Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) Service Course Load Reduction Program

The Division of Equity, People and Culture (EPC) is now accepting applications for the 2026-2027 Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) Course Load Reduction Program outlined in the York-YUFA Collective Agreement (Article 19.33).

The program provides course load reduction to employees in the YUFA bargaining unit (faculty, librarians and archivists) who self-identify as Indigenous or as members of racialized groups to support service relating to/in support of DEDI. The program offers dedicated time within normal workload to advance service activities that support York’s DEDI Strategy, including the Indigenous Framework for York University and the Framework to Address Anti-Black Racism.

Check out the full program guidelines: DEDI Course Load Reduction Program website.

Applications should be approximately 2 pages and address the following:

Description of the proposed service activity, including how the course load reduction will help its completion;
Potential impact of the proposed service activity;
Feasibility of completing the activity during the period of the course load reduction;
How the activity advances some aspect of the existing DEDI work in the unit, Faculty or University (e.g., Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, Indigenous Framework for York University, the Framework to Address Anti-Black Racism) or how it addresses a gap; and
As applicable, how the activity will apply beyond the period of the course release (i.e., be more than a "one-off" activity with no potential for broader or enduring impact).

Applications will be reviewed by a committee convened by the Associate Vice-President Faculty Affairs. The Office of the VP EPC will consult with the applicants' Dean or Principal prior to making a final decision on the awarding of the course load reductions.

Please submit your applications here by Monday, March 2, 2026.

Key Dates

Deadline to submit an application: March 02, 2026
Awards are announced: May 01, 2026
Recipients of course load reductions implement projects during: 2026-2027 Academic year
Final reports due: February 29, 2028

Got questions? Please contact us at Facaffairs@yorku.ca.

Recipients

Recipients for the 2025-26 year of the Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) Service Course Load Reduction Program are: Muna-Udbi Ali (Environmental & Urban Change), Bianca Beauchemin (Liberal Arts & Professional Studies), Carl James (Education), Eve Haque, (Liberal Arts & Professional Studies), Kasim Tirmizey (Liberal Arts & Professional Studies), Akolisa Ufodike (Liberal Arts & Professional Studies)

Recipient	Project
Sylvia Bawa Department of Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies	• Organizing public conversations on topics of human rights, decolonization and Afrofuturism. • Expand Mentorship and Support for BIPOC Women in Academia
Lisa Davidson Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies	• Creating an open-access digital storytelling database to link racialized groups across Canada • Designing micro-credential frameworks in ethnographic research. • Developing archeology workshops highlighting the work of BIPOC archeologists
Ashley Day School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health	• Implementing DEDI activities and initiatives that build relationships among students, staff and faculty members in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science
Mehraneh Ebrahimi Department of English, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies	• Supporting women of color through mentorship and community building initiatives at York.
John Hupfield Faculty of Education	• Establishing a committee with the purpose of advocacy, education, and development of Indigenous places of teaching and learning on campus.
Radhika Mongia Department of Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies	• Reviewing and revising the Department of Sociology’s Hiring Procedures and AA plan to align with the University’s DEDI strategies and frameworks.
Tiana Reid Department of English, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies	• Forming a Black Writers Collective, to provide space and support for Black junior scholars to focus on their research and writing.
Shirin Shahrokni Department of Sociology, Glendon College	• Creating a cross-disciplinary bibliography to including decolonial and anti-racist feminist perspectives

Learn about the 2024-25 recipients' projects on Yfile.

Recipient	Project
Rachel da Silveira Gorman School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health	• Curriculum and Program Policy Development with an EDID focus in the School of Health Policy and Management. • Organizing graduate mentorship and support meetings for Black, racialized, disabled, and/or queer/trans students
Monique Herbert Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health	• Leading 2 experiential education initiatives for BIPOC students in the Faculty of Health - The Work Integrated Learning for Black Students; and the York-MAP Health Equity Research Scholar Initiative for BIPOC students.
Yuka Nakamura School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health	• Revising the School of Kinesiology’s T&P policy and procedures, and AA plan using a DEDI focus.
Rose Ndengue Department of History, Glendon College	• Enhancing the bilingual program in African Studies, Black Feminisms and Decolonial Studies. • Strengthening the work being done by Glendon’s Race Equity Caucus (CERREC) to drive institutional change.
Molade Osibodu Faculty of Education	• Reviving the Baobab Diasporic Collective to explore Black studies in the Faculty of Education.
Tameka Samuels-Jones School of Administrative Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies	• Implementing the policy recommendations of the Equity Working Group (EWG) as Associate Director of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC).
Sapna Sharma Department of Biology, Faculty of Science	• Progressing on York’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through work with the United Nations Water Conference.
Wendy Wong Department of Design, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design	• Decolonizing Euro-American Centric Curriculum with Transnational Asian Art

Learn about the 2023-24 recipients' projects on Yfile.

Recipient	Project
Rebecca Beaulne-Stuebing Faculty of Education	• Growing Wuleelham/Our ‘Good Tracks’: Strengthening Online and Experiential Learning for Indigenous Students in the Faculty of Education • 440 Parkside Indigenous-led Land Restoration Project • Indigenous Land Stewardship Circle • Waadinidijig Anishinaabemowin Project • Asemaa Circles project and community medicine giveaways • Midewiwin & language learning
Tammer El-Sheikh Department of Visual Art and Art History, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design	• ARTH 1130 "Introduction to Art History" DEDI revamp (also an AIF supported project) • AMPD DEDI Committee website development • Curator's Roundtable on Contemporary Art in the Arabian Peninsula for ARTH 3620 Introduction to Modern Middle Eastern Art (with Fatma Hendawy Yehia and Felicia Mings)
Cuiying Jian Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering	• Integrating EDI Components into MECH Curriculum
Jude Kong Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science	• Expanding activities for the Black student community in the Mathematics and Statistics Department • Weekly mentorship to middle and high school students in economically disadvantaged communities via the "Ask a Mathematician" outreach program
Marissa Largo Department of Visual Art & Art History, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design	• Establishing an Indigenous Advisory Council for Creative Technologies at the New Markham Campus
Maleknaz Nayebi Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Lassonde School of Engineering	• EDI chair of EECS department
Usha Viswanathan Centre de formation linguistique pour les études en français, Glendon College	• Decolonial and anti-racist curriculum revision and development • Le Salon francophone de Glendon - a safe space for racialized/Black francophone students and racialized/Black students learning French to feel safe, represented and included. • A diverse, inclusive Semaine de la francophone at Glendon (focus on deconstructing stereotypes, prejudices and biases, celebrating the diversity of la Francophonie in Toronto)