Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity

On this page:

1. Program Overview
2. Objectives
3. Selection Criteria
4. Faculty Eligibility
5. Eligible Expenses
6. Internal Call for Proposals

1. Program Overview

This award recognizes the significant and impactful contributions that Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Louise Forsyth, Glenis Joyce, Audrey Kobayashi, Shree Mulay, Susan Prentice, Michèle Ollivier and Wendy Robbins have made to increase the level of equity in the CRCP and Canada’s research ecosystem more broadly, by way of their 2003 Canadian Human Rights complaints and their concerted efforts in the mediation processes, which led to both the 2006 Settlement Agreement and its addendum in 2019.

Three awards valued at $100,000 are conferred annually through a peer review process led by the program’s Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

For more details, visit the program website.

2. Objectives

The objectives of the Robbins-Ollivier equity award are to:

• fund bold and potentially game-changing institutional-level initiatives that will challenge the status quo, spark change and take action to address persistent systemic barriers within the institution research ecosystem and academia more broadly;
• recognize faculty members who contribute their time, expertise and lived experience to help address inequities in their institution, the research ecosystem and academia; and
• provide opportunities for students and trainees to contribute to this important work.

The objective of the award is not to fund research in EDI disciplines but rather to fund initiatives to be implemented within the institution to identify and/or address systemic barriers.

The award is to fund the implementation of bold and potentially game-changing initiatives that:

• contribute to the understanding of the persistence of systemic barriers in the nominating institution and, by extension, the research ecosystem and academia more broadly; and/or
• identify innovative measures that could be implemented within the institution to change the status quo and break down those barriers in the long term.

3. Selection Criteria & Assessment Process

• Project: 60%
• Leadership & commitment to equity: 20%
• Institutional nomination process and support for the initiative: 20%

A peer review committee will select the three award recipients according to the selection criteria of the award and best practices in adjudication. To ensure efficiency, a triage process will be used to rank the top three nominations that will be recommended for funding.

4. Faculty Eligibility

To be eligible for nomination, the faculty member(s) must:

• be eligible to receive grant funding from the agencies;
• be holding a full-time academic appointment at the institution at the time of nomination and for the duration of the award (adjunct professors are not eligible); and
• be in good standing with CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC (e.g., they cannot have eligibility limits placed on them due to not meeting grant reporting requirements for the CRCP or have sanctions in place tied to the agencies’ responsible conduct of research policy).

Institutional administrators who are eligible to hold grant funding from the agencies are also eligible to be nominated.
 

5. Eligible Expenses

Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to:

• teaching/administrative release for the individual(s)
• student/trainee stipend(s) or salary
• research costs according to the Chairs Administration Guide

Indirect costs are not an eligible expense. The salary of faculty is not an eligible expense. The award is not intended to "top up" or be added to pre-existing, ongoing initiatives.
 

6. Internal Competition & Limited Submission Process

Each institution may submit only one nomination each year. All those who meet the eligibility guidelines noted above are encouraged to submit an internal proposal for consideration for nomination. There is no limit on the number of internal submissions from any department or faculty. One proposed project/initiative will be chosen to advance to the agency, following the process described below.

There is a mandatory two-stage internal process to participate in this competition. The faculty member leading the proposal must: 

1. By August 15, 2023: Submit an Expression of Interest form to awards@sfu.ca. This form includes a summary and rationale for the proposed project/initiative, to be posted on a restricted webpage for input from the SFU community. The aim is to gather feedback that will inform the development of bold and game-changing proposals, aligned with SFU's equity needs and aspirations.
2. By September 15, 2023: Submit the Proposal Form to awards@sfu.ca. This form collects details about the proposed project/initiative, including a proposed budget and evidence of the faculty member(s) leadership and commitment to equity. The Proposal Form will be combined with the Expression of Interest form and consolidated feedback received from the SFU community for review by the internal selection committee.

As each institution may submit only one nomination in a given year, an ad-hoc committee will appraise the draft proposals against the agency criteria and recommend to the Vice-President, Research and International which project/initiative to advance to institutional nomination by the agency deadline of November 7, 2023. This committee will be co-chaired by the Associate Vice-President, Research and Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion as non-voting members and constituted of Associate Deans, Research and faculty and staff with EDI expertise as voting members.