Professional Development Fund: Application Help

Am I eligible?

Applicants should be represented by AAUP.  Unclassified, unrepresented staff ("un-uns") are not eligible.

Applicants' base salary must be $50,000 or less.  If you are less than 1.0 FTE and make less than $50,000 this academic year, you are still eligible, even if adjusting up to 1.0 FTE would put you over the income limit. 

The $50,000 cap does not include summer or overload teaching.  As long as your salary before summer or overload teaching is less than $50,000, you are eligible to apply.

What is an itemized budget?

An itemized budget is a list of individual, specific expenses you anticipate as part of your proposal.  For example, if you are applying to attend a training out of state, your expense items might include:

• • registration fees

  • transportation costs (airfare, taxi/ground transportation, car rental, etc.)

  • hotel/lodging fees

  • meals or per diem (you can locate PSU's per diem rates here)

  • training materials, books, or other educational items

The itemized budget would include what each expense is for and how much each one will cost.  A budget template is available for your use here.

What is a budget justification?

A budget justification describes the need for each of your expenses listed in the itemized budget.  Your itemized budget lists your expenses, and your budget justification explains them.  In particular, if you are requesting funds for equipment, supplies, course release, assistant salary, or anything unusual, be sure to include a detailed budget justification.  If you are requesting funds in excess of $6,000, you will need a strong budget justification to support your application.