University of Toronto Mississauga
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

1. Adams Sustainability Celebration:

As part of the Adams Sustainability Celebration, grants of $5,000 each were available to U of T faculty members and instructors to add or improve sustainability to their courses/curriculum. The approach to sustainability we take here addresses both human and environmental wellbeing (instead of simply focusing on reducing environmental damage), in accordance with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objective is to design, develop, or enhance curriculum options for U of T students to learn more about sustainability topics and challenges.

The funding for the grant has now ended, but between 2020 – 2023, $40,000 in funding was distributed to 8 faculty members.
See https://sustainability.utoronto.ca/adams-sustainability-faculty-grant/.

2. UTM Experiential Learning Development Grant:

The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) is committed to offering innovative, high-impact, and real-world opportunities to all of its students through experience-driven programs. High quality experiential learning (EL) programs deepen graduate and undergraduate education, respond to the needs of society, contribute to community-campus relationships, and enhance the reputation of the University. The Office of the Vice-Principal Academic & Dean (OVPAD) recognizes the investment required from both instructors and academic units to develop and/or enhance existing EL opportunities in their courses. This investment includes current planning of courses for the upcoming Fall 2022, Winter 2023, and Summer 2023 terms.

The Office of the Vice-Principal Academic & Dean continues to offer the Experiential Learning Development Grant to offset the range of costs associated with the development and delivery of EL opportunities. Funding can be used towards a variety of purposes, for instance hiring research assistants to support course planning; purchasing equipment, consumables, or software licenses; covering group transportation or registration costs for field experiences; and other expenses downloaded to students that would normally be listed as an ancillary fee.

Although not explicitly a support for sustainability curriculum, we know that many EL courses are related to one or more SDGs, as per our Sustainability Experiential Learning Course Inventory.
https://sustainability.utoronto.ca/resources/inventories/sustainability-el-course-inventory/

1. Adams Sustainability Faculty Grants:

As part of the Adams Sustainability Celebration, 3 grants of $5,000 each are available to U of T faculty members and instructors to add sustainability to their courses/curriculum.

2. UTM Experiential Learning Development Grant:

UTM faculty may apply for one-time funding of up to $5,000 per project to support the short-term development and implementation of EL opportunities in undergraduate courses scheduled to be offered within two years.

Adams Sustainability Faculty Grants:

https://sustainability.utoronto.ca/adams-sustainability-faculty-grant/

UTM Experiential Learning Development Grant:

https://www.viceprovostundergrad.utoronto.ca/vpiue-award/experiential-learning-development-grant/