Teaching and Learning Services is excited to launch the FUSION Skills Development Fund – an initiative aimed at helping students develop important transferable skills. Through funding from Employment and Social Development Canada, the FUSION Skills Development Fund provides support for instructors interested in embedding skills development into any course to enhance student learning and professional growth. Funding is currently available for courses that will be offered in summer and fall 2025.
Interested in learning more about the fund? We will be hosting online drop-in info sessions over the last week of March to answer any questions you might have.
What is FUSION?
The Future Skills Innovation Network (FUSION) is a collaborative network of Canadian universities focused on developing inclusive and innovative learning modules that foster skill development. FUSION orients itself around a common set of challenges facing universities:
- Improving post-secondary outcomes for students from underrepresented groups
- Developing students’ skills that are critical for success in life, learning and work
- Creating more flexible formats for accessing learning
There are currently 10 FUSION modules available, including:
- Adaptability
- Problem Solving
- Metacognition
- Communication
- Inclusivity
- AI Literacy
- Collaboration
- Digital Literacy
- Self-Management
- Constructive Dialogue
Each FUSION module is interactive and built on sound experiential learning principles. The modules have accompanying workbooks and take students 3-4 hours to complete. Modules can be used to enhance skills development within any subject area, and are relevant to all students no matter where they are in their degree completion. The TLS FUSION team can support implementation into any course in a variety of ways.
Funding
The value of the fund is $2,000 per instructor. A maximum of one award per instructor is available for embedding at least one FUSION module into one or more courses.
- Faculty members can either receive funds as direct financial compensation, which will be taxed as salary income; or they may have it deposited to their PER account (administered by the participant).
- Contract instructors are only eligible for direct financial compensation, which will be taxed as salary income.
Uses for funding include but are not limited to:
- Compensation for instructors’ own work involved in embedding one or more FUSION modules into one or more courses
- Hiring a student to work on embedding one or more FUSION modules into one or more courses
- Purchase of tools and/or equipment
TLS Support
In addition to monetary support, successful applicants will receive TLS expert support in the following ways:
- Work 1:1 with a FUSION specialist on embedding one or more FUSION modules into a Brightspace course
- Consult with Carleton’s FUSION team on innovative approaches to embedding skills development
Eligibility
Instructors and faculty members are eligible to apply and a letter of support from your department head is not required.
Contract instructors who are contracted to teach a course during the summer or fall of 2025 are also eligible to apply. A letter of support from your department head which confirms that you will be contracted to teach the course is required.
Instructors who have embedded a FUSION module into their course before can apply, however they must be planning to embed a module that they have not used previously to be eligible for the fund.
We will evaluate projects based on their alignment with the following criteria:
- Aligns with the goals of the FUSION Skills Development Fund
- Reflects stated course/program learning outcomes
- Ensures accessible skills development opportunities that encourage the participation and inclusion of all students in the course(s)
Expected Outcomes
One of the aims of the FUSION project is to build awareness and capacity around skills development at Carleton. To support this aspect, all FUSION Skills Development Fund recipients are expected to share back the results of their project with the Carleton teaching and learning community. You will be expected to:
- Complete a short questionnaire about your experience with FUSION. This will be synthesized into a vignette case study to be posted on the new FUSION website. You will have the opportunity to review content prior to posting.
- Participate in the FUSION community of practice meetings during the initiative. Three one-hour meetings will be held in the spring/summer and fall terms and you will be expected to attend two of these meetings.
Application Deadline
The deadline to apply for the fund is Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
How to Apply
To apply, please complete the form below.