Black-Focused Pedagogies Grant Program

1. The Principal Investigator (PI) must be a member of the Black community, meaning someone who self-identifies as Black and has discernible African ancestry, along with lived experiences as a racialized Black African or African diasporic person. This includes, but is not limited to, those with diasporic identities such as Black-Canadian, African-American, African-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, or Afro-Asian.
2. TFA Faculty can apply as Principal Investigators. Faculty, contract lecturers, staff, and students can be listed as co-investigators.

Eligible Expenses

• Student and non-student salaries and benefits - Please review the University’s Hiring Guide (Research Staff & Part-Time Casual). Funds may not be used to hire TA/GAs, lab monitors, or invigilators.

• Professional/consulting services - Consulting fees and professional services (e.g., guest speakers, elders, transcriptionists, etc.) are eligible expenditures. Please review the University’s purchasing thresholds and demonstrate in the Budget Justification that expert advice is needed. If you have planned to contract consultants, please include a quote in your application (along with HST if applicable). Please review the University's policies for Paying Vendors, Independent Contractors, and making Honoraria payments.
• Travel and dissemination costs - a maximum of 20% of requested funds can be allocated towards travel costs directly related to the funded project, including reasonable conference travel costs (e.g., registration fees, food, hotel, etc.) to present a project's findings. Please include a detailed description of the conference and strong rationales for the relevance to the project. The adjudication committee will prioritize requests for student travel. Please review the University’s Faculty & Staff Reimbursement Policy and Reimbursement of Business Meals, Travel, and Expenses Policy.
• Materials and Supplies cost - a maximum 30% of total budget can be allocated to equipment and software. Purchase or rental of computers and associated hardware, software, or equipment (e.g., audio or video equipment) is allowable only if it is not accessible through other University sources. Requests for equipment expenditures should include supporting documents and approval is subject to the discretion of the committee.
  If the budget requests funds for equipment and software, the proposal must clearly demonstrate sustainability in the absence of those funds in future years.
• Funds from other sources - Include all other contributors that are providing in-kind or financial contributions for the proposal. Indicate whether or not these funds have been confirmed.

Additional Notes on Eligibility

• All non-consumable items purchased with the awarded funds will remain the property of the University.
• Faculty course release cannot be funded by the grant.
• Wages for faculty, regularly assigned teaching assistants, or staff members who would normally be employed by the university, are considered ineligible expenses.
• Principal Investigators or co-applicants may not pay themselves with funds.
• Funds may not be used for capital expenditures (e.g., renovations).

Principal Investigator(s) should submit

• A copy of the  (google doc) 2025-2026 BFPG Application Form (external link) 

• Curriculum Vitae

• Letter of support from any participating external community members and/or organization endorsing the project (if applicable)

Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee composed of Black faculty from at least two different academic departments, as well as representatives from The Black Scholarship Institute (BSI), the Office of the Vice-President for Equity, Community, and Inclusion (OVPECI), and the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT).

The adjudication committee will move successful proposals to Stage 2, which includes submission of detailed budget and timeline documents.

Administration of Funds

The administration of funds and initiation of HR contracts will take place through the Teaching Development unit in the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, on behalf of the Principal Investigator.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property will be governed by the provisions of the collective agreement between the University and the TMU Faculty Association.

Authorization

Proposals require authorization from the department or school chair.

Ethics

All research involving humans, conducted by or with faculty, staff, or students affiliated with the University must be reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Board (REB) prior to commencement of the study.

• Submit a mid-term report: December 19th, 2025.
  
• Submit a brief summary report or video interview to be published and archived on the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching website: due on or before June 30th, 2027.
• Present findings at the Learning and Teaching Conference to be held in May 2027.
• Credit the BFPGs in any publications, conference proceedings, or media appearances resulting from the funded project.

Open Access

At TMU, we believe in the importance of Open Educational Resources (OER) - teaching, learning, and research materials that are published under an open license to permit their sharing and reuse by others. This Grant requires Principal Investigators to publish grant output under an open license. Learn more about open licenses (external link) (external link) .

As part of TMU’s commitment to accessibility and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), all projects must be accessible to persons with disabilities, including those who use assistive technology. This includes ensuring all project materials are designed with accessibility in mind. 

• All PDF, Google Docs, or Microsoft Word documents must follow best practices for document accessibility.
• Any web-based digital content or learning modules must adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 at Level AA. Learn more about web accessibility.
• Please ensure all videos have closed captioning, or any audio has a transcript. This is a mandatory requirement for any public-facing content as stipulated by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Accurate captioning of at least 99% accuracy is the only way to ensure that people who are D/deaf or hard of hearing can understand audio content. Automatic captions should never be used as a substitute for captions. It is recommended to budget around $1.75 CAD per minute for professional third-party captions. Learn how to caption videos, or contact accessibility@ryerson.ca for a list of recommended vendors.

A consultation with TMU’s IT Accessibility Specialist is strongly encouraged. Please email adam.chaboryk@torontomu.ca to arrange a virtual consultation or support.