Faculty Professional Development Fund
Application Guidelines

Purpose:

Full-time faculty within the academic unit may be awarded Professional Development funds (FPD) for travel that aligns with the college’s or department’s mission, priorities and goals.

Eligibility:

What may an award be used for? Successful applicants may use an award to cover participation in conferences, workshops and seminars; in-service training, consulting in one’s area of expertise, presentation of art or music, serving on juries or as a judge for professional organizations, travel expenses, and/or any other direct costs associated with the approved training or professional development activity. It is recognized that there may be additional types of expenditures appropriate for the use of Faculty Professional Development funds. Florida SouthWestern State College will not approve the use of Faculty Professional Development Funds for food and entertainment, gifts, personal items for the office, reimbursement for student expenses, and items that neither enhance the classroom experience nor provide professional experience for the instructor. Ineligible expenses also include services for work that cannot be separated from personal use, such as cell phones and/or cell phone plans and internet services at home.

How often may an individual apply? Individuals may apply as often as they wish.

What is the maximum award amount? The maximum amount that will be awarded to an individual for all travel within the budget year (July 1 – June 30) is $2,000, at the discretion of the PD Committee. Recipients of FPD travel funds may not request payment for expenses that exceed the amount awarded. Any expenses incurred in excess of the awarded amount must be paid by the individual or another college funding source.

Requirements of an Award Recipient:

Award recipients are expected to make a contribution to the intellectual climate of the school by using their professional development opportunity to fuel the development of new curriculum or course materials, provide a workshop or community of practice in the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, or inform participation in a community outreach event.

Application Deadlines

Applications will be reviewed quarterly and late applications may not be considered.

Applications are due by the following deadlines:

First Quarter (July 1 - September 30): last Friday in March*

Second Quarter (October 1 - December 31): last Friday in August

Third Quarter (January 1 - March 31): last Friday in November

Fourth Quarter (April 1 - June 30): last Friday in February

Faculty members should wait to receive approval from the Chair of the Professional Development Committee before purchasing airline tickets or agreeing to participate in activities to ensure FPD funds can be used.

*Note: Applications for travel between July 1 and September 30 may be submitted at any time before the third Friday in June. Those applications submitted by the March deadline will be reviewed in early April and will be given priority over later applications. Those applications submitted after the March deadline will be reviewed by the end of June.

Application Procedure:

Applicants must complete the electronic FPD Travel Funding Request Form, which is available from Team Dynamix. Once submitted, the form will be forwarded on to the applicant’s department chair and dean for approval. The form must be accompanied by any supporting documentation that is referenced in the rubric.

Important: Chair and Dean Endorsements Are Required Before an Application Can Be Reviewed

Forms cannot be considered until they have received the endorsement of your dean and department chair.

Application Review Process:

The annual budget for FPD will be divided into four portions, and 25% of the budget will be allocated to each quarter. All funding is subject to college budget approval and availability. Any unused money from one quarter will automatically roll over to the next. When selecting applications to be funded, the Professional Development Committee will rank applications based on the rubric included in the Travel Funding Request form. Any monies left after requests are fulfilled at the end of the budget year will be used to fund travel for a group of new faculty to attend a national conference on teaching and learning.

Additional documentation may be needed to effectively evaluate your application. If the committee deems such supplementary material to be necessary, you will be contacted by the committee chair.

Processing Awarded FPD travel

Travel expense reimbursement is a two-step process. First, authorizing the travel and expenditures for travel, and second, reimbursement of expenses to the traveler.

Travel Authorization

Faculty should arrange to meet with the Administrative Coordinator for the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) to complete a Travel Authorization (TA) as soon as possible once their travel funding is approved. The process of completing the travel authorization, if not completed in a timely manner, could result in a faculty member not being able to access the complete approved travel amount.

Faculty should be prepared with any of these applicable items:

• Cost of registration fees and form/link
• Event agendas (to include meals supplied by the event)
• All costs for necessary travel (airfare, luggage fees, taxi, shuttle, auto rental, mileage, airport parking)
• Lodging (sales tax and fees), parking costs, internet access
• Travel dates and times (departure and return)
• Fees for travel services (e.g. Expedia, Priceline)
• Meals that will not be covered by the event

Expenses that are not covered:

• Tax in the state of Florida (in most cases)
• Gratuity over 15%
• Travel that is not directly college-related. For example, if someone is awarded to travel to Orlando and decides to stay beyond the last day of an event, no costs will be covered for additional travel costs, lodging, meals, etc.

Travel Reimbursement

Faculty must provide all required receipts and documents (agenda, program, final hotel bill, taxi receipts, detailed rental car bill, etc.) to the Administrative Assistant for the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) for Travel Reimbursement (TR) within 7 working days upon return from travel.

The traveler is responsible for any expenses incurred if travel is canceled and for any expenses above the approved amount.

 

Important Considerations for Faculty PD Travel Applications

Conference Location and Affordability

To help the college be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars and to allow the broadest number of faculty members to benefit from traveling to conferences, the committee encourages faculty to consider conference location and cost before submitting a presentation proposal or applying for faculty travel funding. In particular, if you are attending a regional conference out of the area (e.g., the Northwest regional meeting of an organization when a Southeast alternative meets nearby), please consider whether similar well-established/recognized meetings are being held in our geographic region—especially if they would meet your PD needs as effectively as the out-of-area conference.

 

This is a suggestion, not a requirement, and the committee recognizes that there are often out-of-region conferences that don’t have parallel events nearby and/or situations when themes or resources at conferences further away make for a more valuable PD experience. With that being said, taking this idea into consideration generally would allow for a greater number of faculty to travel to conferences and grow professionally, and it is worth bearing in mind for that reason.

 

Lodging Reimbursement May Not Be Awarded for Conferences in Counties Served By the College

Per college policy, if you are attending a conference in a county served by the college (Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, or Lee), the PD Committee may not be able to provide funds for hotel accommodations, though mileage may still be covered at the rate outlined in the travel application form.

 

Faculty PD and Florida Law About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

As per state statute, Florida colleges may not promote, support, or maintain any program that advocates for and/or financially supports diversity, equity, and/or inclusion. Consequently, the Professional Development Committee will not be able to fund any PD that is deemed to fall under these criteria. All such determinations will be made by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.