11 Strategic Priority Fund:

Additional support for Graduate Assistants ($100,000 one time)

• Hire additional Graduate Assistants

Centre for Enterprise and Law ($160,000 over five years)

• A new collaboration of the Intellectual Property Legal Information Network and the Centre for Business Advancement and Research

Civic Engagement Co-ordinator ($80,000/year for two years)

• Provide FASS students with practicum placements to apply their knowledge in the community

Developing Asynchronous Models of Education in Social Work ($37,000 one time)

• Create an on-line learning model for graduate and undergraduate social work education; support for the planned development of international programs in the US, and possibly India, China and Vietnam

Development of a Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BEng Tech) Degree Program ($51,000 one time)

• Offer a seamless integration of three-year technology diploma holders from any recognized college in Canada and provide them with a university level experience

E-Learning Initiative ($50,000 one time)

• Continue development of an on-line tool to facilitate video conferencing for distance learning education

Engineering Youth Outreach Program ($61,720 one time)

• Inspire young adults to choose a career in Science and Technology.

Enhancing the First-Year Learning Experience in Computer Science ($20,000 base)

• Identify and provide support to students experiencing difficulty in first year computer science

Establish GA/TA Network-Foundational Professional Skills for Graduate Students ($17,000 one time; $36,000 base)

• Establish a widely supported GA/TA network across campus, including peer mentorship, peer development, and resource sharing

Foundational Mathematics Instruction ($21,000 one time; $124,000 base)

• Develop the capacity to support student achievement and success in mathematics through an early intervention plan.

Inter-Faculty Health Sciences Position ($100,000 per year for three years)

• Help develop a truly multidisciplinary health sciences program to enhance opportunities for undergraduate students, promote the further development of health research at UWindsor, and promote partnerships in the health sector in the Windsor-Essex area

Intervention to Prevent Sexual Assault and Mitigate its Consequences ($37,300 base)

• Adopt the Bringing in the Bystander program developed at the University of New Hampshire, a sexual assault prevention program that uses male and female students as peer-trainers, single-sex training sessions, and the positioning of participants as potential witnesses to sexual assault, rather than as potential perpetrators or victims

Modular approach to Enhancing First-year Experience in Science ($10,000 one time; $10,500 base)

• Provide supplementary interactive modules to address individual weaknesses in student background knowledge for the introductory course in physics

Proposal to Develop a Program in Digital Journalism ($20,000 one time)

• Provide new opportunities for undergraduate students to pursue a new digital journalism degree program; promote research in this area; possibly lead to the development of a graduate program

Solving the International Student Retention Puzzle ($22,500 one time)

• Conduct an assessment of international undergraduate and graduate student retention. International recruitment is sensitive to a number of factors including currency fluctuations, the global economic recession, increasing competition, and institutional reputation

Support for a First Course in Anthrozoology ($13,000 one time)

• Create a new, first-year course in a emerging interdisciplinary field – anthrozoology – to study the relationships between humans and animals

The operating budget planned to make available approximately $1.5 million for the 2010/11 round of Strategic Priority funding. Seventy-seven applications were received. Find more at: uwindsor.ca/provost/spf