Participants in the Professional Development Program (PDP) travel to the Inquiry Institute and may also travel for their practical teaching experience. Below are some details related to Inquiry Institute and teaching travel.
Location: Hyatt Monterey. All sessions are held at the Hyatt, and all participants stay at the Hyatt (sharing a room with another participant).
Participant arrival date: Evening of Sunday, March 29, 2026. If local, you will have the option to arrive Sunday evening, or arrive early Monday morning , March 30, 2026 (you need to arrive by 8:00am).
Program start time: the Inquiry Institute starts at 8:30am Pacific Time on Monday, March 30, 2026.
Program end time: the Inquiry Institute ends after dinner on Friday, April 3, 2026.
Participant departure date: Saturday, April 4, 2026 (hotel check-out by 11am)
Meals: Lunch is provided every day of the Institute. Participants arrange and pay for their breakfast and dinner; many restaurants are within one mile, and participants typically walk together or use taxi/rideshare. Hotel rooms have refrigerators. There are onsite food options, as well as a microwave in the lobby cafe.
Air travel: UCO/ISEE will coordinate air travel for participants who are requesting support for air travel. Participants will confirm an itinerary, and then the program will purchase the flights directly for the traveler.
Airport information: Most participants will fly into Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), which is 2 miles from the hotel (see airlines that go to MRY here); San Jose Airport (SJC) is an alternative but is ~70 miles from the hotel.
Ground transportation from airports: Participants arrange and pay for their ground transportation to and from airports, including home to the home airport.
Rental cars and transportation during the Inquiry Institute: Participants generally do not need rental cars, and the program does not reimburse rental car costs. During the Institute (e.g. for dinners), participants often walk together or share the cost of a taxi/rideshare.
Parking at hotel: No additional fee. Self parking is available.
UCO/ISEE may cover some of your travel costs if you need to travel to your teaching site. We appreciate participants’ efforts to keep these travel costs down, as this helps us support more participants (and even run future PDPs).
The specifics for each site will be communicated to you. However, in general:
Getting to the teaching site: If you need to take a flight or make a significant drive (over 60 miles) to your teaching site, UCO/ISEE can cover and coordinate your flight, or cover driving costs. Note that we can only cover the lower-cost option between driving or flying.
Hotel near teaching site: If you do not live near the teaching site, UCO/ISEE can cover the cost of double-occupancy lodging.
Meals: In most cases, participants will be expected to arrange and pay for many of their meals during travel to teaching sites.
Ground transportation to and from airports: In most cases, participants will be expected to arrange and pay for the cost of ground transportation to and from airports.
Renting a car during teaching: In some cases, UCO/ISEE may be able to cover the cost of a rental car for a team during teaching. To keep costs down, we ask teams to share a rental car if possible. Program staff will help coordinate.