The conference funding request must be completed entirely and signed by the employee and his or her supervisor. For faculty, both the chair and dean must sign the form. The first sections are to be completed by the employee, and the last section is to be completed by the supervisor.

Conference Funding

To better meet the professional development needs of UA-PTC employees, the Professional Development Institute has  funding (limited) available for conference and other professional development requests. While the majority of requests are conference-related, other forms of professional development will be considered. Complete the Conference Funding Request and return it to the Professional Development Institute at least forty-five (45) days prior to your anticipated travel or need.

In exchange for funding, awardees are required to present a professional development session or workshop upon their return or completion of training. This training may be discipline- or department-specific, or it may be geared more to general UA-PTC faculty and staff needs.

Tips for Completing the Request Form

• Go through Travel training before you make your request. Contact travel@uaptc.edu for more information.
• Fill in all of the blanks on the form. This includes your department's budget account number and  the account name. Ask your supervisor, if you do not know this information.
• For anticipated expenses:
• If you are flying, look up airfare for flights that leave on the dates you plan to be traveling. Select one of the most reasonable options.
• Contract Travel if you are not sure if you should fly, drive, or rent a car.
• You can find the allowed per diem rates for meals and hotels at the GSA site. Currently, you only get 75% of the per diem for the first and last days of the trip.
• Include hotel taxes. Do an Internet search for the city, the year, and "hotel taxes," if you do not know the current tax rate.
• You get one travel day. This means you get one day, in addition to attending the conference, to travel on. It also means you should plan to travel on the day the conference begins or leave on the last day.
• Check the airline for information on baggage fees. Southwest, currently, does not charge a baggage fee for the first bag. Others may charge $25 or more, each way.
• Taxi and shuttle information can be found online. Many times, the conference provider will provide basic information on available transportation.
• You must complete a travel authorization request in addition to completing the conference funding form. The funding request is specifically for Professional Development Institute use, but much of the information is redundant.
• There is a section for your supervisor to complete and sign.
• Incomplete or incorrect forms will be returned to the originator. This will delay processing.
• Requests should be made at least 45 days prior to the conference or training event.
• See the Policies section below for more information.

PDI Conference Funding Policies

1. PDI will not fund conference travel for the same person in consecutive years.
2. PDI funding is limited to two people for the same conference.
3. Funding is limited to up to $2,000 per person. Anything over $2,000 will have to be covered by the department or the traveler.
4. Each grantee is expected to present at least one professional development session through PDI once training is complete.
5. Incomplete funding requests will be sent back to the originator.

Conference Funding FAQs

Will PDI pay for me to go to a conference?
Depending on the current budget, you may be eligible for conference (or other training) funding through the Professional Development Institute. Please note that funding is limited and is not automatically awarded for all requests.

Can I co-present with someone else who went to the same conference? Each traveler is expected to present one training session in exchange for conference funding.  If two travelers go to the same conference and wish to present together, they can. However, there needs to be a different presentation planned for each traveler. This means that presenting the same material twice does not fulfill the obligation.

I don’t want to go to a conference, but I would like to access online training. Is funding available for other types of training?
Yes. Use the Conference Funding Request form to complete your request, but let us know the details of the training you are interested in. Please note that we do not pay for non-training items, such as materials for your classroom or a new computer.