Principles

• The primary purpose of providing travel funds for faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is the production and dissemination of research.
• A secondary purpose is raising the scholarly visibility and profile of the College.
• The application process shall be structured in a way that allows for timely and predictable responses to requests, to facilitate planning by faculty members.

Process

1. Eligibility

The applicant must currently hold a tenure-track or tenured position, or be a teaching professor (of any rank), or be a clinical professor (of any rank), in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Faculty members can be allocated funds through this process up to two times per fiscal year.

2. Submission of application

Applications can be submitted via the web at collegetravel.ku.edu. Since this URL does not begin with “www,” you may need to type “https://” before it, in your browser. Below, this system is referred to as the online application system.

Applicants must submit a c.v. as part of the application process, or have a previously submitted c.v. already on file in the online application system.

Applicants must describe the purpose of their trip and categorize the purpose as one of the following:

• conduct research
• present a paper or poster at a professional conference, either via traval or remotely/virtually
• fulfill duties or responsibilities pertaining to national or international leadership

Applicants must provide an estimate of their expenses.

3. Confirmation

When an application is submitted, a confirmation email will be sent to the applicant. The applicant can also monitor the status of the application in the online application system.

4. Supervisor endorsement

The applicant’s supervisor will be asked to endorse the application.

5. Decision process

Each completed application will be reviewed by the associate dean assigned to the applicant’s unit, according to the following criteria:

• If there seems to be little risk that the travel funds will run out before the end of the fiscal year, any application from an eligible faculty member for travel for one of the three purposes listed above will be approved (absent special reasons to the contrary).
• If there is a substantial risk that the travel funds will run out before the end of the fiscal year, the following applications may be declined to conserve funds for other applications:
  • applications from tenured faculty members
  • applications for travel to fulfill duties or responsibilities pertaining to national or international leadership

Each associate dean will normally review applications on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. The College budget office will then send notifications of those decisions.

6. Funding levels

For travel to destinations within the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, funds of up to $700 may be provided. For travel to other destinations, funds of up to $1,200 may be provided. These amounts are annual caps per faculty member, not per trip.

7. Examples

(All of these examples assume no travel, or travel within the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.)

• Faculty member A presents a paper at a remote conference in the fall, and the registration fee is $150. They also present a paper at a remote conference in the spring, and the registration fee is $200. They can get these two expenses covered in full, but are not eligible for any additional funding through this system in the same fiscal year.
• Faculty member B presents a paper at a remote conference in the fall, and the registration fee is $175. In the spring, they travel to a conference to present a paper. Those expenses (including registration fee, hotel, etc.) can be reimbursed up to $525.
• Faculty member C travels to a conference to present a paper in the fall, and travels to another conference to present a paper in the spring. If their reimbursements for the first conference are less than $700, they can draw upon the remaining balance for reimbursement for the second conference.