ISEF – About Page

About

The objective of the International Student Experience Fund (ISEF) program is to foster a learning environment on U of T’s campuses that aligns with the U of T’s global mission and profile. The Fund is intended to support academic and non-academic initiatives that: enhance the experience of international students; foster intercultural and international-to-domestic student, staff and faculty engagement; and internationalize the University of Toronto student experience.

The ISEF supports two streams of activities; Seed ($5,000-$15,000 per year) and Impact ($15,000-$100,000 per year). This two-tiered system is intended to provide opportunities for projects that explore, implement and scale up promising practices at different stages of their development and implementation, and create a pathway for projects from their initial inception to their full potential. Both tiers of grants are intended to be completed within 1 to 3 years.

Goals

The primary goals of the ISEF initiative are to create a learning atmosphere on U of T’s campuses that aligns with the University’s global mission and profile by supporting academic and non-academic initiatives that do one or more of the following:

1). Enhance the experience of international students, facilitating their ability to:

• engage broadly, across languages, disciplines, and cultures, within and beyond the classroom;
• actively contribute to their own teaching, learning, and co-curricular experiences;
• contribute as leaders and mentors in the University’s mission to graduate students with global fluency.

2). Foster intercultural engagement and understanding via:

• curricular innovation;
• pedagogies that invite engagement from students from diverse backgrounds;
• domestic and international student interaction inside and outside of the classroom;
• professional development opportunities for front line staff and faculty.

3). Internationalize the U of T student experience both on and off campus by:

• developing the international dimensions of the curriculum
• increasing student curricular and co-curricular participation in global education

Contact

The International Student Experience Fund is sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President International. For additional information regarding the Fund, please contact international@utoronto.ca.