Basic Professional Development and Travel Support
Library Faculty, Academic Professionals, and Civil Service Professionals are provided an annual allocation to support conference travel and professional development activities. For FY 2025, these amounts are $2,500 for Tenure Track Assistant Professors and Visiting Faculty, and $2,000 for Tenured Faculty, Clinical Faculty, Research Faculty and Academic Professionals. Additional funding is sometimes possible through discretionary administrative funds, (please work with the appropriate AUL to request) or campus programs such as the Scholar’s Travel Fund. * Please check with Library HR for questions about Civil Service Professional status.
There are also opportunities for Civil Service employees to obtain professional development and travel support. Examples include applying for ALA or Reaching Forward South conference attendance through the Library Staff Support Committee (LSSC) or working through unit heads and appropriate AUL to present a paper, etc. Professional development and travel allocations are made for specific amounts for Civil Service employees depending on the circumstances.
All requests for support must be submitted no less than three days prior to the start of the event, and earlier is often necessary for all the necessary approvals and procedures to take place. In order to ensure that activities that are beneficial to both the employee professionally and to the University Library and University generally, a business justification must be submitted, and this justification will be reviewed by BHRSC staff. If questions arise, the BHRSC staff will check with AULs and/or unit heads for guidance as to whether a proposed use is supportable.
The following are uses of professional development funds that are generally allowable:
- Registration fees and travel to attend or present at conferences.
- Fees for one-time professional development opportunities such as workshops and continuing education classes (non-credit).
- Travel to attend meetings for service obligations.
- Individual Memberships – Effective July 1, 2024, the University Library will permit employees to use their professional development funds to pay for their own personal professional memberships that are dated for initial purchase or renewal on or after July 1, 2024.
The following uses are not supported:
- For-credit Tuition for college or university classes
- Books
- Subscriptions
- Recurring or repeating charges (for example, access to learning platforms)
- Software or hardware purchases
Additional Resources:
Library Travel Procedures: instructions on the procedures relevant to this policy.
Updated: 7/1/2024