CBS Funding for Faculty

CBS Small Equipment Grant

Purpose: This grant is being established to provide funds to faculty to enable the purchase of lower-value equipment that is not likely to be supported by an NSERC RTI, or to cover the repair of existing equipment. These funds are intended primarily to assist faculty without access to significant operating funds, and thus priority will be given to faculty who demonstrate a clear financial need.

Use of Funds: Eligible expenses include the purchase or repair of fundamental tools such as PCR machines, computer CPUs to create computational hubs, field equipment, extension of service contracts, etc. Requests may be based on a need to replace/repair failing or outdated equipment, or to acquire new capacity that is essential to remain competitive. Funds cannot be used to repair equipment that is eligible for CFI IOF support.

Next Application Deadlines: to be determined for 2023; we will communicate with faculty and update this site once we have more information.

Value: Up to $50K per year will be awarded over two competitions, with $25K available for equipment purchase and $25K available for equipment repair. Funds to support equipment purchase are available until they have been allocated. Half of the funds allocated for equipment repair ($12.5K) will be held back for the October deadline to ensure that such funds are available throughout the year. Any funds not required for equipment repair will be pooled with remaining funds for equipment purchase and allocated in October.

Summary of Funding Availability:
February 1st competition: Up to $25k for purchase, up to $12.5k for repair.
October 1st competition: All unused funds are available. If repair requests do no exceed the $12.5k held in reserve, any unused funds will be directed to purchase requests.

Application: In no more than 2 pages in total, applicants are asked to

Describe their need for the equipment and its importance to their research program
Explain how it will benefit HQP training and foster collaborations
Explain why current grants and/or GP funds cannot be used to cover the cost
Provide a list of recent relevant publications

Please email applications to cbsadr@uoguelph.ca [1]

Funding: Each award will be co-funded (50:50) by the ADR office and the applicant’s department.

Adjudication: Faculty members of Dean’s Council (Chairs, Dean and Associate Deans)

Selection Criteria:

Urgency and need for the equipment, including financial need of applicant
Importance of the equipment to maintaining the PI’s success and competitiveness
Importance to HQP training
Importance to new or ongoing collaborations with other CBS faculty

CBS Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Training Grant

Purpose: This training grant is being established to provide funds for CBS faculty to recruit and train a domestic MSc (thesis) student in the area of SoTL. It will replace the CBS SoTL Graduate Research Assistantship previously offered by the College. While the amount of funding remains unchanged, adjudication of this SoTL funding will be based solely on the quality of the project, and a student does not need to be identified at the time of application.

Availability of Funds: One award of up to $30,668 ($15,334 per year for up to 2 years) will be given out annually.

Use of Funds: Funds can be used to support the GRA of a domestic, thesis-based MSc student during their first 6 semesters as a graduate student. Coursework students who transfer to a thesis degree can be supported for the remaining duration of their first 6 semesters (e.g. if transfer occurs after 3 semesters, funding will be for semester 4-6. The student does not need to be recruited at the time of application.

Important note: Students supported by the CBS SoTL Training Grant do not generate grad growth/RAG funds.

Application Instructions: In no more than 2 pages in total, applicants should:

Describe the proposed project (include rationale, objectives, a brief description of methods, and expected outcomes) (~1 page)
Explain how the proposed project will support curriculum development in CBS and/or the college’s learning outcomes [2] (~0.5 page)
Describe the applicants (and collaborators, if appropriate) track record in SoTL research (~0.5 page)

Applications can be sent to cbsadr@uoguelph.ca [1].

Application Deadline: November 21, 2022

Adjudication: The ADR, ADA and the chair of each department’s graduate awards committee will evaluate submissions. Applicants will be notified of the decision by mid-December.

Selection Criteria:

Quality of the proposed research
Value of the proposed project to the college’s teaching and learning enterprise
Track record of applicant in SoTL research

Project Eligibility: The proposed project should align with one or more CBS priority areas of teaching and learning research (see below). Ideas for other projects are also welcome, but should focus primarily on improving teaching and student learning. Projects exploring aspects of graduate training and education will also be considered.

Priority Research Topics

Curriculum design and new models of program delivery
Indigenizing the curriculum
Microcredential development and measurement of Impact
Incorporating equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles and practices into class content, policies and assessment
Learning outcome assessment: methodologies; evaluation of implementation strategies
Student success: determinants of student success and attrition; impacts of academic and non-academic support strategies (e.g., early warning systems)
High impact teaching practices: methods of implementation; impacts on learning
Skill development: definition, measurement, & evaluation of teaching strategies for critical thinking, writing, integrative thinking, numeracy, problem solving etc.
Professional development & career planning: tools for student reflection, student values and skills assessment; development and assessment of experiential learning strategies
Evaluation of teaching: student evaluations, peer evaluation and other models
For projects focused on graduate studies: best practices in graduate supervision, using IDPs effectively, incorporating EDI principles into graduate training, professional skill development

Payment of Funds: The first year of funding will be transferred to the faculty member’s GP once a suitable domestic student is recruited and they have registered in a thesis-based MSc program in CBS. Normally this will take place in the following academic year. For example, a project that is approved for funding in Fall 2022 could see a student recruited for a S23, F23 or W24 start date. Please notify cbsadr@uoguelph.ca [1] when a student has been recruited for the project.

The second year of funding is conditional upon the student remaining registered in their program full-time, maintaining satisfactory progress, and continuing with the proposed research project.

Knowledge Dissemination Support: Students supported by this training grant are encouraged to apply to the COESP for travel funds [3] to present at an appropriate conference.

Questions? Please contact the ADR office at cbsadr@uoguelph.ca [1]