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Message from the Vice-Provost
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As we move deeper into the fall term, I continue to be inspired by the creativity and commitment across our community. This season brings new opportunities to celebrate teaching excellence, explore innovative learning projects, and engage in conversations shaping the future of higher education including our collaborative project on AI in Ontario universities, which will soon culminate in welcoming academic leaders from across the province to U of T to discuss a shared path forward.
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Teaching Awards & Grants
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The Path to Recognition: Crafting a Compelling Teaching Award Nomination
Thursday, November 27 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. via MS Teams
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Facilitated by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education, this session is designed for academic administrators and university staff involved in supporting teaching award nominations. Together, we will:
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- Discuss approaches to identifying and supporting potential candidates for teaching awards
- Share strategies for crafting powerful narratives about teaching award nominees
- Learn from faculty who have been successful candidates for teaching awards
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Graduate Education Innovation Fund: Call for Applications
Applications due Thursday, November 6
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The Graduate Education Innovation Fund (GEIF) is designed to enhance the learning experience of graduate students by supporting projects that introduce positive, innovative changes in the design and delivery of graduate education. GEIF focuses on several priority areas, including experiential learning, interdisciplinary learning, technological innovation, Indigenous and diverse cultural ways of knowing, decolonization, anti-oppression, and anti-racism pedagogies, professional development, and public scholarship. Five seed grants of $5,000 will be awarded to graduate faculty members seeking to implement innovative educational practices in their teaching or curriculum.
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LEAF+ on Civil Discourse: Call for Applications
Applications due Monday, November 3
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The Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education, and the School of Graduate Studies invite proposals for LEAF+ projects that foster civil discourse in undergraduate or graduate curricula. LEAF+ is a special funding opportunity to support innovative teaching and learning projects that align with an emerging University of Toronto priority. Projects should explore, expand, or reframe civil discourse, encouraging respectful dialogue, empathy, critical engagement, and shared inquiry across differences in classroom and curricular settings.
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Teaching & Learning
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P2P Faculty Mentoring for Teaching at U of T Program
Deadline to apply: Monday, November 10
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The Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation has opened applications for the 2025-2026 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Faculty Mentoring for Teaching at U of T. Offered from December 4, 2025 to May 2026, P2P involves a cohort of paired faculty who have similar teaching goals and interests, collaborating in a reciprocal 1-1 partnership through weekly / biweekly meetings and four facilitated workshops designed to build skills in mentor-coaching and the observation of teaching. The P2P Program offers a supportive space for instructors to try new strategies and approaches and build confidence in their teaching.
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Students-as-Partners in Action: Reflections on the Development of a Departmental Handbook for Inclusive Teaching and Mentorship
Tuesday, November 11, 1:00-2:00 p.m. via Microsoft Teams
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Drawing on a recent initiative in the Department of Psychology at UTSC, the session will highlight key lessons learned in co-developing a departmental handbook on inclusive teaching and mentorship with faculty, staff, and student partners. Presenters will share insights from their experiences, offering practical strategies for integrating student perspectives into the development of teaching and mentorship resources. Part of the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation's Equity Roundtable series.
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Experiential Learning
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New Letter of Offer for Hiring Co-op Students at U of T
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Earlier this year, through the efforts of the U of T Co-op, People, Strategy, Equity & Culture, and our office, the University developed a new letter of offer to support U of T faculty, staff and librarians with hiring U of T co-op students. This eases the administrative process of hiring co-op students, enabling longer work term lengths of 4, 8, 12 or 16 months, as well as offering greater clarity on appropriate wage ranges for co-op students.
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We encourage you to consider hiring co-op students from U of T. You can hire U of T Co-op students from all three campuses and a wide range of programs in arts, science, engineering and business through one recruitment process. For graduate students, reach out to the relevant Master’s program to learn more about their programs and whether their students meet your hiring needs.
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Indigenizing Curriculum: An Introduction (for CEL faculty and staff)
Tuesday, November 4, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Koffler House, 569 Spadina Crescent, St. George Campus
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Facilitated by Andrew Bomberry, Office of Indigenous Initiatives, in partnership with the CCP, this interactive in-person session will support participants with better understanding and collaboratively practicing the process of Indigenizing curriculum through reviewing Indigenous epistemologies, examples, and implications for different disciplines. This session is intended to support CEL instructors as well as staff who support CEL, and will be particularly relevant for settler/displaced (non-Indigenous) colleagues. Participants are encouraged to bring a course syllabus to work with. Space is limited and refreshments will be provided.
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Artificial Intelligence
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HEQCO-Funded Project on AI
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We are pleased to share that our proposal was selected in HEQCO’s Fall 2024 call for participation in an Ontario AI consortium. This collaborative initiative is led by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education, and the Office of the Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, Digital Strategies, in partnership with McMaster University and Western University. The project unfolds in three phases, each designed to create shared resources for Ontario’s university community.
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In its early stages, the project features two key components: a literature review of AI ethics, safety, and regulation, and interviews with academic leaders across Ontario examining institutional responses and identifying pathways for innovation and collaboration. The final phase will bring together academic leadership in November from across Ontario universities for a provincial summit to discuss shared goals for the future of AI.
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We are pleased to share the first HEQCO blog post from this work, and we’ll continue to share updates and outcomes from the project as it progresses.
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Register for the next AI Roundup - Emerging Trends
Wednesday, November 19, 12:00-1:00 p.m. via Microsoft Teams
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Please note: If you usually register and will not be continuing in your appointment for the upcoming academic year, please advise our office of new administrators to be invited and share this link with colleagues in your unit who might be interested in attending on your behalf.
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Each month, Vice-Provost Susan McCahan hosts a session intended to sort through the vast amount of information about AI advances, sharing a few key items of interest to the U of T community. The hope is that it will help people stay abreast of emerging changes that will potentially impact work at the institution. The recording and links from previous AI Roundups can be found on our SharePoint site. All U of T faculty, librarians and staff who would find this content helpful are welcome to attend.
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