Become a Wellness Warrior

The purpose of the funding is to enhance SAIT students’ mental health and well-being through mental health promotion initiatives and activities.

For your project to be considered for funding it must meet one or more of the following objectives, as outlined in SAIT’s Alberta Post-Secondary Mental Health Funding application:

• Inclusive, supportive campus: Students perceive the campus to be an environment where their mental health is supported.
• Mental health awareness: Efforts to increase mental health awareness and reduce stigma regarding mental health concerns and illness.
• Positive mental health: Positive mental health is promoted across campus.
• Resource access: Students report an increased level of awareness about how to access mental health supports/services on campus.
• Supporting students: Individuals perceive their confidence in supporting a student with a mental health concern is improved.

Any SAIT student (including apprentices), staff, or faculty are eligible to apply for the funding as individuals or groups.

Only projects that focus directly on supporting student mental health and well-being will be considered.

Projects that focus directly on employee well-being are outside the scope of this funding. However, the aforementioned projects may be eligible for SAIT’s ’88 Legacy Funding.

Each project submission will be considered, regardless of whether the applicant has been funded before. An applicant can submit more than one proposal.

The process of awarding the Wellness Warrior funding is competitive. Not all projects will be awarded funding.

Once the available funding amounts have been exhausted for the current application period, no further funding will be awarded.

Proposals will be reviewed through a small committee composed of diverse SAIT stakeholders, including students.

Proposals will be considered on their merit and quality of proposed activities based on the following.

• Their ability to meet funding eligibility.
• The potential impact or benefit to support the mental health and well-being of SAIT students.
  • Preference will be given to initiatives that will positively impact a broad range of students at SAIT, including full-time, part-time, on-campus or online students and apprentices.
  • If the initiative is tailored to a specific group, the rationale presented is justifiable.
• The ability to build partnerships and collaborations with various departments and include the student voice.
• The suggested initiative is thoughtful, well-planned, and well-poised to positively impact student mental health. Preference will be given to evidence-based initiatives.
• The feasibility of project implementation and evaluation and the activities and tasks, as well as the deadlines and budget are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based).
• The initiative can be sustained post-funding. An example of this would be an initiative that requires start-up costs but can then be implemented multiple times with little added costs.

Funding awarded to applicants is intended only to be used as described in the funding agreement for expenses related to project activities.

If you are unsure if a proposed expenditure is eligible or ineligible, contact the PSMH Project Coordinator before making it.

The review committee reserves the right to determine eligible expenses on a project-by-project basis, based on the rationale provided in each proposal.

If expenses appear misaligned with project activities or the purpose of the funding, the review committee will provide this feedback to the applicant or decline funding those inappropriate items.

Examples of eligible expenses include, but are not limited to:

• supplies and promotional materials required for the initiative (marketing and promotion outside of SAIT is not an eligible expense)
• small incentives for student participation (for example, gift cards for raffle, snacks and beverages)
• reasonable honorariums for outside guests (for example, guest speakers, Elders, traditional knowledge holders)

Examples of ineligible expenses include, but are not limited to:

• academic program development or delivery
• anything that would fall under mental health care (for example, clinical or non-clinical intervention)
• an activity or initiative that duplicates support already offered at SAIT
• capital expenses related to the purchase of land, buildings, or motor vehicles
• clinical mental health care (paying a professional to provide clinical mental health services to students)
• expenses related to mental health promotion, mental illness prevention, or the delivery of care models that do not treat people with dignity and respect
• establishing 24-hour telephone-based support
• wages, salaries and other compensation-related expenses
• loan fees, debt principal payments, or deficit funding
• speculative fundraising ventures
• expenses that do not show a clear relationship to the purposes of this funding, or expenses that cause an ongoing funding liability for the Government of Alberta.

As a funding condition, you will need to measure your initiative's impact on student mental health.

This will include common measures such as number of participants, meaningful information pertaining to the impact of the initiative, including photos where appropriate, and may also include measures that you develop to determine the impact of your initiative and how it can be improved in the future.

Please ensure you are recording these common measures in your personal records so you can accurately fill out the evaluation form when prompted.