Student Initiative Award Policy

The objective of the EGSS Student Initiative Award is to provide financial support for initiatives organized by individual graduate students or groups from the McGill Community with priority given to those from the Faculty of Education.

The funds will be allocated based on availability and on the needs of the project with a maximum of $1000 per semester (depending on the amount of applications and yearly budget).

The decision to allocate student initiative funds must coincide with the mandate received from the Membership at a General Assembly or approved by two thirds (2/3) of the EGSS Council. Such actions may include but are not limited to a student strike or university union strike.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. All members of the Education Graduate Students’ Society are eligible to apply for the award. This includes non-thesis and international students.
2. Events are eligible to receive a maximum of one (1) Student Initiative award per academic year.
3. Awardees will promote EGSS as a sponsor/supporter of their event on promotional materials.

Application process:

1. Completion and submission of this  google form https://forms.gle/kQgMDr56QnBq1b2c9
   A confirmation message will appear when successfully completed
2. Your form should have:  Explanation of event/initiative and its relevance to EGSS and its members (max400 words minus reference- APA 6th style). Detailed event budget. Please include any internal/external sources of funding, and the specific areas where funding is required. It is recommended to use a table/spreadsheet and be as specific as possible (including projected/anticipated costs). Confirmation of total registrants at time of application (i.e. screenshot of a google form with confirmed responses) If event/initiative is in person and located at the Faculty of Education, please provide Faculty approval letter ( change it to blind document).
3. Please upload required blind-documents  in PDF format or spread sheet to the google form and in the header  – Title of your project-Department-Solidarity Fund – Deadline Date

Deadline for application:

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Due to COVID-19 – Please Note that all payments will be made by e-transfer.

Previously Funded Projects

McGill Student Association for Collaborative Mental Healthcare

The McGill Student Association for Collaborative Mental Healthcare (CMH) is a student run group that strives to forge bonds and networks between students who are pursuing careers related to mental healthcare in order to optimize, examine and ultimately reimagine current healthcare systems. The group consists of an executive, a core membership, community membership and community partners. Our student network is made up of those in graduate and undergraduate programs at McGill that are studying in areas related to mental health, both in terms of research and clinical work. These include programs such as social work, psychology, family medicine, psychiatry, nursing, neuroscience, human genetics, and occupational therapy. The core group meets every two weeks, where meetings include developing projects, sharing knowledge, language and perspectives from different fields and examining current aspects of mental healthcare both in terms of service user experiences and systemic factors. With the support of the Solidarity Fund, we have had the opportunity to collaborate with our community members and partners, through workshops, networking events and advocacy projects. Most recently, CMH held a speed-networking event for undergraduate students to meet and interview grad students studying in various fields of mental health. These events have allowed CMH to actively promote its philosophies of open mindedness, respect, critical reflection, growth and empowerment to foster positive interdisciplinary relationships and impacts on the mental health fields.

Exercise is Medicine Speaker Series (March, 2017)

Exercise is Medicine Canada (EIMC) is a McGill Club focused on promoting the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle. This year’s Speaker Series attracted over 50 people to a set of talks from two athletes and a scientist. The theme of this year’s panel, Overcoming Setbacks, was aimed at speaking to a wide audience on the benefits of exercise in returning to daily life after an injury or extended time-off. To reach this goal, we recruited 3 speakers. The first speaker, Laurent D. Tardif, a professional NFL football player and in his graduating year of McGill Medical School, spoke about his personal experience in sport. In addition, Dr. Jeff Caron, a post-doctoral fellow in Concussion related research spoke about his research. Finally, Marie-Claude Molnar, a Paralympic, Parapan American Games and World Championships medalist spoke of her journey to come back from a devastating bike crash to continue towards her dream of becoming a professional athlete.

EIMC believes this panel of speakers inspired and educated our audience on the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle. Over 50 audience members from a wide variety of backgrounds enjoyed the talks in a relaxed setting for FREE. After each panelists’ talk, there was active discussion between both speakers and audience members. EIMC is thankful for SPCI’s support with this event!

The McGill Student Association for Collaborative Mental Healthcare (CMH) hosted its 3rd annual conference, Knowledge Translation for Collaborative Mental Healthcare , on March 23, 2019. The aim was to provide a space for interdisciplinary knowledge mobilization centered on mental health research, clinical tools, public policy, and program initiatives; to break down communication barriers by presenting mental health knowledge using accessible mediums and language; and to foster the translation of knowledge across disciplines and beyond academia to advocate for accessible information for all stakeholders. 25 guests, representing 11 disciplines, attended the conference and engaged in the exchange of knowledge about mental health.

Conference events included two workshop breakout sessions ( Collaboration and Building Networks in Private Practice Psychotherapy and Community-Based Participatory Research for Harm Reduction in Substance Use ), a keynote address ( A Field Guide to Rabbit Holes: Questions to Map the Dissemination of Knowledge ), a networking lunch, and an interdisciplinary graduate student panel ( Challenges in Transitioning from Youth to Adult Mental Health Services ). EGSS members, in their continued contribution to CMH, were instrumental in both presenting at and attending this event.