Graduate Student Travel Grant


Purpose

To pay for Graduate student travel -- domestic or international -- and expenses for those presenting papers, other creative work, or serving as discussants at academic conferences.


Awards

Highest priority will be given to doctoral candidates or to master's candidates in departments without the Ph.D. Other students may apply but will be assigned a lower priority. The maximum grant will be $500 which may be used to cover airfare or mileage at the university rate (58.5 cents per mile), whichever is less, a per diem allowance of no more than $50, and registration fee. There is a limit of one grant per year, per person and the recipient is required to apply for and report funding from other sources (such as departmental or Graduate Student Association) to the Taft Student Awards Committee.

Applications

Application must consist of:

1. Signed Cover Sheet
2. Detailed Statement of purpose explaining importance of the conference and significance of the paper to this/her degree work (250 words).
3. Detailed Budget and justification.
4. Conference announcement and formal acceptance of presentation notification from organizers.
5. Evidence of application to GSGA or other funding.

Forward SIX COLLATED copies of this application packet to the Taft Memorial Fund, Mail Location 0369.


Deadline

Applications for Taft Graduate Travel Grants are accepted on a quarterly basis. Please consult the application deadline page for this year's deadlines. There are limitations on the travel period considered during each application cycle:

• In the fall, the committee will consider applications for travel occurring from the preceding deadline (April of the previous academic year) through the following spring break.
• In the winter, the committee will consider applications for travel occurring from the fall application deadline through the end of the following summer.
• In the spring, the committee will consider applications for travel occurring from the winter application deadline through the end of the following summer.

Applications for travel which occurred prior to the preceding deadline will not be considered.


Signatures

Applicants for graduate travel awards will be required to obtain two signatures from faculty members in their department.  If a thesis committee has been constituted, the student will need to obtain signatures from his/her committee chair and the Director of Graduate Studies, or Department Head if the Director of Graduate Studies is unavailable or is the committee chair.  Otherwise the student will be required to obtain the signatures of the Director of Graduate Studies and the Department Head.

Reimbursement Procedures

The following procedures should be followed in order to insure reimbursement of travel expenses:

• As you will be required to present receipts to obtain payment, please be sure to obtain receipts.  If you are using an e-ticket for air travel, please request a receipt from the airline which clearly indicates the travel points and dates, and the fare.  When in doubt, request a paper ticket.

Upon Return:  The grant recipient should complete a travel expense envelope (A113), and relevant receipts should be enclosed. The envelope should be sent to the Taft secretary at ML 0369 no later than 30 days following your return. Please note that:

• Original receipts (including the boarding stub from your plane ticket) must be included in the envelope. ALL receipts for any expenses pre-paid by the university must be included.
• The total expenses claimed cannot be more than authorized, nor can line items be claimed that were not authorized.
• Any transfer between line items on approved budgets must be approved by the Chair of the Taft Faculty Executive Board.
• The expense envelope must be sent to the Taft secretary for processing and signature, even if other campus agencies are also funding the travel. Department level processing to reimburse using department funds should be completed first and A113 should then be sent to Taft.

Report

A brief report (approximately 200 words) on the reception of the paper or creative work at the conference and how participation was of benefit to the student, should be forwarded to the Taft Memorial Fund within 30 days following the conference.