Skip to Content

The University of Texas at Austin

Faculty Travel Grant Program

NEW: 2008-2009 Faculty Travel Grant Application (.pdf) *

General Information

President Powers announced new resources and policies for faculty travel in his State of the University Address on September 17, 2008. It is the intention of the administration to make this new policy effective as of September 1, 2008.

Policy

All tenured and tenure-track faculty members (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Instructor) and emeritus faculty are eligible. Senior Lecturers and Distinguished Senior Lecturers with at least five years of service at UT Austin are also eligible. Eligible faculty will be guaranteed up to $1,200 per academic year for travel expenses to present original papers at scholarly and professional meetings. This includes reimbursement for all allowable travel related expenses (such as lodging, meals, transportation and registration, which are non-taxable reimbursements), and can also be used to cover extra childcare expenses incurred because of the travel (a taxable reimbursement). An approved “Request for Travel Authorization” or RTA should be on file prior to making the travel. These funds may be used for foreign or domestic travel.

Eligibility

All tenured and tenure-track faculty members (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Instructor) and emeritus faculty are eligible. Senior Lecturers and Distinguished Senior Lecturers with at least five years of service at UT Austin are also eligible. Visiting, adjunct, research and clinical faculty, specialists, lecturers, classified personnel, and other non-teaching staff are ineligible.

Purpose

The purpose of the travel grant is to support presentation of the applicant's original research or creative effort. The research must be presented at a recognized organized conference or professional meeting. The presentation will usually be in the form of an oral or poster presentation, but can vary with field (example: performance of a new musical work, or art exhibit). Attending a meeting or chairing a session does not qualify. Accepting an invitation to present a seminar or giving a colloquium at another university does not qualify.

No Limit on Number of Trips

Subject to the $1200 academic year total, there is no limit on the number of trips that may be taken within the year. Unused funds from one academic year may NOT be carried forward to the next academic year.

Eligible Travel Expenses

The usual rules for travel on “local funds” will apply when using these funds. A short summary of these rules is presented below, but refer to your Travel Officer for specific questions.

Also see - http://www.utexas.edu/business/accounting/hbp/11_trav/index.html

Extra Childcare Expenses

Faculty may also claim extra childcare expenses incurred because of the travel, subject to the $1200 total limit. The faculty member will need to sign a document that these are extra expenses due to the travel, and are above and beyond the normal childcare expenses. Faculty should also be aware that these expenses will be paid as a TAXABLE reimbursement to the faculty member.

Procedures for Travel

It is recommend that you submit your request as soon as your travel plans are set to assure that your travel qualifies for support from this program. Your travel grant is not approved until you receive a confirmation email from this office. The revised application form is available in .pdf format (see above - Download free PDF software). The form can be completed online and then printed to include with the required attachments to Maggie Keeshen <mkeeshen@mail.utexas.edu> , Faculty Travel Grants, Graduate School, G0400. You may also fax the form and attachments to 471-7620, attention: Maggie Keeshen. We will notify faculty and update our web site of further changes to the procedures as they become available.