Experiential Learning Faculty Fellows Program

As the faculty continues to work towards its goal of expanding experiential learning (EL) opportunities for Arts & Science students, we are pleased to offer the Experiential Learning Faculty Fellows Program again in 2024–25. This program is supported by the Provost’s Experiential Learning University Fund.

Program Goals

The goals of the Experiential Learning Faculty Fellows Program are to:

• Support expansion of curriculum integrated experiential learning initiatives.
• Provide structured supports to assist faculty members in developing and administering sustainable experiential learning courses.
• Explore the effectiveness of the fellows program structure to support and incentivize faculty members to engage with experiential learning.
• Create a strong community of experiential learning practitioners across multiple disciplines, who can then serve as vectors and champions of experiential learning across the Faculty of Arts & Science, seed new opportunities and share their expertise with other faculty members.

Program Overview

• Fellows work to build a new experiential learning course or add an experiential learning component into an existing course.
• Fellows commit to develop the experiential learning course in 2024–25 and to deliver the course at least three times, beginning in 2025–26.
• $16,000 funding will be provided to support course development and delivery.
• Faculty members from across all Arts & Science academic units are encouraged to participate.
• A maximum of six new fellows will be selected in 2024–25.

Eligibility Criteria

• Candidates must be either continuing status stream or hold a continuing appointment at the assistant, associate or full professor rank (tenure or teaching stream) in the Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George campus).
• Experiential learning initiatives that fall under the U of T Institutional EL Framework are eligible; courses should be partnership-based and the experiential learning course component should be mandatory for all students.
• The experiential learning component is expected to comprise a substantial element of the course, i.e. at least 30% of course hours and/or assessment.
• Priority will be given to courses in first-entry undergraduate Faculty of Arts & Science degree programs.
• Courses developed through the Experiential Learning Faculty Fellows Program are intended to benefit and serve the goals of academic units and must be approved by the chair, academic director or principal as part of the application process. One of the ways fellows funding may be used is towards a 0.5 full-course equivalent (FCE) course release, but this is at the discretion of the applicant and their unit’s academic leader, who must sign off on any proposed course release.
• The EL course should be delivered for the first time in the 2025–26 year (i.e. applicant should not have a leave or course reduction planned that would prevent them from teaching it in 2025–26).
• Preference to select fellows from a range of programs across the sciences, social sciences and humanities; and from a range of EL types, size and year of study.

Fellowship Details

• Each fellow will be expected to produce an experiential learning course available to A&S students. The course can be a re-design of a course or a newly proposed course. In the case of the latter, governance procedures must be followed. The course must be intended for offer at least three times starting in 2025–26.
• The Experiential Learning & Outreach Support (ELOS) team will offer pedagogical, governance, partnership development and administrative support, as well as TA training during course development and delivery.
• The fellows program includes a half-day retreat in late September and four workshops held throughout the academic year. Programming is typically scheduled on Fridays. Additional one-on-one meetings between the ELOS team and the fellows are held, as needed, throughout the year.
• The fellows program will commence September 1, 2024. Fellows are also encouraged to attend and participate in an experiential learning showcase and reception each May, which will welcome the new cohort of fellows and bring the cohorts together to foster a community of practice among instructors interested in experiential learning.
• Fellows may also choose to participate in additional optional but recommended experiential learning network events scheduled throughout the year.

Fellows’ Commitments

• Build a new experiential learning course or add a substantial experiential learning component to an existing course in 2024–25 and deliver the course at least 3 times, beginning in 2025–26.
• Participate in the scheduled course development workshops and regular one-on-one sessions over the academic year. Participate in quality improvement, evaluation initiative and potential research projects.
• Present at an end-of-year experiential learning showcase.
• Participate in relevant partner recognition event(s).
• Join the Faculty of Arts & Science Experiential Learning Network and provide guidance to future fellows.
• Provide a copy of the final course syllabus and learning assessments to ELOS.

Funding Details

EL faculty fellows will each receive a total of $16,000 to use for the development and delivery of their EL course. Funds will be distributed September 1, 2024.

Funding may be used for items including but not limited to: equipment, hiring a research assistant, travel for partner recruitment, honoraria, professional development, or research on the EL course.

Funding may also be used to cover a 0.5 FCE course release. It is highly recommended that course release occurs in the term immediately preceding the EL course, or the term the EL course is being taught for the first time. Course release must be discussed in advance with the chair, director or principal with details included in the letter of support.

Application Package

Applicants are asked to fill out the linked application form. Applicants will be asked for:

• Applicant information
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Interest in or prior experience with EL
• Course information
  • Proposed EL course design or redesign
  • Types of organizations you are interested in partnering with
  • Initial ideas for use of funding
• Letter of support from chair, director or principal.

Applications are due on March 28, 2024.

Apply to the Faculty Fellows Program

Download the Template Letter for Chair, Director or Principal Approval

Deadlines and Timelines

2023–24 Faculty Fellows

• Sophia Bello, Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream), Department of French
• Seika Boye, Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream), Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies
• Nadine Chan, Assistant Professor, Cinema Studies Institute
• Kevin Edmonds, Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream), Caribbean Studies
• Daniel Gregory, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences
• Alexander Hampton, Assistant Professor, Department for the Study of Religion
• Naomi Levy-Strumpf, Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream), Human Biology
• Bonnie McElhinny, Professor, Department of Anthropology
• Tanhum Yoreh, Assistant Professor, School of the Environment

2022–23 Faculty Fellows

• Rebecca Laposa, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Toxicology
• Mitchell McIvor, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
• Ivan Fernández Peláez, Assistant Professor, Department of Spanish & Portuguese
• Shiho Satsuka, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
• Ashley Waggoner Denton, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
• Andrea Williams, Associate Professor, Writing & Rhetoric

Questions

Please contact Colin McMahon, associate director of experiential learning at colin.mcmahon@utoronto.ca or Ainsley Goldman, experiential learning educational developer at ainsley.goldman@utoronto.ca.