Conference Travel funding

Adopted by Faculty: October 10, 2017

Eligibility
Funding
Eligible Expenses
Application Procedure

Eligibility

  • Full-time voting members of faculty are eligible for costs related to conference travel to a maximum of $2,500 per budget year (July 1 – June 30).
  • Voting members on full sabbatical or leave are not eligible.
  • Members that are on sabbatical or leave for part of the academic year are eligible for funding for conference travel occurring when they are not on leave, but only to a maximum amount pro-rated to the portion of the year they are not on leave.
  • Voting part-time members are eligible to an amount proportional to the reduction in their teaching load (for example 9 FYP tutorials = full-time).
  • Restrictions may be imposed on the maximum allowance when funds are deemed insufficient by the Research and Travel Funding Committee to fund all first-time applications in a given year.
  • Research conducted exclusively for the fulfilment of a degree requirement is not eligible for research and travel funding.

Funding

The maximum level of support for any conference depends on the kind of participation:

  1. Delivering a paper or artistic performance (Maximum $2,500)
  2. Participating in a workshop or study session (Maximum $1,125)
  3. Supplementary funding for guest lecture or invited talk at another institution (Maximum $1,125 — honoraria and payments provided by the host institution are to be disclosed in the application and will be deducted from the total amount of supplementary funding)
  4. Chairs of sessions, conference organizers, and others not making specific presentations (Maximum $750)
  5. Auditing (Half of total expenses, maximum $1,250)

Eligible expenses

Faculty may claim:

  1. Travel to meeting venue: return economy airfare (charter or seat sale rate if possible) or equivalent (e.g., travel by private car will be funded at the rate of 58 cents per kilometre, but not to exceed the cost of economy airfare)
  2. Local travel: Travel to and from the airport and to and from the conference venue (faculty members are encouraged to choose shuttle or bus over taxi when possible).
  3. Accommodation: reasonable rate for single accommodation normally not exceeding the current PSPC (Public Services and Procurement Canada) rates for a maximum of 5 nights.
  4. Meals (max: 5 days): $48 per day in Canada; $48 USD per day in the United States; for international travel, the Federal Government rates will be in effect. These rates vary periodically.
  5. Registration fee ($250 maximum). The Committee will consider exceptions to this maximum in cases where the registration fee includes meals. Applicants should clarify this and provide supporting documentation where appropriate.
  6. Costs of technical aids (e.g. preparation of audio-visual materials needed for presentation).

Application procedure

The filled application form (Application for Conference Travel Funding) and all necessary supporting documents must be submitted to the Human Resources and Compensation Officer by the deadline, which must precede the dates of the event. A complete application, complete budget and full and proper documentation must be included with the application for funding to be approved (see Application checklist).

There are normally four deadlines for applications:

  1. 15 March
  2. 15 June
  3. 15 September
  4. 15 January

If the 15th of the month falls of a weekend or holiday, the following business day will serve as the deadline.

It is important to be mindful of the application deadlines, as late or retroactive applications will not be accepted.

Faculty are encouraged to apply to the earlier competitions if they have all the necessary documentation so as to secure good travel rates and insure the funding of their applications.

Priority will be given to conference travel directly related to faculty research (which may include pedagogical or professional topics when such are genuinely related to research leading to publication or improvements in teaching practice rather than to administration of programs).

Issuing of T4As

Faculty members should be aware of the requirements of Revenue Canada for reporting research grants and deducting expenses. The college issues a T4A for all research and travel grants and the individual faculty members should keep their receipts and claim these expenses against their income when filing their personal tax return for that year.