The Office of Academic Leadership and Faculty Affairs supports full-time faculty members (as well as permanent part-time tenured/tenure-track faculty) through a professional development grant program designed to partially fund attendance at seminars, conferences, workshops, and so on, particularly related to leadership in higher education. (See Academic Leadership & Professional Development Opportunities for Faculty for ideas).
These grants are designed to support external leadership development opportunities that can help deepen our pool of current and future leaders, both informal and formal.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
All full-time faculty are eligible to apply for funding, but must first be approved by their college dean. All applications will be routed to the Dean for approval. Please be sure to secure verbal support from your Dean before applying.
Funds disbursed through this application process are limited to a total of $2000. Applicants are required to have partial support from departmental or college sources.
In order to support as broad a population of Boise State faculty as possible, an individual may only receive Academic Leadership Grant funds once every three years.
Applications are approved and funds are dispensed based on consideration of the following criteria:
- Is the professional development opportunity directly related to leadership development?
- Is participation likely to have a departmental or institutional impact (beyond the faculty member)?
- Will the proposed activity directly and specifically enhance the professional development of the applicant?
- Will the proposed activity contribute significantly to the strategic goals and initiatives of the department/college/university?
- Will the proposed activity contribute to the Vision for Leadership Development at Boise State?
- Has the applicant received appropriate support from the department and college?
Grants are intended to partially support:
- Travel and/or tuition expenses to attend training courses or specialized conferences that are directly related to formal or informal leadership development, particularly within the context of higher education.
Grants are NOT intended to support:
- Travel to deliver a paper at an annual meeting of a professional society or meeting colleagues
- Release time
- Supplies or equipment
Application Process
Review of applications for summer travel between July 1st and Aug 31st will begin April 1st, with award announcements by mid-April
Review of applications for Fall travel between Sept 1st and Jan 1st will begin Aug 1st, with award announcements by mid-August
Review of applications for Spring travel between Jan 1st and June 30th will begin Nov 1st, with award announcements by mid-November
Proposal Requirements
Applicants should apply through this form on Campus Groups. The application will ask the following:
- Describe the event for which grant funds are requested (include the name of conference or workshop, campus visit, location, etc.).
- Provide a short description of
- your reasons for wanting to attend the event (workshop, conference, seminar),
- what you expect to gain from it, and
- how the activity will meet your individual leadership goals.
- Describe how your participation will benefit your department, college, and university, particularly in terms of their respective mission and goals.
- Describe the location, sponsor, focus, and duration of the activity.
- If applicable to your purposes and goals, describe how you might use the knowledge/experience gained to directly benefit
- Your department or college
- The university
- A specific initiative on campus
- Other areas where leadership will benefit the project/program, etc.
- Include a budget (not to exceed $2000) that outlines proposed expenses. Allowable expenses include travel and/or registration or tuition costs to attend the program.
- Include your employee ID #.
- Please provide an APPROPRIATED account code and contact name, for use in transferring funds to your department, should your request be awarded. We are unable to transfer funds to local accounts.
Post-Travel Expectations
Upon completion of funded leadership development activities, recipients will submit a statement that details how the funds were used, including current and future plans for integrating the professional development into the goals of the individual, department, college, and/or institution.
- Briefly describe the event (workshop, conference, campus visit, etc.) for which travel funds were provided.
- What did you learn at this event about academic leadership? Please provide specific examples.
- In what ways will the experiences (including sessions and informal conversations with colleagues) you had at this event impact the work you do/will do as a leader at Boise State? What, specifically, do you expect to change as a result of what you’ve learned? How do you anticipate this will impact specific goals or initiatives in your department/college or the university?
- Are there others on campus that would benefit from what you learned at the conference? What plans do you have to share your new insights and ideas? Please be specific.