2023-24 Projects

Project Leads: Dr. Niki Sharan & Dr. Ingrid Johnsrude
Parr Centre Support: $95,000

The transition from high school to university can be a stressful time for students, especially when it comes to adapting to large, lecture-based classes. This proposal aims to help support students in this transition in two of Western’s largest first year classes: Biology and Psychology. Project leads Dr. Niki Sharan and Dr. Ingrid Johnsrude plan to do this by incorporating engaged learning lab exercises in their courses, integrating mental health supports by training over 100 teaching assistants in mental health ‘first aid’, and expanding mentorship opportunities for students in Biology and Psychology. By creating a new system of structures to integrate mental health, engaged learning, and community into large first year classes, students will be better supported with the foundations that allow them to thrive.

Project Leads: Office of Indigenous Initiatives, Wampum Learning Lodge, Indigenous Student Centre, Indigenous Studies, Local Indigenous Community 
Parr Centre Support: $113,000

This project aims to create a sense belonging through mentorship opportunities between first year Indigenous students and Indigenous Alumni at Western while engaging in language learning, cultural reclamation, and revitalization. Not only will this program help support first-year Indigenous students in their transition to Western, but it will offer an opportunity for Indigenous community members to access language learning while facilitating intergenerational mentoring through student-designed cultural reclamation activities with integrated Indigenous language learning. By fostering a connection to Indigenous culture, community and ways of knowing, Indigenous students’ well-being will be better supported. In addition, recognizing Indigenous language learning as a valid and enriching mode of learning for Indigenous students will help decolonize Western’s institutional practices and take steps towards reconciliation.

Project Leads: Wellness & Well-being, Student Experience
Parr Centre Support: $79,737

The goal of this project is to empower Western students to prioritize and actively pursue their holistic well-being throughout their academic journey. By creating a wellness passport that integrates seven dimensions of student wellness – physical, emotional, intellectual, social, occupational, spiritual, and environmental – students will be encouraged to set wellness goals and track their progress. Work-Integrated Learning student workers will both shape and promote the passport’s activities, and provide one-on-one support for peers in connecting to on-campus wellness resources. The Wellness Passport will help students to not only improve their well-being but also to develop a greater sense of self-awareness, positive mindset, social connectedness, and sense of purpose.

Project Leads: The Office of EDI
Parr Centre Support: $7,262

This project will enhance our understandings of the diverse needs of Western’s 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and more sexual and gender diverse identities) community, especially of often under-served groups: international students, students who are not able to be ‘out’, students who are exploring their identities, and gender-diverse students. This project will explore these communities’ needs for space, services, supports, and programming through the work of a student researcher, community events, and needs assessment.