How to Apply

Documents Needed

**It is best to keep photos and/or physical copies of ITEMIZED receipts for every expense related to your conference or professional development event. Some exceptions are made for international travel receipts but this is not guaranteed.

Forms:

• GSA Cover Sheet: completed and signed by your Department's GSA Representative

• GSA Expense Sheet: completed with expenses broken down by date and type

Proof of attendance and expenses:

• Proof of Attendance: Program, name badge, or picture from event

• Registration fees: Original receipt

• Printing cost: Original receipt

• Transportation: Receipts, boarding passes (digital or physical), personal or rented vehicle expenses (parking, gas, tolls, rental fees), Uber/Lyft/Taxi, etc all need receipts with dates of travel listed 

• Meals: 

  • MUST BE ITEMIZED: the GSA cannot and will not reimburse for alcoholic beverages, therefore all food expenses included must have accompanying itemized receipts showing no alcohol was purchased

  • $65 per day maximum on meal expenses

  • Excessive tips are not eligible for reimbursement 

• Lodging: Itemized receipt/hotel folio. Incidentals such as internet charges and meals billed to room are redeemable but need to be itemized.

Any questions regarding documentation or expenses eligibility can be directed to gsa.finance@slu.edu. 

Important Policies

Dual Funding

Disclose any alternative funding (e.g. department funds) - GSA awards only cover the remaining expenses. If you are waiting to receive alternative funding, please reach out and alert gsa.finance@slu.edu so that your application will not be excluded because of our 30 day submission policy. 

Policy Exceptions

Policy exceptions are determined on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to be considered for an exception, you must receive pre-approval from GSA by emailing gsa.finance@slu.edu with an explanation of the reason for an exception along with any accompanying documentation (e.g., flight price comparisons). If you have received pre-approval, please include the GSA exception approval email in your application. If you receive an exception to travel more than the 3 (or 8) days outside of the event dates, this exception will only apply to travel costs (e.g., airfare, rental car, parking, gasoline) and meals (on travel days), and does not apply to lodging. Not all exceptions will be granted and an exception does not guarantee an award.

International Travel Insurance

To prepare and safeguard Saint Louis University students studying abroad, the Office of International Services adopted a comprehensive insurance package, mandatory for all students participating in a Saint Louis University International Program. International Programs include, but are not limited to: an international program of study, research, service or other University sponsored international experience. Additional information regarding the HTH Worldwide insurance policy, including a link the online application and payment, may be found on the International Health Insurance Study Abroad webpage. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of International Services, 314-977-4081.

Questions?

Check out our Frequently Asked Questions or contact the GSA Professional Development Award Committee at gsa.finance@slu.edu.

How to Submit an Application

All Professional Development Award Applications are due within 30 calendar days after the end of the event. 

Award Submission

Combine all required documents into one PDF. We recommend using a website such as Smallpdf, Combine PDF, or easypdf, which are free for a limited number of uses. Use the link below to submit your Professional Development Award Application (single PDF) online.

To access GSA Cover and Expense Sheets: DO NOT REQUEST ACCESS TO EDIT THE FILES. Click on the link to access the file and then download it to edit.

• Award Cover Sheet is needed as the first page of your application.

  • Note: Conference Attendance and Presentation Cover Sheets do NOT require the additional Student Advisor signature. 

• MS Excel Expense Sheet will be used to list all of your justified expenses.  PLEASE type out the words and numbers in the spreadsheet; do not print and write out everything.  The spreadsheet has formulas, which will speed up the process for you when completing the form and for us when reviewing your application.

• Once your application is complete, you will need to have your application signed by your designated GSA Department Representative. A list of current Department Representatives can be found here.

For more detailed information, please see the our award checklists:

• Professional Development Award Checklist - GENERAL 

• Professional Development Award Checklist - CONFERENCE 

International Events: If you are taking part in an international Professional Development Event and are submitting receipts that are not in U.S. dollars, please use the OANDA website to convert the amounts to USD.  Failure to do so may result in a delay of receiving your award.

Notes: 

• All applications must use the updated forms.  Failure to do so may result in a rejected application that will need to be resubmitted.

• Furthermore, if no student is listed as a representative for your department or program, then you will be unable to apply until GSA has been notified about a new representative for 2025-2026.  Former representatives are ineligible to sign starting July 1 of each year.

*Please note that you will need to log into Google with your SLU ID; you may need to log out of other Google accounts in the process.

Award applications are reviewed weekly during the fall and spring semesters. Review of award applications submitted over the summer may be delayed. Please allow two and four weeks between submission of application and receipt of reimbursement in your student account.