Adjudication & Evaluation – Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education

As you prepare to apply to LEAF, you should take the following priorities and criteria under consideration:

The goal of the LEAF program is to provide students with greater exposure to high-impact teaching practices that accomplish at least one of the following:

Support and enhance the transfer of learning through active learning opportunities, both within and beyond traditional educational settings.
Provide students with a robust and clear understanding of their learning progress, particularly through the enhancement of assessment practices and transparency regarding learning outcomes.
Equip students with the skills necessary to become successful independent learners.
Support the University’s global mission in order to enhance the learning experience for all undergraduate students.
Encourage collaborations among instructors and staff across academic disciplines, units and divisions with the purpose of creating exceptional learning experiences for undergraduate students.
Support the creation or renewal of academic program curriculum.

LEAF aims to support projects that align with the strategic priorities of the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education. As part of the application process, you will be asked to identify a strategic priority area your project address:

Experiential learning: Expand the availability of learning opportunities in authentic and relevant contexts. This can come in the form of work-integrated learning, community-engaged learning, research opportunities, placements, field courses, unique project-based learning, etc.
Curriculum design: Support the development, renewal or redesign of a collection of courses (e.g., all second-year courses) or a whole program. Initiatives might involve investigating the development of specific student skills within a program (e.g., critical thinking or communication), incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing across the curriculum, or other cross-curricular ideas.
Learning systems: Support the design, implementation and/or assessment of technologically enhanced solutions that continue to build a robust and integrated data and technology ecosystem across the University.
Digital learning: Develop, expand and assess the increasing online and virtual experiences that have become an increasingly important component of the postsecondary environment. LEAF supports the development, funding and assessment of online learning in partnership with both institutional offices and divisions.

LEAF is first and foremost a grant for curricular innovation; it is not a research grant. While a research component to a project may be appropriate, the sole purpose of a proposal should not be the production and dissemination of new research. The fund is for creating something innovative that enhances the student learning experience and teaching capabilities of the University.

If a component of a project proposal is research based, please ensure that Research Services has been consulted for ethics guidance.

Research ethics: Where relevant, applicants must include at the time of submission a formal letter or email notification from the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board stating that ethics has been approved, the project is exempt or that it is pending.
If you intend to write a journal article or present on your LEAF project outcomes, it is recommended that your seek approval from the Research Ethics Board.

The LEAF Selection Committee is comprised of senior faculty who have significant experience in implementing and evaluating teaching and learning projects. The Selection Committee consists of tenure- and teaching-stream faculty members:

Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education — Chair
Director, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation
4 Faculty representatives, two of which shall be members of the President’s Teaching Academy

Impact & Seed Grants

Criteria	Description
Priority Advancement	Supports the advancement of LEAF goals through alignment with at least one LEAF priority: Experiential Learning, Curriculum Design, Learning Systems and Digital Learning.
Connection to Academic Curriculum	The project has a clear connection to the curriculum of an academic program and, ultimately, further enhances student academic learning experiences and / or teaching capabilities at the University.
Assessment & Evaluation	The project has outlined a clear assessment and evaluation mechanism. The assessment methodology should demonstrated a well-defined relationship between project outcomes, activities and the selected assessment tools. The OVPIUE has created a resource to help support you in creating your LEAF assessment methodology. If you are interested in accessing this resource, please send an email to vp.iue@utoronto.ca.
Transferability & Scalability	The project’s idea or concept is transferable and / or scalable to other units. The proposal clearly and specifically articulates how the project has the potential to be used by other units and / or have wide application within a division.
Budget	The proposal clearly presents a budget that is appropriately aligned with the project and articulates a strong justification for each expense. Yearly expenses continue to build off existing and created resources. The OVPIUE has created a resource to help support you in creating your LEAF budget. If you are interested in accessing this resource, please send an email to vp.iue@utoronto.ca.
Sustainability & Feasibility	The project has clear and specific potential for long-term sustainability beyond the LEAF funding period. The project identifies planned deliverables based on specific timelines and resources.

Impact Grant Specific-Criteria

Criteria	Description
Collaboration	The project involves more than one person and / or unit and / or brings together a broader cross-section of stakeholders.
Connection to Scholarly Literature	The proposal situates the project within the relevant literature and provides a clear conceptual framework based on and grounded through relevant literature. The project maps out future scholarly directions made available through LEAF.