The Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation (OVCRI) are partnering on an expansion of the Scholars’ Travel Fund (STF) to support specialized faculty. The Specialized Faculty Scholars’ Travel Fund (SF-STF) program pilot will offer partial support for travel to one conference convening per year for specialized faculty to present original scholarly research and/or creative work.* Support will be provided at standardized amounts by destination, as with the STF program for tenure-track faculty. SF-STF support can supplement, but will not reduce, professional development funds available under the Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition collective bargaining agreement.
Specialized faculty** who hold full-time, non-visiting appointments for at least nine months annually, and who carry the following titles, will be eligible to apply for the SF-STF:
- Clinical Assistant Professor
- Clinical Associate Professor
- Clinical Professor
- Research Assistant Professor
- Research Associate Professor
- Research Professor
- Teaching Assistant Professor
- Teaching Associate Professor
- Teaching Professor
- Instructor
- Senior Instructor
This pilot program will take effect on August 16, 2022, with the same monthly deadlines as the standard STF, through August 15, 2025. Specialized faculty applying for support should keep the following points in mind:
- Specialized faculty applicants may apply for conferences three application cycles in advance of the anticipated travel dates.
- Applications must be submitted in advance of travel. As with the regular STF program, conferences are not supported retroactively, and travel must take place after the STF decision date.***
- If SF-STF funding allocated for an application period runs out, and the event occurs after the results release date for the next submission deadline, applicants may submit a new application for the next deadline.
The SF-STF will be reviewed at the end of the pilot period by both the Office of the Provost and the OVCRI, as we assess the financial health and capacity of the institution and faculty participation in the program.
*Training conferences are not eligible for support by the SF-STF program pilot. If pedagogy is a part of your disciplinary research, please specify. However, workshops and training conferences where the applicant is a participant, are not eligible.
**Lecturers and senior lecturers already eligible under the existing STF program remain eligible under those guidelines. Nothing has changed for this group.
***The dates of the conference must occur after the results release date. The release date is the second Friday after the deadline date (e.g., deadline date of September 7, 2022; results release date of September 16, 2022).