Teaching and Learning Scholarship (TLS) Grants

The Teaching and Learning Scholarship (TLS) conference grant program provides Penn State instructors the opportunity to share their scholarship related to teaching and learning in Penn State courses. Support for TLS grants includes consultations and support services from Institute faculty in addition to funding for conference presentations.

Support for TLS grants includes consultations and support services from Institute faculty in addition to funding for conference presentations.

Timeline and Submission Process

Step 1: Select a Conference

The TLS grant fund covers faculty presenting their work at one of the following 3 conferences:

• SoTL Summit. This is a virtual conference held in the fall. The call for submissions typically occurs in April.
• SoTL Commons. This is an in-person conference held in Savannah, GA in the spring.
• Lilly Conference Austin. This is an in-person conference held in Austin, TX in May.

Step 2: Submit Application Form

Action: Complete this form describing your presentation to begin the application process.

Please submit one application per presentation.

You will have the opportunity to list any additional Penn State co-presenters in the application form.

Due by: September 21.

Step 3: Await Review

Response: On or before October 19, funding decisions will be sent to submitters.

Funding Conditions

• All funds must be expended in the same fiscal year in which the grant is awarded.

Funded Items

• Conference registration fee
• Airfare

Proposal Review Criteria

This is a competitive process and decisions are based on the following factors:

• Alignment with the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence Mission
• Evidence that you have applied to present at the conference; acceptance at the time submission is not necessary.

To ensure that many Penn State instructors have an opportunity to receive one of our grants, priority will be given to instructors that have not previously received a grant through one of our programs.

Additional factors will affect how many proposals are accepted:

• Available funds
• Total number of proposals and amount requested

To determine what support services may be right for you, please contact Laura Cruz, Research Professor in Teaching and Learning Scholarship, at lxc601@psu.edu.