Professional Development Fund

Following the ratification of the GEO-UML Collective Bargaining Agreement in Winter 2023, the GEO secured an annual $30,000 fund to support students' academic and professional development called the Professional Development Fund (PDF). 

The purpose of this fund is to provide financial support to TAs and RAs for conference, teaching, or research-related expenses that further an applicant's development as a teaching assistant or a research assistant. 

The PDF is available for GEO members who currently hold a TA or RA position at UML, and are in good academic and judicial standing with the university. Applications open twice a year (once in the Fall, and once in the Spring) with the total pool split evenly between both sessions ($15,000 per application window). 

The PDF process is a receipt-based system. Receipts must be submitted within 14 days of notice of acceptance. 

The Spring 2025 applications are OPEN now! The deadline for submitting applications is April 25, 2025. 

Click here for the application form. Please login with your faculty/staff email address (@uml.edu). If you receive an Access Denied error, you are logged in under your student email address (@student.uml.edu). Please log out and log back in with your faculty/staff email address (@uml.edu).

We have prepared a set of Guidelines and an FAQ to help with the process. The Guidelines and FAQs can be found here. Please contact geo@uml.edu with any further questions or concerns!