Purpose
The purpose of this award is to support graduate students—whose work promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in various fields—present at scholarly recognized conferences, professional meetings, or trainings between September 1, 2022–August 31, 2023. Preference will be given to students whose application clearly articulates the importance and how their attendance will benefit their scholarship and professional development.
We are no longer accepting applications for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Eligibility
To be eligible to receive a professional development award, an applicant must be enrolled as a full-time student and in good standing during the semester in which the award is given.
Deadlines
Applications will be taken on a rolling basis. Recipients of these awards may receive up to $250 per academic year.
* Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements may apply in any semester, but may only receive one award during an academic year and a maximum of two during their graduate student career. Travel must be for the conference or training for which the grant was awarded; unused funds cannot be used for another meeting.
Please contact Helen Wormington for additional information.
Allowable Expenses
The usual rules for travel on “local funds” apply. A short summary of these rules is presented below, but refer to your travel officer for specific questions.
- Airfare —Normal restrictions (domestic and international travel allowed)
- Taxis — Receipts not needed for taxis within city, but required between cities
- Lodging & Meals — Limited to actual costs (single occupancy rate)
- Within Texas, total limit of $260/day ($51/day for meals)
- Outside of Texas (continental United States), total limit of $375/day ($51/day meals)
- Personal Mileage — 54 cents per mile
Ticketing & Reimbursement
Make your travel arrangements at any time after your application has received approval. If you wish to have your airline ticket directly billed to the DDCE account, travel arrangements must be made through one of the agencies under contract to the university.
When your airfare exceeds your allowable balance for the trip from the travel grant account, you may still direct bill your airfare through a university contracted agency, but you will need to pay the additional amount from another university account.
If you can obtain a lower fare from an online reservation system other than Concur, you may use your own funds to purchase the cheaper ticket and request reimbursement after your return.
The Travel Management Office offers additional information about booking.
If you are traveling outside the United States, additional approvals may be required. Check the UT International Office Restricted Regions List, continually updated to reflect travel conditions to foreign countries, including special requirements for entering certain countries. Also note that international reservations made through sources other than Concur will need to be entered into the ISOS database manually by the traveler prior to departure.