Workshops and Special Projects Travel 

A. Background and Purpose

The Workshops and Special Projects Travel Program supports opportunities for faculty and academic staff to enhance their effectiveness in meeting current and changing needs and roles in higher education. Professional development opportunities contribute to the enhancement of teaching, advising, research skills, and institutional management. The program will support travel to workshops and training sessions for faculty and academic staff to assist them in developing or improving skills for implementing the use of new learning materials and techniques in instruction, research, and institutional management as well as to provide opportunities to participate in established programs for such training. Proposals promoting an appreciation of cultural and other forms of diversity are encouraged. Proposals for repeated attendance at the same event annually have a low priority for funding. Average awards under this program are approximately $800 and no single award may exceed $1,500.

Funding will support proposals focusing on activities in the following areas:

• Travel support to learn new skills required to meet a current academic challenge or to develop skills and gain experience necessary to assume an expanded or different role within the university community.
  
  
• Travel for workshops and specialized training. Routine travel to professional meetings will not be funded from this program; however, specialized workshops or training sessions associated with annual professional meetings may be supported with appropriate documentation.
  Note: Assistance for travel for the purpose of presenting research findings to one’s peers at a professional meeting is available from existing department/college funds for those in a college. For those not in a college, the Travel Support for Scholarly Presentations program is available and administered through ORSP.
  
  

• Project support to develop and implement a project or campus workshop incorporating significant professional development. These projects and workshops should provide opportunities to develop new skills and/or knowledge that prepare faculty and academic staff for career advancement, new assignments, or performance of current assignments with greater expertise. For example, a department or unit may schedule a workshop bringing in an expert in a specific field to provide training to members of the entire department, or unit or a number of departments or schools may do so.
  
  

Another source of funds is Conference Development Grants supported by Office of Professional and Instructional Development, which supports professional development in teaching related subjects.

B. Eligibility

All University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire faculty and academic staff with at least a .5 FTE appointment during the current academic year who are, or who will be, under contract for the following academic year are eligible to apply for funding from this program.

Faculty and academic staff will not normally receive more than one grant per year under this program. Departments, units, and/or colleges must contribute support to the cost of the proposed professional development activity, but no specific dollar cost-share amount is required. Faculty and academic staff will be expected to make a personal contribution to their travel expenses if department/unit, college, or ORSP funds are not sufficient to cover proposed expenses.

If more than one person is included in the travel request, special justification regarding the need for multiple participants must be provided in the narrative.

Proposal will not be considered if the workshop has taken place prior to submission of the proposal.

C. Writing Guide

New Online Application Process

The Professional Development (Workshops and Special Projects Travel) application will now be processed in the BPLogix eForm system using electronic stamps associated with your university ID as your signature. For more information about BPLogix and instructions, see our Eforms page. Click here to log in to BPLogix using your UW-Eau Claire ID and password.

Initiating the Eform

The faculty mentor must initiate the Professional Development Form. To start an Eform, select ORSP in the lower left quadrant of BPLogix. Then select Professional Development (Once in the form, select 'Workshops and Special Projects Travel'). Fill out the form. The narrative can be uploaded as an attachment to the form. Fill in the names of the individuals in the routing order area at the bottom using the userpicker button. This must be done prior to submitting the application to ensure that those in the routing process have access to the form to approve it.

Submit the application when complete. When you click 'Submit' or ‘Send’, the form will be routed to the next person in the workflow who must approve the form before it is sent to ORSP (e.g., Faculty/Staff Initiator sends to Chair, Chair sends to Dean, Dean to ORSP). The initiator should receive an email that confirms the form has been submitted along with a PDF of the form. When first submitting the form, the initiator will receive an email that confirms the form has been submitted along with a PDF of the form. If you do not receive the email or have any questions about this, please contact ORSP or 715-836-3405. NOTE: Any person in the workflow can generate the form to PDF by selecting "Print" at the bottom of the form, and printing to Cute PDF.

If you need to pause before finishing the form, click "Save to Edit Later." The form will remain accessible from the top left quadrant of BPLogix (under MY TASKS). Once you submit the form, it may be tracked, but NOT changed, in the top right quadrant (Running Workflows) while it is being reviewed by others. NOTE: If you keep opening forms from the bottom left quadrant, you will have several duplicate forms. Try to avoid this. You may delete duplicate forms by opening the form and clicking the button at the bottom "Delete Form and Workflow."

The proposal consists of:

• Professional Development Form (Select 'Workshops and Special Projects' in the form)
• • Applicants must clearly explain and justify all requested expenses in the budget explanation section of the form
    
• A Narrative 
  • Description of the course, workshop, or program (attach workshop program if appropriate)
  • Benefits of the proposed activity, focusing especially on faculty/academic staff professional development
  • Plan for information dissemination
  • Awards from the Workshops & Special Projects Travel Program during the past three years
    
    

D. Deadlines for Application

Submit your proposal to the dean (or equivalent) by first working day of each month. Only one copy is required. Proposals must be received by the dean at least six weeks before the proposed visit to provide adequate time for committee review. Proposals submitted after travel has occured will not be considered.

A decision will be made by the end of the month in which the proposal is submitted. If an opportunity arises that requires funding prior to the next monthly review cycle, please contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at 715-836-3405 to discuss options available.