smiling group with text professional development and funding opportunities

The University Diversity, Indigeneity, and Anti-Racism Professional Development Fund (Article U)

March 2024 Disbursement: Now Closed

During negotiations for the 2021 collective agreement renewal, the parties discussed their shared commitments to the ongoing work of justice, equity, Indigeneity, anti-oppression, and inclusion needed to promote anti-racist and decolonized frameworks in scholarship and teaching to advance the core principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

The Vice-President of People, Equity, and Inclusion, in consultation with the President of the Faculty Association, and the Windsor University Faculty Association Racial Justice Committee, established a diverse working group to develop the framework that will guide the implementation of Article U.

The University Diversity, Indigeneity, and Anti-Racism Professional Development Fund (PD Fund) provides one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for professional development activities in research and teaching through the life of the current Collective Agreement 2022-2026. The University Diversity, Indigeneity, and Anti-Racism Professional Development Fund is comprised of two separate funds of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) each, one directed to scholarship and teaching in Indigeneity, and the other one directed to scholarship and teaching in anti-racist pedagogies. Funds are disbursed twice annually in March and June.

Each applicant may apply for up to $5,000.00. Awards of over $5,000.00 may be considered depending on the availability of funds.

Faculty, librarians, AAS, and sessional lecturers are eligible to apply for PD funds under Article U.

While all applicants are required to be members of the WUFA bargaining unit to qualify, you are not required to be members of WUFA. Please note that WUFA members are bargaining unit members who have chosen to join by submitting a membership form to WUFA. Additionally, applicants must be employed by the University of Windsor for the entirety of the grant term (approximately 8 months).

Applicants will be asked to provide information, such as:

  • Description of Project (limited to 2,000 characters.) 
  • Goal of Project (limited to 2,000 characters.)
    • How the project supports Diversity, Indigeneity, and Anti-racism.
  • Professional development benefits to project (limited to 2,000 characters.)
  • Budget Details (itemized budget of how funds will be allocated.)
  • Signature Approval of Supervisor/Department Head.​​

Article U funding covers two categories:

  • Project Category: Scholarship and Teaching in Indigeneity (non-Indigenous applicants must have Indigenous partners or collaborators for research activities) OR Scholarship and Teaching in Anti-Racist Pedagogies.
  • Professional Development Category: Research and Scholarship (including community engagement) OR Teaching/Pedagogy.

The University's Diversity, Indigeneity, and Anti-Racism PD Fund Committee will consider applications from various disciplines and seek to allocate limited funds to applicants whose overall research/scholarly productivity is most likely to be enhanced

  1. Navigate to uwindsor.ca/erso and click Log into ERSO
  2. Use your UWin ID to log in (you may need to complete multifactor authentication)
  3. Click on Apply New
  4. Select "Diversity, Indigeneity, and Anti-racism Professional Development Fund (Article U)" form from the list of available forms
  5. Complete all required fields (marked with a red *)
  6. Upload any relevant supporting documents
  7. Select 'Submit'

For inquiries about the application and ERSO Portal, please email erso@uwindsor.ca

For inquiries about eligibility, email vppei@uwindsor.ca