STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD GUIDELINES
The following award guidelines have been created to ensure that all funded travel adheres to the policies and procedures set forth by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Funds received for travel are considered a “Sponsored Trip” with the purpose of providing and supporting external learning and research opportunities for main campus degree seeking students.
Student Travel funds are awarded as a reimbursement after travel is completed. The only consideration for applying before travel is if funds will be used for airfare, in which university policy requires all airfare to be coordinated with the university travel agent. Awarded funds must be used within the fiscal year (June 1-May 31) in which it was awarded.
Award Description
The Student Travel Award supports both graduate and undergraduate students that have been accepted to meetings or events sponsored by professional organizations for the purpose of reporting the results of research, exhibiting or performing creative works, or otherwise disseminating results of their scholarly activity. Please note: due to very high demand for student travel funds, we are unable to support students who are attending but not presenting at professional conferences or meetings.
The amount awarded is up to $800 toward expenses incurred during the approved travel. Once the award is closed out through the submission of the general travel expense report, any unused funds for the approved travel will be reallocated to provide other students opportunities to receive funding.
The award amount will depend on the number of applications received, the available budget, and on the priority given to the application by the selection committee.
We provide limited funding based on availability of the budget, amount of applications, amount of times the student has applied for funding, and the location of the conference. Students are strongly encouraged to have some vested interest in attending by paying for some of their travel.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a Student Travel Award, at the time of travel an applicant must be:
(a) regularly admitted to a degree program on UIW’s main campus
(b) in good academic standing
(c) enrolled in the semester or session during which the presentation or travel takes place (doctoral students on “continuous enrollment” status for dissertation writing may meet this requirement with at least one hour of enrollment)
An award must be disbursed during the academic and/or fiscal year (June 1-May 31) in which it is awarded. Students that maintain a current enrollment status from Spring to Fall may apply funds for travel during the Summer semester/session. Each individual is only eligible for funding once per fiscal year (June 1- May 31).
Expectation of Student/s
If you receive funds for travel from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, you are expected to adhere to the following:
- UIW Student Code of Conduct
- The Office of Research and Graduate Studies travel guidelines
- Relevant research compliance approvals (e.g. IRB approval for human subjects research, IACUC approval for animal research)
- Communicate with the Sponsored Projects Coordinator to review the process and procedures before any funding is disseminated
Expenses/Budget Guidelines
Allowable Costs:
Below are items/categories that can be covered by the award, however, this does not mean that all of them will be paid for.
San Antonio (in town) conferences
- Conference Registration Fee (excludes membership fees)
- Parking fee
Out of town or out of state conferences
- Airfare or mileage
- Hotel accommodations up to 2 nights
- Conference registration fee (excludes membership/organization fees, conference t-shirts, field trips, etc.)
- Transportation costs only if no courtesy shuttle is available from the airport to the hotel
Unallowable Costs:
Below are the items/categories not covered by the award.
- Rental vehicle
- Gas or any other incidental expenses associated with driving to your destination
- Entertainment expenses
- Food expenses
- Alcohol expenses
- Membership fees
- Room service of any type
- Extra nights at hotel beyond the conference dates
- Transportation costs such as taxi fees, Uber fees, Lyft fees, and any other service to get around town (only exception is from airport to hotel if no courtesy shuttle is available)
*No cash advances will be applied for the student travel award
When to Apply
· For Airfare (at least 2 months in advance): If you are requesting assistance withairfare apply as soon as possible. This will allow ample time to book airfare through the University Travel Agent. Airfare will not be booked in advance if the trip is less than 3 weeks away.
· For all other requests (either 1 month before travel or apply immediately after travel for reimbursement). University policy states that expenses and receipts must be submitted within 10 days oftravel.
For more information contact:
Office of Research and Sponsored Projects Operations
www.uiw.edu/orgs/research
Award Description
The Graduate Research Award supports students engaged in independent scholarly research, scientific inquiry, inventive technology, and artistic/ creative activity and is intended to help students pay extraordinary or unusual costs incurred in research projects. Costs for projects include subscriptions to software for data collection and/or data analysis; publication costs; materials such as lab supplies; travel for data collection; or other costs for research related materials that are not available at the university and are necessary to complete the research project.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a Graduate Research Award, an applicant must be:
(a) regularly admitted to a degree program
(b) in good academic standing
(c) enrolled in the semester or in the session that the research takes place (doctoral students on "continuous enrollment" status for dissertation writing may meet this requirement with at least one hour of enrollment)
(d) the sole or principal investigator
An award must be used during the academic year in which it was awarded. Each individual is only eligible for funding once per fiscal year (June 1-May 31).
Budget Guidelines
The amount awarded is up to $1,000 for the student allocated in the following manner:
- Research support includes costs for materials and resources required to begin or complete the project. The budget can include lab supplies, software, materials, travel for data collection, or other items that are necessary to complete data collection or analysis. Research support does not include travel expenses for conferences or printing of completed research.
