• Review the program description and details of the NEAL Program on the CFD website.
• Highly recommend that you meet with whomever is supporting your participation – either financial or with your protected time/schedule – in order to secure their commitment of support. This will need to be validated upon conditional acceptance into the program as they will serve as your program sponsor.
• Underrepresented faculty members from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine who are sponsored by their departments to participate in the 2023-24 NEAL Program, are eligible to have 50% of their tuition funded by the Dean’s Office.  For more information, Temerty Medicine department chairs and prospective applicants are encouraged to contact the Office of the Dean at medicine.dean@utoronto.ca
• To apply to NEAL, please follow the following steps:

  1. Create a CFD User Account. You can do so by clicking here. If you have already created an account, click here to log in. Please note you will be required to set up a new account and password for our new website. We will connect your account with your previous CFD event records.
  2. You will receive an activation link immediately (check your junk mail). Once your account is activated, please log in and complete your online profile by selecting “My profile” from the options on the left hand side of the page.
  3. You may consider purchasing CFD membership if you don’t already have it, in order to take advantage of discounted tuition rates for NEAL for CFD members. Membership is FREE for Unity Health Toronto staff, physicians, learners and patient/family partners and Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto staff, faculty (incl. status only) and learners.
• Complete your application package, which must include:
  1. Application form
  2. Short CV (maximum 4 pages)
  3. Statement of Expressed Interest- Please consider the question prompts provided in the application form to help scaffold your preparation of your statement. 4-page maximum (12-point New Times Roman, single spaced)
  4. Signed Learner Contract (provided in application package)
• Upload your application package here

•  Your completed package will be reviewed by our NEAL Selection Committee. The committee is made up of program alumni, and those identifying themselves as academic or system leaders nationally (at various levels of development).  The committee will be reviewing your application based on demonstration of the CFD’s values of Collaborative, Reflexive, Inclusive, Innovative, and Courageous. The rubric for your application can be found within the application package.

• Conditional offers of acceptance will be extended to successful applicants by Wednesday June 14, 2023. At that time, with the conditional offers, program sponsors will be contacted and asked to validate the provision of protected time and/or financial support.
• Final offers of Acceptance will be extended to successful applicants whose support has been validated by Thursday July 6, 2023. This will include a “Welcome” package with details around registration, tuition payment, and next steps.
• Participants will be invited to attend the Program Orientation held late July/early Aug.

Q: I want to apply to NEAL. Where do I start?

Thanks for your interest in NEAL. To start, please review the application instructions and download the application package. You can do this by visiting the NEAL Program Page. You can also click here to download the application.  As our process this year has changed significantly, please ensure that you are familiar with the new steps in the process and share them with your program sponsor.

Q: Is there an application fee?

No. You may apply at no cost.

Q: Don’t I need formal letters of support? I thought this was part of the NEAL application process.

It used to be but is no longer a requirement.  The CFD has internally examined its processes for program application and has removed components that might impede participation from a more diverse pool of applicants.  Formal letters of support have now been replaced with a more extensive Statement of Expressed Interest, which is submitted as part of the application process.

Q: What is the format of the Statement of Expressed Interest?

The Statement of Expressed Interest is an essay to be written by you outlining the reasons for why you wish to join the NEAL program, and how the program will align with your goals, experiences, values and intentions to positively impact the system. To help you with preparing this statement, the application package contains a number of reflective questions you can consider. These questions are not all required to be answer except the first one, which asks you to briefly describe a change project in an academic context that you wish to develop while in the program. The other questions are rather meant to scaffold you in your reflection and writing process. Your Statement should be maximum 4 pages, single-spaced, and font should be Times New Roman size 12.

Q: Do I need institutional support before I apply?

We recommend that as you consider applying to the NEAL program you meet with whomever is administratively or financially supporting your participation to secure their commitment of support.  They are a part of ensuring that you can fully participate in the program, and we will need to validate their commitment of support upon your conditional acceptance into the program.  Support can include tuition, and/or time to participate/release time from other responsibilities that conflict with program dates.

Q: How do I submit my application?

Once you have completed the four components of the application package, please upload each of the items at the following link. After you click on this link you will be taken to the submission page. Click “Add Files” to begin the process to start uploading your files.

Q: How is my application data stored/protected?

When you upload your package to our Dropbox submission folder, it is stored there until it is time for the selection committee to review. The committee is only able to view your application and not download it onto their personal computers. Once the committee has reviewed and decisions have been made, the applications are removed from Dropbox and stored in our secure drives which are only accessible by the Centre for Faculty Development Coordination, Research and Leadership team members.

Q: I submitted my application. Can I make changes? When will I hear back?

You can make changes up until the final application deadline. Unfortunately after this date, applications  are then circulated to the selection committee members for review and so no further changes can be made. The selection committee meets in June to make their decisions, so you should hear back regarding your application by July.