GUIDELINES:
SUPPORT OF TRAVEL TO PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS for 2012-2013
Graduate School

Development of a graduate student into a professional involves presentation of the results of scholarly activities at professional meetings and other such forums. The Graduate School supports professional development of graduate students by awarding grants to defray costs of travel for participation in such meetings.

Nature of the award: Graduate students are eligible for $600 in aid each academic year (1 June through 31 May of the following calendar year). Any one award may not exceed $300. However, students may request less than $300, thereby possibly allowing support for more than two meetings in a year. The award is paid by check directly to the graduate student before the meeting date.

Eligibility: To be eligible for support, the applicant must be formally registered for at least one credit hour at Baylor University during the semester when the presentation is made. This program is designed to support presentation of findings of graduate-student research, artistic performance, etc. The program is not intended to support recruitment activities, attendance at meetings without presentation of scholarship, costs of publication, or costs of conducting research.

Application: In order to apply for a travel award for a professional meeting, you must download the following Excel document:

Travel Award Application Form for Professional Meetings 2012-2013

Save it to your desktop, and fill it out completely. Please read all of the instructions carefully. Once complete, please email the application to the GSTA@baylor.edu. A brief statement of support from your major professor e-mailed to GSTA@baylor.edu is also required.

Please also send proof of acceptance to the conference at which you will present. This may be in the form of your acceptance letter or e-mail or a copy of page of the conference program which lists your presentation.

To enable efficient handling of your application, and to ensure adequate time for you to receive the check before the meeting date, submit the application four weeks prior to the meeting dates. Students whose applications are received within 5 days prior to the conference date or received after the conference date will be considered on an individual basis. In order to be processed, please submit the complete travel award report, receipts from the conference, and documentation of other funding received, if applicable.

Reports: Within 30 days of returning from the meeting, prepare and submit, via email message to Ms. Harman (GSTA@baylor.edu), a brief report (in the form of a letter or memorandum). In this electronic letter, relate the impact and benefits the meeting may have had on your professional development, and a brief accounting of expenses incurred, along with scanned receipts to cover the amount of the award. If your professional expenses were less than the amount of the award, please mail a check (payable to Baylor University) for the difference at the time you submit your report.

Submit applications and reports electronically to Mrs. Sandra B. Harman at GSTA@baylor.edu.

If you do not use all of the money allotted to you for your trip, please mail checks, payable to Baylor University, to:

Mrs. Sandra B. Harman
Graduate School Travel Awards Program
One Bear Place #97264
Baylor University
CAMPUS (or Waco, TX 76798-7264).

You may also deliver checks to Mrs. Harman in the Graduate School Office, Morrison 200.

Award recipients who fail to submit reports are ineligible for future support from Graduate School travel programs.

Note that fellowship awards to students who are nonresident aliens may be subject to withholding as per IRS regulations. If the student’s visa status is F, J, M or Q, then the withholding amount is 14%; if other visa status, withholding amount is 30%. Some students might be from countries having a treaty that exempts these payments from withholding. To qualify for such an exemption, the student must have a tax identification number [Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)] and would need to go to the Baylor Payroll Office to complete Form W-8BEN to determine eligibility for the exemption.

Last Updated: April 5, 2013