Q: What kind of faculty development funding is available?
A. Funding for faculty development activities is available at both the college and university levels.
- At the university level: Faculty may apply for funds through the Faculty Development Committee and/or the International Travel and Education Committee. These funds help to offset the costs associated with scholarly or creative activity, including travel to and participation in conferences and/or creative productions. The maximum funding amount per faculty member available at the university level varies per year—historically, it has been approximately $1400-1600.
Q: Is funding available for larger, more costly faculty development projects?
A.
Each spring eligible full-time faculty are invited to apply for an
Enhanced Teaching and Scholarship (ETS) grant administered by the Faculty Development Committee. ETS grants are designed to encourage faculty to engage in professional activities that will enhance their growth as teachers and scholars, thereby supporting exceptional student learning.
Q: Who is eligible to apply for faculty development funds?
A. While only full-time faculty may apply for an ETS grant, full and part-time faculty under contract to the University of Findlay during the whole of the funding period are eligible to apply for funding of traditional faculty development activities (conference travel, e.g.). Should your affiliation with UF end during the funding period, funds awarded must be repaid to the university.
Q: What types of activities can be funded?
A. Faculty development activities eligible for funding align with the Categories for Faculty Review, these categories include: Teaching; Clinical Practice; Professional Practice; Scholarship, Research, and/or Creative Production; Service; High Quality Professional Development.
Q: How much money can I receive from the Faculty Development Committee each academic year?
A. Funding for traditional faculty development activities is affected by several factors, including: (1) type of faculty development activity; (2) competitive merit of faculty development activity as indicated in funding proposal; (3) number of faculty development requests; and (4) the available budget.
Historically, faculty development award amounts have ranged from $450 to $1600 depending on the faculty development activity (see below), with $1400-1600 being the approximate maximum amount available to a single faculty member in one academic year.
Q: How do I know at what level my faculty development activity will be funded?
A. Faculty development activities fall into one of two categories:
- Category 1 includes conference presentations, creative productions, and expenses associated with original research that will result in a scholarly or creative product (such as a peer-reviewed article, conference presentation, or creative production). Activities in this category are traditionally funded at the highest level because of their significance to the tenure process (according to the Faculty Manual).
- Category 2 includes attendance and participation at conferences, workshops, and relevant association meetings. Activities in this category are funded at the lesser amount and ONLY after Category 1 proposals had been funded in a given funding cycle.
Q: When are Faculty Development Committee funds awarded?
A. Funds are awarded in three cycles: Fall, Winter, and Spring/Summer. Faculty are notified by email of their award, typically within two weeks of the funding proposal deadline.
Q: What are the deadlines for submitting a funding proposal to the Faculty Development Committee?
A. Deadlines to apply for funding from the Faculty Development Committee are as follows. Proposals must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST.
- Last Friday in September for activities occurring between August 1 and November 30
- Last Friday in January for activities occurring between December 1 and March 31
- Last Friday in April for activities occurring between April 1 and July 31
Q: How do I apply for funds from the Faculty Development Committee?
A. Complete the Faculty Development Funding Proposal Application. Be sure to follow all proposal guidelines and attach necessary supporting documents. Supporting documents should be submitted as a single PDF.
Part-time faculty applying for funds must also include a letter from their college dean in support of their professional development activity.
Q: Could my request for funding of my faculty development activity be denied by the Faculty Development Committee?
A. Yes. Increasing demand and a limited budget keep Faculty Development funding awards competitive. The committee prioritizes funding for Category 1 professional development activities (peer-reviewed conference presentation or creative production or original research that will result in a scholarly or creative product). It is possible that within a given funding cycle, Category 2 proposals will not be funded.
Funding may also be denied if proposal guidelines were not followed and/or proposal lacked required supporting documentation.
Q: Can I apply for funds from the Faculty Development Committee more than once during the academic year?
A. Yes. Provided your faculty development funding proposal meets required guidelines and deadlines for each funding cycle, you may apply for funds until you have reached the maximum amount of funding allocated per faculty member per year.
Q: Will the Faculty Development Committee prepay any of my expenses?
A. No. The Faculty Development Committee does not provide advances. Expenses are reimbursed following the completion of the faculty development activity and after necessary receipts and reports have been submitted and approved in Workday.
Q: Are there deadlines for spending the money awarded by the Faculty Development Committee?
A. Yes. Money awarded by the Faculty Development Committee must be spent in the fiscal year in which it was awarded. Expense reports with receipts for faculty development activities must be submitted within 60 days of their original date or they will be denied by the Business Office. The exception would be if more than sixty days passed between the faculty development activity and announcement of the funding award. If this is the case, please indicate on your expense report.
Q: Can I use the money I was awarded for Conference X to fund my travel to Conference Q?
A. No. Your award is based on your application to participate in a specific faculty development activity. Awards are not transferable.
Q: I estimated my airfare for the application, but when I actually went to book the ticket, the cost had increased. Can I get the additional money?
A. It is unlikely. Faculty Development funding awards are based on the total amount indicated (and supported with documentation) in your original proposal. However, if (1) you have not exceeded the maximum funding allotment; (2) there is money available; and (3) the difference in cost is through no fault of your own, the request for additional funds may be considered by the Faculty Development Committee.
Q: I am traveling by car to my faculty development activity. What is the current reimbursement rate per mile?
A. The university reimburses at a rate of .655 cents a mile. Use the current mileage expense tag in Workday to calculate mileage when submitting reimbursement expense reports. A Google map (or the equivalent) documenting the mileage traveled must be submitted with your funding proposal.
Q: Can I claim both mileage reimbursement and fuel expenses?
A. Not for the same vehicle. For example, you cannot claim mileage and fuel costs to drive your car to the Detroit airport. You could claim mileage to drive your car to the airport and then fuel costs for the rental car you use at your conference.
Q: Do I need to submit receipts for meals or can I use the government per diem?
A. To be reimbursed for meal expenses, you must submit your receipts in Workday. Faculty Development does not reimburse for
alcohol. If you do not have a receipt for a meal, you would be reimbursed using the University meal allowance guidelines, which are posted to the Business Services webpage.
Q: I overestimated some costs and did not spend to the maximum funding allotment. Can I apply for funding of another faculty development activity?
A. Yes. Provided you meet the funding deadlines and proposal requirements, you may apply again for funds up to the maximum funding allotment set for the year.
Q: I have completed my faculty development activity. Now what?
A. To be reimbursed for your authorized expenses, a completed Project Evaluation Form and expense report with supporting documentation must be submitted to Workday within 60 days of the professional development activity or within two weeks of receiving your funding award announcement. See “How to Submit a Faculty Development Expense Report” on the Faculty Development page of the UF website for specific instructions.
Q: I know how to complete an expense report in Workday. Can you just remind me of the basics?
A. Keep the following in mind when completing your faculty development activity expense report in Workday:
- Fund = 10 Operating
- Cost Center = 4850 Faculty Development
- Region = wherever the professional development activity occurred
- Expense Item is used to identify the type of expense (hotel, meal, mileage, etc.). Currently, there is no Expense Item for registration fee. Use membership fee instead and make note in the memo that the expense was for a registration cost.
Individual Expense Items must have individual receipts. The exception would be meals, which could be entered with a total amount and all receipts in one PDF or JPG.
Expense total MUST equal (or be less than) the amount of your Faculty Development award.
If your expenses will be shared by multiple cost centers, use the “split” function to indicate which cost center will pay which expenses.
Q: Whom should I contact in my College for questions about Faculty Development funding?
A. Contact your College’s representative to the Faculty Development Committee.