Internal grant schemes

The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate if their institutions had internal learning and teaching grants schemes and, if so, if recipients were encouraged to then develop applications for OLT learning and teaching grants. Internal grants provide applicants with valuable experience in fundamental activities related to running funded learning and teaching projects, for example, developing ideas and applications, creating and managing budgets, forming project teams, undertaking research and evaluation, creating and disseminating resources and writing project reports.

Some significant points drawn from the data are listed below, followed by discussion of findings grouped by size of institution:

1. Twenty-five out of 35 institutions offered internal learning and teaching grants.
2. While A-size institutions are the smallest institutions in the four groupings (A, B, C, D), those that offer learning and teaching grants make a reasonable amount of money available.
3. The total amounts of funding for internal learning and teaching grants generally became progressively bigger from A-size to D-size institutions.
4. Differentiation of types of grant categories (e.g. extension grants, innovation grants, and strategic priority and infrastructure grants) within individual institutions became evident at the level of C-size institutions.
5. Significant investments in strategic funding for learning and teaching infrastructure, for example, learning spaces and specialised learning and teaching software, became evident at the level of C-size institutions.
6. Of the 25 institutions which offered internal learning and teaching grants, 14 encouraged recipients to develop applications for OLT learning and teaching grants. Notably, nine of the 14 were D-size institutions.
7. It is interesting to note that two D-size institutions do not offer any funding for internal learning and teaching grants.
8. Most Australian institutions that offer internal grants have details of their grant schemes publicly available online.

A-size institutions (FTE academic staff <500)

Five out of nine A-size institutions had internal grants. Across these institutions the amount in the 'grants pool' ranged from a maximum of $10,000 at some and up to $150,000 at others, with most individual projects being capped at $10,000 each across the board. Of the five institutions which offered internal grants, two encouraged recipients to develop applications for OLT learning and teaching grants. Representatives of the three others responded with 'not necessarily'.

B-size institutions (academic staff FTE 500 to 1,000)

Five out of eight B-size institutions offered internal learning and teaching grants. Typically, grants of $10,000-25,000 were available and the amount in the 'grants pool' was generally larger than at the A-size institutions. For example, three of the institutions had internal schemes which were funded to between $200,000 and $300,000 annually. Of the five institutions which offered internal grants, only one encouraged recipients to develop applications for OLT learning and teaching grants. Representatives of the four others responded with 'not necessarily'.

Six out of seven C-size institutions offered internal learning and teaching grants. What is clear in the data is the emergence of a more differentiated set of schemes within single institutions of this size, compared with grant schemes at A- and B-size institutions which generally had generic 'learning and teaching grants'. For example, some C-size institutions offered a mix of extension grants, innovation grants, and strategic priority and infrastructure grants in the one institution. Another offered four categories of learning and teaching grants with some focusing on local innovation and others being concerned with community involvement. This particular institution also offered a category with a national focus which obliged grant recipients to collaborate more broadly within the institution and even involve different institutions. The funding pool at C-size institutions ranged from $100,000 to close to $2,000,000 per annum, with individual projects typically receiving between $6,000 and $150,000. The upper limit of close to $2,000,000 was in an institution which was strategically developing its learning and teaching infrastructure, for example, learning spaces and specialised learning and teaching software. Of the six institutions which offered internal grants, three encouraged recipients to develop applications for OLT learning and teaching grants. Representatives of the other three responded with 'not necessarily'.

D-size institutions (FTE academic staff ≥1,500)

Nine out of 11 D-size institutions offered internal learning and teaching grants and the differentiated set of schemes within single institutions of this size was just as apparent as it was in C-size institutions. For example, across the D-size institutions there were grant categories such as: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grants, learning and teaching linkage grants, MOOC and educational development grants, teaching fellowship grants and seed grants that lead to the development of OLT grant applications, and learning and teaching innovation grants, to name a few. Of interest, this differentiation at some D-size institutions extended to grants being made for specific academic profiles, for example, teaching-focused academics. In addition, one institution offered a career progression-type grants scheme that focused on Level B and Level C academic staff. Across D-size institutions, funding for individual projects generally ranged from $2,000 to $75,000 with three institutions offering total funding pools of around $1,000,000 each per annum. In addition, one D-size institution will offer approximately $9,000,000 in 2016 to fund strategic, innovative developments in learning and teaching. Of the nine institutions which offered internal grants, eight encouraged recipients to develop applications for OLT learning and teaching grants. Representatives of the other one responded with 'not necessarily'.