For 2025-26, the Faculty of Humanities has a limited amount of money available in the Dean’s Strategic Discretionary Fund to support initiatives related to the following priorities: recruitment, student experience, and community engagement. The competition is open to any member of the Faculty of Humanities; applicants may only apply to one fund during each round of competition.
The Recruitment and Retention Fund
Small grants of up to $1500 are available to any member of the Faculty of Humanities to support recruitment and retention initiatives that do not have other sources of funding, or initiatives seeking matching funds from another source; in the case of the latter, final funding decisions will be contingent upon securing the matching funds.
A maximum of ten grants will be made during each round of competition. Grants expire 6 months after receipt and all payments must be posted to Workday by that date.
The Hire-a-Student Fund
Small grants of up to $500 each are available to any member of the Faculty of Humanities to hire a student. Students can be hired to work on any project related to the academic mission of the University. Full time faculty members proposing to hire students as research assistants must explain why existing funding sources, including their PER, are not sufficient for the project.
Either undergraduate or graduate students may be hired. The rates of pay will be in accordance with the University’s Part-time and Student Employment Rate Schedule as posted by the Office of People and Culture on SharePoint.
A maximum of ten grants will be made during each round of competition. Grants expire 6 months after receipt and all payments must be posted to Workday by that date.
The Speakers and Events Fund
Small grants of up to $1000 are available to support visiting artists, speakers, or performers, or for small colloquia, exhibits, or performances. Preference will be given to events of multi-disciplinary interest, and especially those promoted by more than one academic unit.
A maximum of ten grants will be made during each round of competition. Grants expire 1 year after receipt and all payments must be posted to Workday by that date.
The Equipment and Materials Fund
Small grants of up to $1000 are available to support the purchase of materials or equipment that do not fall into the previous two categories. Applicants must demonstrate that the funding will have significant impact on the student experience or recruitment efforts; applications related solely to ongoing research projects will not be approved. Full time faculty members must explain why existing funding sources, including their PER, is not sufficient for the equipment or materials planned for purchase.
A maximum of five grants will be made in each round of competition. Grants expire 1 year after receipt and all payments must be posted to Workday by that date.
Applications and Process
All applications are to be submitted to the Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Executive Assistant to the Dean by 4:00 pm on the due date (March 27, 2026).
Applications may be submitted by any faculty or staff member of the Faculty of Humanities.
All material for each application should be combined into one PDF; the completed application should include a cover sheet including the name(s) of the applicant(s), the envelope from which funding is sought, and a brief description of the purpose of the application. The budget template, found here must be attached.
Application should include:
- The date, time, and venue of the event, if applicable
- Members of the Faculty of Humanities, other than the applicant, who will participate
- Detailed budget
- Details about other sources of funding secured, or matching funding applications in progress
- Further comments (if any)
Application should include:
- What tasks the student would perform
- What skills would the student gain from this experience
- The anticipated outcome of the work
- Detailed budget
- An explanation of why existing sources of funding, including PER, are not sufficient
- Further comments (if any)
Application should include:
- Title, date, and location of event
- Explanation of nature of event, expected audience, and interest to members of the University community
- Detailed budget: outline the projected total costs, funding or in kind support currently in hand or applied for, and how funds from a successful application to the DSDF competition will be used
- Further comments (if any)
Application should include:
- Details of equipment or materials to be purchased
- Detailed budget
- Explanation of how this purchase supports one or more of the identified priorities (recruitment; student experience; community engagement)
- Identification of other sources of funding available
- An explanation of why existing sources of funding, including PER, are not sufficient for the proposed purchase
- Further comments (if any)