Student Services Staff Professional Development Fund

Purpose

The College of the Environment supports its student services staff in furthering their careers, and in particular in connecting them to networking opportunities and professional development afforded by attending and presenting at national conferences (or other types of professional training).  The College realizes that attending or presenting at regional, national or international meetings hosted by academic advising or higher education student affairs organizations can help accelerate the professional development of early-career student services staff and provide valuable continuing education for veteran student services staff.

Because unit-based funding sources and/or individual resources are typically not enough to cover all registration and travel expenses, the College will competitively award professional development grants to individual student services staff who are presenting at or attending a workshop, professional meeting, or conference related to academic advising, student affairs, higher education administration, or other topics related to student services.

Award amounts

Maximum of $500 (available maximum may change annually based on availability of funds); one per staff member per biennium. We anticipate making 1-3 awards annually. Student services staff are encouraged to seek and receive funding from other sources (e.g., UW Association of Professional Advisers and Counselors, APAC, scholarship fund), and those who do so will receive funding priority.

Submission process

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. Submissions should be planned such that travel can be accomplished within six months of the date of the award, otherwise, the award may be retracted.

To apply

Applications for College funding must be submitted for future professional development opportunities. Funding will not be provided to reimburse prior professional development activities.

Submit applications to the Academic Affairs Office at coenvaa@uw.edu. Applications must include a proposal (2-page maximum) listing the following. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

  • Your name, title, and department; indicate whether you work primarily with undergraduate students, graduate students, or both
  • Length of time in your current position and length of time in student services
  • Meeting title, location, dates, and sponsoring organization
  • If presenting, your full presentation title
  • An explanation (250 words max) of how the networking, professional development, and visibility benefits of attendance will be realized at this meeting; specifically:
    • How attending this meeting is of special significance to advancing your career goals, and specifically, how this particular meeting will advance your professional development agenda
    • How you plan to build on what you gain from the conference experience to advance one or more specific goals or projects within your unit or cross-unit/campus initiatives (e.g., a talk at a unit faculty meeting, new blog, innovation on advising delivery, etc.)
    • How you plan to share what you learned with the College’s student services staff or larger student services community (e.g., a talk at annual Advising Summit or an EnviroLink meeting, “How To” handout for the College’s student services staff, etc.)
  • Total estimated budget, broken down into major budget categories – registration, airfare, lodging, rental car, meals (use UW meal per diem rates), etc.
  • Total amount requested from the College, and amount(s) received or requested from all other sources.

Your responses do not have to be in paragraph form. You may use a bulleted list where possible.

In addition, a statement of support from your unit head is required, including the following. Statements can be attached to or written directly in an email. Please alert your unit head of these required elements to ensure a strong statement of support:

  • Why this student services staff member’s participation in this conference should be supported by the College of the Environment
  • Why this particular meeting is especially important for this staff member at this point in her/his career

Review process

All complete applications will be reviewed by the College of the Environment Academic Affairs leadership and core staff, who will make the final funding decisions (Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of Student and Academic Services, Graduate Student and Postdoc Services Specialist, Undergraduate Student Services Specialist, and Career Services Specialist). Reviewers will score each application as follows:

  • Statement of how this specific meeting will help further career (50%)
  • Unit head recommendation (20%)
  • Budget and need (20%)
  • Diversity and security of additional funding sources; has applied for funding from additional sources (10%)

Questions can be directed to Michelle Hall, Director of Student and Academic Services at coenvaa@uw.edu.

Post-event deliverables

Within one month of the conference, you must submit a brief synopsis (250 words max) documenting how conference attendance advanced your career, the specifics of your unit or college/UW share-out (what, when), and final budget documentation.

The College of the Environment can support:

  • Conference, workshop, or training registration fees
  • Airfare, bus, and other transportation costs
  • Lodging and meals (not to include alcohol), up to per diem for the city of travel

The College of the Environment will not provide support for:

  • Alcohol
  • Accommodation or food expenses above per diem
  • Stipend or salary payments

Additional sources of travel funding

Conference opportunities

Education/advising organizations that host conferences

Other possible opportunities

  • Relevant major disciplinary conferences
  • One-time specific workshops or symposia

Dean's Office Contact: