Faculty Development Funds for Tenure and Non-tenure System Faculty

According to the contract, the amounts provided for research and/or professional development are $900 for TT and $600 for NTT faculty. Faculty may seek reimbursement for professional development expenses that involve purchasing equipment, particularly to allow them to teach online more effectively. I have told the deans this and asked them to ensure their department heads and chairs are aware.

The other question that has come up is the use of travel funds for both TT and NTT faculty. There are 2 issues:

1. Because of the pandemic and the inability to travel, some faculty want the option to use travel funds for professional development related to online teaching, whether that is for equipment or something else.
2. If there are travel funds left over from FY20, faculty are requesting that they can carry over any remaining travel funds to next year, since travel is impossible right now.

In light of the unique situation we find ourselves in, I am in favor of both of these uses of travel funds on a one-time basis, The ability to carry over travel funds will only be allowed this one time (from FY20 to FY21) and may be used for professional development expenses as stated above through June 30, 2021. On July 1, 2021, we will revert to the provisions of the contract as written, i.e. travel funds may not be carried forward and can only be used for travel, as stated in the contract.

Susan Poser
Provost