Students as Partners Program (SaPP)

Partnering with students in the development of the teaching and learning environment provides a meaningful opportunity to enhance important academic and transferrable skills while also fostering a student-centred learning environment.

The Students as Partners Program (SaPP) offers faculty, instructors, contract instructors and learning support staff the opportunity to provide a paid work experience to undergraduate students interested in teaching innovation, with funding provided by Teaching and Learning Services. Through SaPP, and collaboration with students, we can support the implementation of innovative teaching practices and develop our classrooms to meet the needs of learners.

Overview of SaPP

Healey et al. (2014: 8-9) highlight four areas where students as partners in teaching and learning can be an experiential learning opportunity: learning, teaching and assessment design; curriculum design and pedagogic consultancy; subject-based research and inquiry (I-CUREUS); and the scholarship of teaching and learning. As such, SaPP seeks to engage students in different course-level projects and activities, including, but not limited to:

• Co-designing and contributing to the development of curriculum
• Helping to research, design and organize course materials, Brightspace sites, learning resources, multimedia tools and educational technologies
• Formatting and preparing new, innovative activities and assessments, or enhancing the use and understanding of assessment criteria

The projects funded through SaPP must provide an opportunity for students to contribute to the academic directions of the projects; they are not meant to resemble a teaching assistant or to simply alleviate instructor/staff workload.

Eligibility

All faculty, instructors, contract instructors and staff members working on relevant teaching projects are eligible to apply.

Student applicants must:

• Be undergraduate students enrolled in a Carleton degree program (part-time or full time)
• Be in good academic standing upon application and during the tenure of the project
• Not be graduating during the term of their SaPP project
• Not be participating in I-CUREUS concurrently with the SaPP project (students may only be awarded one of either SaPP or I-CUREUS in a single term)
• Not be registered for a co-op work term during the term of their SaPP project

Projects must:

• Demonstrate how the student is contributing to the academic direction of the project as a partner (student partners are not to take on regular staff workload)
• Not have any responsibilities or tasks that could or should be assigned to a TA
• Not take place concurrently with the course – projects must precede implementation into a course (i.e., a winter 2026 SaPP project could be implemented in summer or fall 2026 courses, but not in a winter 2026 course).

Priority will be given to those who have not yet participated in SaPP.

Protocol and Procedures

• Faculty, instructors and staff members interested in this program are encouraged to identify an undergraduate student partner that they feel that they can collaborate with. This may be a student who has successfully completed a course that they have taught, a student they have worked with before or a student who has expressed interest in collaborating with them.
  • Most projects will involve one staff partner and one student partner. If a project may require more than one student partner, please discuss with us before applying.
  • The Future Learning Lab will not vet or select student partners – this is the sole responsibility of the instructors/staff members.
  • Students interested in the SaPP are encouraged to approach instructors with whom they would be interested in working.
• Once an instructor/staff member has identified and selected a student partner, they should discuss expectations and project scope together. Responsibilities, goals and communication methods should be established by both partners.
• When both partners have a clear understanding of the project, the partners should collaboratively complete the online application form.
  • The staff partner should lead the submission of the application, and lead the discussions about the project. The student’s role is to partner with the staff member to provide specific assistance and perspective to support their teaching.
• Student partners whose projects are approved must complete a FUSION skill module of their choosing, and must submit a capstone poster through Brightspace that summarizes their SaPP experience and project outcomes.
  • At the beginning of their project, student partners will be added to a SaPP and I-CUREUS Brightspace course, where they will access FUSION. Details about payment, project timing and capstones are shared with student partners through the Brightspace course.
  • Students are responsible for submitting their partnership’s capstone through the Brightspace Dropbox.

Funding

Teaching and Learning Services will fund the student partner for no more than 130 hours of work per academic term at minimum wage (plus four per cent vacation pay). Administration of payment to the student partner will be done through the Future Learning Lab.

At the time of application, partners will need to identify the project start date, end date, total hours and approximate hours per week. The work must be completed within the academic term defined on the application.

Staff partners are responsible for ensuring their student partner is on track with the work assigned. Staff partners must notify the Future Learning Lab if a project is cancelled or incomplete, or if there are any changes to hours worked.

The payment timing may vary depending on the student’s work schedule. Students will receive payment as a single lump sum payment upon completion of the FUSION skills module and the submission of their capstone poster. After submission of the capstone, payment may be delayed subject to the payroll deadlines.

Students are responsible for ensuring their information is up to date in Human Resources and Payroll.

Application and Selection Criteria

Applications will be made available before the beginning of each term for which funding is available. Faculty members, instructors, contract instructors and teaching support staff along with a student partner should jointly complete the online application. Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. The strength of the partnership between the instructor/student:
   • Is the student considered as collaborator and thought partner?
   • Is the student partner involved in idea generation?
   • Is there an existing rapport/relationship between the partners?
   • How will staff partner foster collaboration and partnership?
2. The scope and appropriateness of the project being proposed:
   • Is it seeking to meaningfully develop/improve teaching and/or learning? How?
   • How is student input helping to guide the direction of the project?
   • Is the student partner taking on TA or Instructor workload?
   • Is the proposed work plan realistic in the time allotted?
   • Could the work be completed through another channel (i.e., Through TLS consultations or existing supports)?
3. The opportunities for learning by both the staff partner and student partner:
   • Has the staff partner identified their learning/development goals and opportunities?
   • Is this a meaningful learning opportunity for the student? What skills will be developed?
4. How the partners intend to share their work:
   • Will the partnership lead to a shareable resource/deliverable? How will this be shared with the teaching community at Carleton?
   • If no, will partners work collaboratively on the capstone?

Space in the program is limited – applications are not guaranteed to be accepted. Do not begin work on a project that has not yet been approved.

When the number of applications submitted exceeds the number of available spaces in the program, the proposal will be evaluated based on whether the project is in the scope of SaPP, whether the student has participated in SaPP previously, the merits of the four above criteria, whether there is balance across faculties and whether the supervisor has participated in SaPP in the past.

Completing a SaPP Project and Sharing Your Work

Funded projects will not be considered complete until the capstone poster has been shared with the Future Learning Lab/Teaching and Learning Services. This must be submitted by the end of the term in which the project took place.

Partners will be invited to present their capstone posters at the annual I-CUREUS and Students as Partners Program Showcase, which generally takes place at the beginning of April. Participation in the showcase is entirely optional.

Ready to Apply?

Fill out the online application form here. Please reach out to sapp@carleton.ca with any questions.

FAQs

Students as Partners Literature