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Position Title: Adjunct Researcher
Employee Start Date: October 2, 2023
Employee End Date: May 24, 2024 (contract has opportunity to be extended for additional year and/ or into the summer)
Number of Hours: 15 hrs/wk
Project Description: Collaboratively Addressing Food Insecurity: Co-Developing a
Sustainable and Equitable School Nutrition Program
The aim of the proposed project is to develop a collaborative school nutrition pilot program, in partnership with the Ontario Student Nutrition Program (OSNP), AgScape, and ProsperUs Windsor-Essex.
Project Proposal Summary: Canada is the only G7 country without a national school nutrition program, and in 2017, UNICEF ranked Canada 37th out of 41 wealthy countries for children’s access to nutritious food. In 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tasked the ministers responsible for agriculture, children, and social development with creating a national policy for school nutrition. In their 2021 election platform, the Liberal government committed $1 billion over 5 years to help implement school nutrition programs. This funding may have the potential to support school nutrition programs long-term; however, the development of robust infrastructure in local communities to support it, is dire. The proposed project will see St. Clair College faculty and students in Early Childhood Education, Social Justice and Legal Studies, as well as Culinary Management programs collaborate with local partners to co-create and pilot an enhanced universal school nutrition program in Windsor-Essex, building on current programs through the project’s main partner, the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), which houses the Ontario Student Nutrition Program– Southwest Region. The project will assist VON in building on current programs with a focus on food delivery and food literacy, while establishing sustainable partners for ongoing success and evaluating solutions to program barriers. The project is utilizing UNICEF’s Multilevel Framework of Child and Youth Wellbeing to increase capacity, expanding from the immediate world of the child, wherein most current food interventions are concentrated, and moving to the world around the child, and further the world at large, thus fostering innovation. The proposed project will use a novel “collective impact” approach, collaborating with stakeholders including AgScape, and United Way. Student researchers will engage in knowledge-sharing meetings with partners, as well as assist in the design and deliverance of the nutrition program. Collaboration and input will extend to Windsor-Essex residents themselves, thus promoting greater engagement amongst the community. As a result, the proposed NSERC Social Innovation Fund project will achieve the following outcomes: 1) Bring together representatives from multiple sectors to establish an enhanced school nutrition program; 2) Increase food literacy amongst children and families; 3) Improve overall childhood nutrition and health; and 4) Increase childhood education levels by removing a major distraction to learning: hunger.
Project Tasks:
Project Oversight for the following tasks:
Identify school nutrition model best practices by utilizing existing literature
Identify needs in the community with respect to school nutrition programing via qualitative/quantitative data collection and analysis in accordance with ethical guidelines
Conduct consultations with community partners
Co-Develop pilot model based on data findings and literature
Oversee the development of food literacy curriculum
Oversee pre- and post- test evaluations of impact/effectiveness of pilot
Project Milestones:
1: Design School Nutrition Program
2: Design food Literacy Curriculum
3: Pilot School Nutrition Program
4: Engage in knowledge dissemination of findings
Qualifications:
• A relevant combination of experience and education included completed or pursuing a graduate degree.
• Extensive experience in the particular research field. A degree in Health Sciences or related field is an asset.
• Demonstrates experience working in the qualitative research process including literature reviews, methodology, data collection and composition, and development and distribution of work.
• Responsible for the involvement in the research process, communicating with community partners, communicating with the research team, and supervising student research work.
• Strong and effective communicator (written and verbal) with sound judgement skills and the ability to foster cooperation and collaboration.
• Strong time management and organizational skills allow you to effectively manage a high volume of work activity within multiple competing deadlines and changing priorities.
• Solid awareness and understanding of relevant literature and research.
• Demonstrates commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and creating social change.
Employee/Project expectations & outcomes:
• Due to the milestones of the project, experience with data collection and analysis is mandatory for consideration. Applications must have graduate level research experience.
• Employee must complete and submit timesheets in a timely manner.
• Employee must reach all target milestones listed above in an organized and timely manner.
• Employee must stay in contact with college and partners throughout the duration of employment (weekly internal team meetings and monthly partner meetings).
• Employee must maintain overall good standing throughout St. Clair College for duration of employment. Employee must work in safe conditions at all times as directed from the supervisor.
Please submit your resume to [email protected] no later than September 22, 2023.
St. Clair College is committed to workplace diversity and provides accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout our hiring process. If you require an accommodation, please contact Research and Innovation at [email protected] .
