Learning Spaces proposal submission guide

Required elements

Before creating your proposal in the Learning Spaces portal, ensure that you have a plan to obtain or create all the required elements. 

Summary video

Like last year, the Teaching and Learning Portfolio (TLP) requires a two- to five-minute video as part of each proposal. Please provide the URL to the video. You can use the university’s video repository to host your video by logging in to MediaSpace and selecting “Add New.”

The video does not need to be professional quality. Please do not use music and/or animation. The intent is to provide more context about your proposal. You may consider covering the following in your summary video:

• How the provision of student computing funds will help students in your college/unit
• How faculty input informed this year’s request
• Any additional information the committee should consider in reviewing your proposal

Reconciliation spreadsheet of last year’s funds

TLP will send previous applicants a reconciliation spreadsheet to identify how they spent the previous year’s awards. Please attach the completed spreadsheet to your final submission.

Lab usage statistics

Lab usage statistics are required for any lab-related requests. If you request Learning Spaces funds to replace lab computers, the committee requires at least four weeks of data detailing lab usage. Although not required, the university provides the Labstats tool to assist in lab data collection. Please contact Matt Irsik (matt.irsik@utah.edu) if you have questions about setting up Labstats.

AV estimates from Digital Learning Technologies (DLT)

If you’re requesting audiovisual (AV) installation projects, the deadline to request AV estimates is Wednesday, November 27, 2024. You must have the estimate prior to submitting your proposal. To request estimates, please complete the AV Equipment Installation request form. For more information, please visit the DLT knowledge article about AV installation requests.

1001 or 1003 fund type

For awards to be transferred, each applicant’s organization requires a chartfield. The funds can be transferred only to a 1001 or 1003 fund and will not be transferred until one is created and provided. Please ensure that a proper 1001 or 1003 fund type is provided in the application for a speedy transfer. Any changes in the funding type will be communicated as decided by the university budget committee.

Leadership contact and approval (new requirement)

You must provide a contact from your organization’s leadership who can validate that your proposal represents the needs of the entire college/center. For colleges, the leadership contact should be the dean or an associate dean. For centers, you may list the director. This new requirement is meant to ensure that applicants consider the needs of the entire organization in the application.

Proposal steps

Getting started

Navigate to the Learning Spaces portal. Select University of Utah SSO to proceed to your Learning Spaces homepage.

Creating a proposal

On the Learning Spaces homepage, select Create New Proposal.

A Create New Proposal pop-up window will appear. A few fields auto populate for convenience but can be changed at your discretion. Please provide a Chartfield number, URL to your two- to five-minute summary video, and Proposal Abstract | Description.

By default, as the logged in user, you are the Primary Contact. However, if you choose, you can enter additional Lead Contacts you would like to be included in the process.

Once you have entered your proposal information, scroll to the bottom of the Create New Proposal pop-up window and select Save Proposal Information. You will be able to edit the proposal later.

Before finalizing the proposal submission, you may upload proposal documentation, such as support and reconciliation documentation, to the Create New Proposal pop-up window.

Don’t worry if you do not have these documents at this point in the process. You can add them to the proposal at any time before final submission.

When you are ready to proceed, select Continue to Proposal.

After the proposal is created, if you wish to return later from a cache-cleared browser, you can navigate to https://utah.my.site.com/LearningSpaces/s/login/, log back in to the Learning Spaces portal, and select the proposal you would like to continue working on.

On the proposal homepage, you can View or Edit your proposal, Create New Projects, and finalize the proposal submission by selecting Submit Proposal.

The Submit Proposal button on the proposal homepage submits the proposal. You will not be able to make additional edits after submitting the proposal, so this should be your final step in the process.

Creating a project

Once you are ready to attach projects to your proposal, select Create New Project at the bottom of the proposal homepage.

A Create New Project pop-up window will appear. You must provide a Project Name, Project Priority, Project Description, and whether you need DLT to work an AV estimate for this project.

Once you have entered your project information, select Next at the bottom of the window to proceed.

The project is now created. Select Go to New Project and you will be redirected to the project homepage.

On the project homepage, you can View or Edit your project, Create New Line Items, and Delete projects you do not wish to keep.

To delete a project, select the down arrow next to the Printable View button and select Delete.

Creating a line item

Once you are ready to create line items for this project, select Create New Line Item at the bottom of the project homepage.

A Create New Line Item pop-up window will appear. You must provide an Item, Quantity, Unit Cost ($), Matching Funds ($) your department will provide, if any, % Benefit, and Type of Request.

The % Benefit value reflects how much benefit the line item has to students. For example, if you have a $500 line item and the % Benefit is 50% for students, then the system will record a request for $250.

Once you have entered your line item information, select Next at the bottom of the window to proceed.

After reviewing the summations, select Make a change to edit the line item or Confirm information to create the line item and return to the project homepage.

On the project homepage, you can access project updates from the added line item. Specifically, the Totals Requested section now reflects the line item information. If you add additional line items, the Total Requested section will update with the aggregate information of all line items under this project.

To create an additional line item for this project, select Create New Line Item and repeat the process of creating a line item.

If you wish to examine any line item or project you have created, select the auto-generated Line Item Number or Project Number. This will take you to the respective line item or project where you will be able to View, Edit, or Delete the chosen line item or project.

Note that when looking at a list of line items, projects, or proposals, only five items are displayed at any time. To see a complete list of your line items, projects, or proposals, select View All at the bottom right of the page.

Submitting a proposal

Once you are done creating all projects and line items for those projects, and you are ready to submit the proposal, select Go to Proposal at the top right of the project homepage.

If you are on a line item homepage, you must first select Go to Project to return to the project homepage.

If you are coming back from a cache-cleared browser, you can navigate to https://utah.my.site.com/LearningSpaces/s/login/, log back in to the Learning Spaces portal, and select the proposal you would like to submit.

Once you are on the proposal homepage and you are ready to submit, please take a moment and scroll to the bottom of the page to examine the Notes and Attachments section. If you did not upload additional documents when creating the proposal, this is where you can upload them now by selecting Upload Files.

Note that after submitting the proposal, you will not be able to add any additional documents.

When you are ready to submit the proposal (having created all the necessary projects and line items, and uploaded any additional documents), select Submit Proposal in the top right.

A Submit Proposal pop-up window will appear to remind you one last time that you will be unable to edit the proposal, including all projects and line items attached to the proposal. Once you are sure you are ready to submit, confirm the submission by selecting Yes, I am ready to submit my proposal in the bottom right of the window.

If you are not ready to submit your proposal, close the pop-up window and you will be directed back to the proposal homepage to continue working on it.

Navigate back to the Learning Spaces homepage at https://utah.my.site.com/LearningSpaces/s/login/ to access your proposals and create new ones, as necessary.

Once back on the Learning Spaces homepage, select the auto-generated Proposal Number to view submitted proposals or continue working on your proposals.

Submission assistance

If you have any questions as you work on your Learning Spaces proposal, please email classhelp@utah.edu and use the subject “Learning Spaces Help.”