A couple of weeks ago, The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) provided information via the Daily Digest regarding a few changes to the AAUP/OVPR faculty travel program. This program is very popular and in high demand.
Recently, all AAUP funds for the Fall 2019 travel period have been committed. OVPR funds for Fall 2019 remain for applicants who are specifically traveling to actively participate as a presenter of their current research work.
Applications for Attendance-Only related travel in Fall may still be submitted. It may be the case that committed travel funds will go unused. Unused funds will be returned to the pool, and applications previously Not Funded due to lack of monies will be reconsidered, provided the proposed travel dates have not yet come to pass.
To ensure the greatest opportunity for all faculty, the OVPR will be enforcing its reimbursement timeline policy. Reimbursements for travel expenses on awarded trips should be filed no later than 60 days after travel concludes, and unused funds will be returned to the pool after 90 days.
For your convenience, the OVPR’s notice regarding this year’s program changes is included below.
Originally posted June 24, 2019
With the start of FY20 at hand, The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) would like to make faculty aware of a few changes to the AAUP/OVPR faculty travel program. These changes are being made in consultation with leadership of the AAUP.
Guideline Changes
- Available funds are now divided equally, with half reserved for travel in the fall (July 1 through December 31) and half reserved for travel in the spring (January 1 through June 30).
- Each funding period now has an application start date. Applications for travel in the fall will be accepted after June 1 and applications for spring travel will be accepted after November 1
- If a trip is canceled, award recipients are required to notify the OVPR within 30 days of the cancellation so that funds can be returned to the pool
- Reimbursements for travel expenses on awarded trips should be filed no later than 60 days after travel concludes. Follow up emails will be sent to faculty and admin staff named in applications after 60 days, and unused funds will be returned to the pool after 90 days, unless justification is provided for extending the reimbursement period
Benefits
These changes have been made so that faculty travel funds can be more fairly apportioned throughout the academic year and to increase the number of faculty who can benefit from travel funding. We expect to see the following benefits:
- More funding available to support travel in the spring/early summer
- More equitable access to funding for faculty whose professional meetings are variable and not announced far in advance
- More efficient use of funds as unused funds are returned to the pool for other awards
Implications of the changes:
- The splitting of funds between fall and spring means that less of the total pool will be available for fall travel. Once the fall pool is expended, additional requests may not be funded
- The deadlines for submitting reimbursements will be enforced. Unused funds will be withdrawn from awards 90 days after travel unless justification is provided
- New applications for Spring 20 will not be accepted until November 1st. Existing applications for trips within that period will not be processed until November 1st
- New applications for Fall 20 (FY21) will not be accepted until June 1, 2020
For more information, contact: research at uconn.edu