SUPPLEMENTAL FACULTY TRAVEL GRANTS GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES:

2009 Faculty Travel Guidelines (pdf)   (Print a copy for your reference)

Updated 9/29/09

When possible, faculty travel funds in departments can be supplemented with a Faculty Travel Fund grant.   Applications for Travel Funds grants are reviewed and distributed by the Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence with the input and recommendations of the Faculty Senate Faculty Development Committee.   The purpose of this fund is to assist faculty with professional travel, particularly related to enhancing instructional effectiveness and Scholarship of Teaching and Engagement.

Please note that for Fiscal Year 2009-2010, available travel funds have been decreased to $41,000.

1. Funds will be available only to full-time contract faculty.
2. Application Process:
   1. Submit a online application form for faculty travel funds by visiting the Faculty Center website at: http://www.uvu.edu/facultycenter/funding/suplementaltravelgrants/travelapplictionform.php
   2. The application form can also be printed and turned in using hardcopy to the Faculty Center at LI416 or can be requested from the Faculty Center at x8924. Application forms completed online will need to have the relevant department chair send a email to the Faculty Center endorsing the travel as relevant and appropriate and indicating the amount of funding the department will provide.
   3. NOTE: If the application form is incomplete or if the budget section is not calculated correctly, the application will be returned or voided.
   4. Applications will be accepted for any travel dates up to the first day of the subsequent fall semester (Faculty Convocation); however, it is to a faculty member's advantage to submit their requests as soon as possible, especially with reduced funding. The faculty Development Committee will review submitted travel requests on an ongoing basis and make decisions as soon as possible after submission. All applications received sunce the last review will be considered in the next review and sorted by date.
   5. Faculty are reminded that the funds requested are supplemental; the committee assumes that funding has already been provided by the faculty member's department and/or School or College. If the department or school/college has indicated the travel has value, but has not provided funding, grants will only be considered for travel directly related to improving pedagogy and/or scholarship of teaching, learning, or engagement.
   6. Faculty may simultaneously submit more than one application for support; however, the applications will be prioritized and the second application will not be given consideration until all other proposals submitted during that time frame have been reviewed. Faculty are asked to provide input on their own prioritization of requests on the application form.
   7. The Faculty Development Committee will review and evaluate applications in order of the priorities noted below.
   8. Faculty who are granted travel funds will be notified by the Faculty Center within two weeks of the committee's decision, usually via email.
3. Once travel has been completed, the faculty member must submit a copy of their Travel Reimbursement Form to the Faculty Center.

NOTE:  The grant will be paid initially out of the Department's funds. Reimbursement funds will then be transferred into the department’s account after the Faculty Center receives the Travel Reimbursement Form.   If the Travel Reimbursement Form has not been received by 30 days following the travel, the grant is void. The form can be sent inter-campus mail to the Faculty Center, mail code 125 or faxed to the Faculty Center, 863-6500.

4. Travel grants are not interchangeable. If a faculty member has been granted funding for a conference, and the faculty member decides to attend a different conference, then the previous grant become void. If Faculty are awarded a grant and decide not to attend the approved conference, they should inform the Faculty Center as soon as they know.
5. The following are the decision criteria used by the Faculty Development Committee in considering grants:
   1. All proposed travel must be deemed to ultimately present a potential benefit to UVU students.
   2. Applications will first be evaluated along a dimension of purpose of travel:
      1. Highest priority is for travel to a pedagogical or teaching-related conference, whether a general or discipline-specific conference or for a conference on the scholarship of teaching and/or engagement.
      2. Application is for travel to a professional conference where the faculty member will mentor or support one or more students in presenting a paper, poster, or participate in a symposium.
      3. Application for travel is to a professional conference focusing on discipline-specific content.
   3. Once applications have been evaluated for purpose, they will be evaluated as to the degree of involvement of the faculty member:
      1. Highest priority is given to applications where the faculty member is presenting a paper or chairing a symposium at the conference.
      2. Faculty member has specifically documented how attendance at the conference (e.g. specific sessions planned to attend) will advance or enhance the faculty member's existing teaching, scholarly work (including scholarship of teaching and/or engagement). or discovery research
      3. The faculty member is traveling to chair a committee meeting, preside over a committee meeting, council, or other formal body or organization at the conference.
      4. The faculty member is attending the conference to advance their personal, professional knowledge within their discipline.
   4. In reviewing applications, the committee may designate an application to have special merit based on unique aspects of the proposed travel. This designation indicates that the committee believes attendance at the conference will significantly benefit UVU. Applications that are special merit status will be considered to have highest priority equal to category 5.b.1 above.
6. Up to $800 will be granted for applications related to pedagogy or scholarship of teaching and engagement or that involve mentoring and supporting students; a maximum of $600 will be granted for applications related primarily to disciplinary knowledge. If the faculty member is presenting at the conference, the committee my add another $100 to the amount.
7. All faculty who received a travel fund grant will be expected to present the results of what they learned and explain how it will impact on their teaching or scholarly work at a UVU community. This can take several forms including: participation in UVU symposia or conferences, presentations to department faculty and departmental majors, presentation a a Faculty Center workshop, or other ideas as suggested by the faculty member and approved by the committee. Failure to comply with this obligation will affect consideration and prioritization of future applications from the faculty member for the following two years.
8. In the absence of a Chair for the Faculty Development Committee, or during periods where most committee members may be absent (e.g. summer semester), the Director of the Faculty Center may make any necessary decisions regarding travel grants, after making attempts to gain input from the members of the Committee.

The Application From for travel grants can be found at: http://www.uvu.edu/facultycenter/funding/suplementaltravelgrants/travelapplictionform.php