Travel Funds - Osceola Campus

Osceola Campus Academic Division Travel Funds

Principles and Guidelines

PRINCIPLES

East Campus Academic Division (ECAD) Travel Funds are meant to promote employee performance and skill enhancement and to provide funding for East Campus full-time faculty, and for East Campus staff--career or professional--who work in an academic division that reports to the president of East Campus.

Each Campus receives a specific amount of money each year to be used by the campus to cover travel costs and related expenses for conference, workshops and related professional development. On East Campus, the campus president disperses this money through a committee of representatives from administration, faculty, and career staff (the ECAD travel committee).

GUIDELINES

Listed below are guidelines the ECAD travel committee uses to award travel money.

The convention, conference, workshop, etc., must relate directly to your assigned duties at Valencia and you must have the approval of your supervisor.
New requests are considered ahead of requests from applicants who received funding during the previous two cycles. A slight preference is given to applicants who have never applied before, which we determine by referencing the committee’s record of applicants.
Preference is given to higher levels of participation (speakers or conference chairs).
A range of preference is given to requests that the travel committee considers to have high impact on personal, division, campus, and college goals. The committee uses the current campus plan to inform the discussion on what constitutes high impact.
In cases where multiple applicants wish to attend the same event, the travel committee will also consider:
- The additional impact gained by multiple people attending the event.
- The description of how what is learned at the event will be shared with others at the college.
- Recommendations by division administration.
- Which applications to the same event were received first.
Applicants who didn't use their last travel reward are considered after all other applicants in a given cycle.

AWARD AMOUNTS

Starting with the 2016 - 2017 cycle, the annual cap is $1100 with planned increases of ~3% per year. The goal of the cap is to balance adequate funding for individual trips and an equitable distribution of the travel money.

The ECAD travel committee monitors and reacts to the amount of money that comes available each year for travel. It also debates on a regular basis the merits of capping awards versus fully funding trips, taking into account feedback from the East Campus faculty senate, career and professional staff eligible for the awards, and the campus president.

NOTIFICATION

Award emails are typically sent out to the employee receiving the award and their dean or immediate supervisor within a week of application deadlines.

RETURNING / REALLOCATING YOUR AWARD

Because the travel committee must sometimes reject worthy applications due to limited budgets, it expects awarded money to be used. If an applicant doesn't use their award money, this becomes a consideration for the committee the next time the applicant asks for travel money. We waive that penalty if the travel has to be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.

If you decide not to use your funding, please inform your dean and the ECAD travel committee chairs as soon as possible.

SHARING YOUR INFORMATION

Upon returning from your trip, you're encouraged to share information as appropriate with students and colleagues to increase the impact of your experience. Past awardees have presented in division and committee meetings, shared in Canvas course shells, held skillshops or posted on social media.

If you wish, you may also share what you learned with the ECAD travel committee by emailing the committee co-chair. The committee will maintain a record on this page for the benefit of the campus at large.

Cycles / Application Deadlines

2018 - 2019

Note:After filling out the online form, print it, sign it, and send it to your dean or supervisor for an approval signature. Complete applications are due to the campus president's office by the end of the business day on the application deadline.

Cycle	If You Plan To Travel During	Application Deadline	Committee Meeting	% Budget Awarded
2019 / 2020 Cycle 1	7/1/19 - 10/31/19	5/17/19 12 noon	Before 6/1	20%
2019 / 2020 Cycle 2	11/1/19 - 2/28/20	9/13/19 5PM	Before 10/1	40%
2019 /2020 Cycle 3	3/1/20 - 6/30/20	1/17/20 5PM	Before 2/1	40%
2020 / 2021 Cycle 1	7/1/20 - 10/31/20	5/15/20 12 noon	Before 6/1	20%
2020 / 2021 Cycle 2	11/1/20 - 2/28/21	9/18/20 5PM	Before 10/1	40%
2020 / 2021 Cycle 3	3/1/21 - 6/30/21	1/15/21 5PM	Before 2/1	40%

FAQ

How much ECAD money can I be awarded?

The 2018 - 2019 year saw a 20% reduction in the travel budget due to cuts in state funding of the college. In response to this, the committee capped annual awards at $1000. We will continue to adjust this as needed, keeping in mind our desire to both fund a wide variety of trips and to fund trips fully when we can.

For the 2017 – 2018 year, awards will be capped annually at $1133.

For the 2016 - 2017 year, awards will be capped annually at $1100.

As of Spring 2016, the ECAD travel committee plans to raise this amount by ~3% each year. Estimated caps moving forward would be:

2017 - 2018	$1133
2018 - 2019	$1167
2019 - 2020	$1202
2020 - 2021	$1238
2021 - 2022	$1275

Prior to the 2016 - 2017 cycle, awards were capped annually at $1000.

Who is eligible for ECAD travel funds?

East Campus career staff who work in an academic division, that is to say, those who report to the campus president rather than a college-wide administrator
East Campus full-time faculty, 'full-time' in this case being defined by the Faculty Association Constitution.

When is the next application deadline?

Applications are due by the end of the business day on the days listed under the 'Cycles' link on this page. Typically, this means by Friday, 12 noon for the May deadline and Friday, 5 PM for the September and January deadlines.

My event bridges more than one cycle. Which should I apply for?

If the dates of your event occur in any cycle, you can apply. As an example, if you wanted to visit a conference that occurred from Thursday, October 30th, 2015 through Monday, November 3rd, 2015, you could apply for funding in either cycle 1 or cycle 2.

What if I return my award money?

The ECAD travel committee makes a one-time consideration on your next application, looking at it only after funding other eligible applications for that cycle. The reason we do this is to reduce the chance that people apply for these funds without a commitment to use them should they be awarded. Because eligible applications sometimes go unfunded due to limited resources, we want awards to be used.

College Closure: Spring Break