CRCEF Working Group
Concordia University established a CRCEF Working Group to implement the program and distribute the funds in line with the agency requirements. This includes representation in the group of individuals from equity-seeking groups, and of multiple fields, Faculties, and units from the University. It also includes individuals with experience in research that is non-traditional and unconventional, based in Indigenous ways of knowing, outside the mainstream of the discipline, and focused on issues of gender, race or minority status. All members of the Working Group have undertaken EDI and unconscious bias training. The Group includes an associate advisor with a specialty in research-related EDI practices.
Following is a list of our committee members and their titles:
Chair:
Paula Wood-Adams, Special Advisor to the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies, Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering (polymer science and processing)
Members:
Monica Mulrennan, Associate Vice-President, Research, Development and Outreach, Professor of Geography (indigenous geographies and community-based research)
Heather Adams-Robinette, Director, Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies Sector
Daniel Therrien, Executive Director, Strategic Business Units Compliance and Support
Cristina Di Menna, interim Assistant Director, Research Funds
Umar Khan, Supervisor, Research Funds
Andrea Rodney, Manager Research Grants
Eli Friedland, Associate Advisor, Institutional Research Initiatives
Decision process overview:
In the summer of 2020, Concordia released substantial and broad-ranging internal research support funding, separately targeting early-career researchers, established researchers, and maintenance costs for research projects. Due to this prior internal funding, and the notional amounts currently allocated to Concordia by the CRCEF Program, it is not anticipated that eligible need will exceed the CRCEF funding available. Rather, it is anticipated that the committee will employ a non-competitive assessment of applicant eligibility, according to the CRCEF Program criteria, submitting all eligible applications. Should eligible need unexpectedly exceed available CRCEF funding, adjudicative criteria are also included below.
Decision process for the distribution of funds received in Stage 1, 2 and 4:
In determining the allocation of the Stages 1, 2 and 4 funds, Concordia has put a distribution plan in place based directly on the Stage 1 formula detailed in the CRCEF program. This formula calculates 75% of the total amount of eligible support from non-governmental sources for individual salary costs of research personnel, up to a maximum of $847 per week for the period of March 30 to June 19, 2020. This period was chosen because it coincides with the onset of the pandemic, when the greatest adverse impact occurred and the most significant amount of salary expenses was incurred.
Concordia made an institutional commitment during the initial shutdown to maintain all salary expenses (including all research projects) in order to prevent furloughs and layoffs, and help limit the disruption to personnel and their families. The allocation of the CRCEF will give priority to research projects identified by researchers as having terminated personnel costs due to COVID-19, provided the contracts can be extended during the eligible period. Special consideration will be provided in the preparation of submissions for individuals who have been personally impacted by the pandemic (e.g., their own or their immediate family’s health has been directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, family obligations for dependent care or limited access to medical care for persons with disabilities).
Decision process for the distribution of funds in Stage 3
University Notional allocation $911,606
- All eligible projects will receive a maximum of $4,000 from the notional amount allocated to the University by the CRCEF program. If a project has requested less than $4,000, then the full amount will be provided and the project will not be eligible for additional funding.
- If there is a remaining balance of the notional allocation following step 1, the funds will be divided equally among the eligible applications until the notional amount has been reached.
- While it is not anticipated that requested funds will exceed the University’s notional amount, should they do so the University will submit a Stage 3 request for the additional funds required above the notional amount.
- If the University‘s request for additional funds is granted, each project will receive additional funding with priority given to those projects with maintenance costs.
- The CRCEF Program places special emphasis on the value of research that is non-traditional or unconventional, based in Indigenous ways of knowing, outside the mainstream of the discipline, or focused on issues of gender, race or minority status. Concordia welcomes this emphasis, and has ensured that the committee comprises members who are engaged in such research, to ensure that its value is clearly and transparently upheld in all decision-making, should any decisions prove necessary.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Considerations
Concordia University is a forward-thinking, next-generation university, committed to fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive community. As with all funding opportunities, Concordia has ensured that the management of the CRCEF allocations has been undertaken with a focus on removing systemic barriers to equity-seeking groups (including, but not limited to, women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities, and LGBTQ2+ individuals). Our diverse selection committee members – each of whom has received EDI and unconscious bias training – are employing a non-competitive decision-making and distribution process that recognizes research that is non-traditional or unconventional, based in Indigenous ways of knowing, outside the mainstream of disciplines, or focused on issues of gender, race or minority status. The committee is guided by the principles and practices embedded in Concordia's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan for the Canada Research Chairs Program (adjudicated as "fully satisfying" the Canada Research Chairs Program's EDI requirements), as well as the priorities identified by Concordia's Working Group on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for our forthcoming university-wide EDI Action Plan.
Concordia has employed specific strategies to ensure that: a) safeguards are in place to ensure that decisions of the University’s CRCEF committee are not negatively affected by a researcher’s inability to work during the pandemic due to child/family care or increased risk related to exposure to COVID-19; and b) any decision-making by the committee values research that is non-traditional or unconventional, based in Indigenous ways of knowing, outside the mainstream of the discipline, or focused on issues of gender, race or minority status. Among those strategies are:
1) A non-competitive assessment process: Concordia’s own substantial internal funding to support both early-career and established researchers and research ramp-up costs during the pandemic has provided for a situation in which access to CRCEF funding is almost certainly only a question of eligibility related to the Program’s requirements, not of internal competition between Concordia researchers. This highly likely scenario would entail that all eligible researchers, from all groups and all research domains (traditional and non-traditional), and however impacted with respect to their ability to work during the pandemic, are supported by Concordia in their applications for CRCEF funding.
2) Broad outreach to all Concordia researchers, tailored to the exigencies and personal contingencies of the extraordinary circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic: the funding opportunities offered by the CRCEF Program have been announced repeatedly to all Concordia researchers via newsletters, special announcements, and town-halls, as well as webinars and drop-in Zoom Q & A sessions organized by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies (OVPRGS). Recognizing that pandemic-related contingencies might have prevented some researchers from accessing these communications, the OVPRGS organized individual outreach about the CRCEF Program to eligible researchers who did not respond to broader outreach.
3) Membership on the assessment committee of individuals who are engaged in non-traditional research, specifically charged with advocating its value during any decision-making.
4) Membership on the assessment committee of individuals who face the specific family-related challenges (including dependent care and homeschooling responsibilities) of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional questions about the program or the distribution of funds to eligible projects at all Stages (Stages 1, 2 and 4 for Salary support and Stage 3 for Maintenance and Ramp-up Costs) may be directed to:
Name: Andrea Rodney
Email Address: Andrea.Rodney@concordia.ca
