If you have an idea that would improve student life on campus, there’s a fund with your name on it. The Good Ideas Fund gives students and student groups awards of up to $1,000. The application requires background information, a project description, a budget summary, promotions plans, and intended outcomes. Those who receive funding also have to submit a final report upon completing the project.
“It’s really about us fulfilling our mandate to the university to provide student engagement and student programming,” said Jennifer Newcombe, coordinator of programme and assessment at Hart House.
Fund applications are evaluated by a five-student committee, selected every August based on past involvement and diversity in demographics and faculty affiliations.
Priority is given to activities or projects that are open to all students and promote cultural diversity and collaboration among student groups. Applications for the fund have been steadily rising. So far, 26 have been submitted this academic year.
“The most challenging piece for students is the timeframe. Either they haven’t heard about the fund, or they haven’t submitted an application far enough in advance […] to use the resources to the maximum,” said Newcombe. “Budgets can [also] be a bit of a challenge for people.”
The fund currently has an annual budget of $20,000 and finances everything from small undertakings to large conferences. It also provides guidance on organization. “The fund is really committed to making sure that students who apply are aware of other opportunities on campus,” Newcombe said.
A day-long conference on “Decolonizing our Minds,” held by the Equity Studies and Caribbean Studies student associations on Feb. 21, received funding from the Good Ideas Fund as well as the Arts and Science Students’ Union and the New College Student Council. The conference featured academics, community activists, and artists in a series of panel discussions and presentations.
“The conference was looking at education and the space that we have for critical thought […] and re-analyzing it from an equity studies standpoint and looking at it as a site of oppression for many people,” said Isabel Lay, the current president of the Equity Studies Student Association.
“It was very important to have access to this fund. Especially the location that our union and [where] the students that we work with are coming from—our students are the most marginalized body of students at this university—it tends to be tricky to get funding,” said Lay.
Oxfam U of T also received funding, for a Women’s Day documentary screening of Sisters on the Planet and a candle-making workshop for 30 attendees. The event received $80. Participants had the option of donating candles to a local women’s shelter.
“One of the big issues of us getting money for this is that we wanted to get materials that are ethically sourced, which obviously can cost a little more sometimes,” said Leanne Rasmussen, co-president of Oxfam U of T. “It was nice having the Good Ideas Fund. We could get the best materials from a good source and not have to worry about how we were going to come up with the cost to cover that.”
