2024-25 Projects

Project Leads: Sports & Recreation, Student Experience
Parr Centre Support: $65,000

This project introduces an innovative support initiative focused on improving mental health support for all student-athletes. A framework will be developed to train 46 student-athlete mentors (one from each varsity team) in topics such as mental health first aid, crisis intervention techniques and resource navigation. Paid mentors will be responsible for fostering mental health awareness and support within their respective teams and facilitate a two-way flow of information and advocacy. Mentors will not only guide the direction of mental wellness practices but also serve as a primary support resource for coaches, support staff, and their fellow student-athletes, ensuring a cohesive and supportive environment across all teams.

Project Leads: Partnership between the Faculty of Information & Media Studies and the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
Parr Centre Support: $38,417

This project will develop resources to support students during the initial 24 hours after receiving grades or guidance and will teach feedback literacy to aid their academic journey. The team will collaborate with undergraduate students to incorporate student voice in developing an online, asynchronous resource to help students during the first 24 hours after receipt of feedback. This is a significant and specific timeframe as students are often asked to wait 24 hours after receiving feedback before contacting instructors to seek clarification. However, little support exists for students to navigate the emotions of receiving feedback, nor to constructively engage with feedback. Students will be recruited to participate in focus groups to inform resource creation. Students will also facilitate focus groups and assist with developing the resource and knowledge mobilization.

Project Leads: Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Parr Centre Support: $20,625

To support the wellness and belonging of Two-Spirit, Trans and Non-Binary students, this project will provide accessible resources, programming and virtual spaces. There will be a focus on the specific support needs of these students, such as transition support and decolonized approaches to gender identity with the creation of an extensive online resource this population. The team will work with Orientation and other campus partners to deliver welcoming and affirming events and programming at key moments in the student’s campus life. The project will also provide the Western community with language, knowledge, and resources to support students, faculty, and staff within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and those who want to further their allyship. The team aims to enhance the transitioning process, prioritizing student mental health and well-being, and build allyship communities across campus. 

Project Leads: Partnership between Sports & Recreation and Wellness & Well-being, Student Experience
Parr Centre Support: $70,000

Movement is an important predictor of not only physical but mental health; fostering student well-being requires tailored supports that welcome all students into the Western Student Recreation Centre, including those with mental health challenges and disabilities. This program will create and foster an environment that welcomes and supports diverse student participation in movement while developing belonging and a sense of community and providing professionalization opportunities for student volunteers and workers. This project offers a non-clinical, individually-tailored and fully inclusive alternative to improve mental health and overall well-being through exercise.

Project Leads: The Faculty of Social Science
Parr Centre Support: $22,610

This project addresses the challenges faced by equity-deserving students in the Faculty of Social Science who experience greater isolation and poorer academic outcomes. By offering workshops that enhance belonging, providing coping strategies, and offering guidance on graduate studies, this initiative seeks to improve the overall academic experience for these students.  The team will recruit equity-deserving undergraduates to participate in multiple brief workshops to enhance belongingness and provide coping skills for test anxiety and negative feedback, as well as information on graduate studies.

Project Leads: Partnership between Leadership & Learning, Student Experience and Housing and Ancillary Services
Parr Centre Support: $74,750

This project will continue the pilot project funded in 2023-2024 to support the improved mental health of our incoming first-year students by engaging and educating their primary support systems—parents and caregivers. Over a three-year period, the initiative will deploy a series of targeted, strategic activities including e-newsletters, a supportive video series, in-person and virtual events, and continuous feedback implementation to strengthen community support and ensure the development, implementation and sustainability of a successful program. Parents and caregivers are critical partners in student success and this program will offer them tools, resources, and connections to effectively support their students, thereby helping to foster a thriving campus.