Graduate Student Council and Graduate Programs Office Travel Funds

What is this all about?

The Graduate Student Council has developed a policy for disbursing conference travel support for graduate students in the College of Computing (Masters and PhD students). The funding policy was developed with the goal of ensuring funds do not run out early in an academic year and to ensure students can apply for and be granted funding in a fair way.

GSC in conjunction with the Graduate Programs Office implemented this proposal in Spring 2007 to see how it worked in practice. The system was found to be fair and just, thus the policy continues to support travel for the CoC for graduate students. Each year funds will vary according to the budget for that fiscal year but the principles of disbursal will remain the same.

**If you require funding, please familiarize yourself with the application process below.**

Basic Policy Outline

There are two processes by which students can obtain travel funding

  • The Graduate Programs Office disburses up to 50 small grants (up to $600 each) per year. Both Masters and PhD students in the CoC are eligible for this type of funding.
  • A subcommittee of the Graduate Student Council issues up to 5 large grants ($1000 each) per year. Only PhD students are eligible for this type of funding.

Students may apply for both types of funding. However, if a student is awarded a $600 grant, s/he is ineligible to receive a $1000 grant. Similarly, if a student is awarded a $1000 grant, s/he is ineligible to receive a $600 grant.

Both policies are subject to change at any time. If you have questions about the funding policy, please email Dimetra Harris for questions about $600 grants or gsc-travel@cc.gatech.edu for questions about $1000 grants.

Application Rules for $600 grants

Travel Grant Application Process

To apply for the College of Computing $600 Travel Grant, please follow the steps below.

Step 1: Provide Your Faculty Advisor’s Name

Reply with the name of your faculty advisor. Once this information is received, the Student Services Office will initiate the DocuSign Travel Grant Application on your behalf.

Step 2: Complete the DocuSign Application

You will receive a DocuSign notification via email. Please complete and submit all required fields promptly. Applications are not considered complete until the signed DocuSign form has been submitted.

Step 3: Application Review

After your completed application has been received, it will be reviewed for eligibility.

You will be notified of the status of your application once the review process is complete.

Step 4: Grant Approval

If your application is approved, you will receive an official approval memorandum that includes the Workday worktag required for reimbursement processing.

Please note:

Important Information:
  • Only one College of Computing Travel Grant is awarded each month.
  • Grant applications are reviewed and funds are disbursed in the order that completed applications are received, subject to funding availability.
  • Submission of an application does not guarantee funding.
  • Incomplete applications will not be reviewed until all required documentation has been received.
  • The approval memorandum containing your Workday worktag will be issued only after your application has been approved.

Step 5: Workday Travel Authorization

Complete in full the Travel Authority (TA) form.

  • If you are employed by Georgia Tech, you can access the TA form after signing into TechWorks. Select Travel & Expense Reimbursement, then Create New Travel Auth.
  • To download a paper form, access Travel Forms then select Travel Authority Form.
  • Signed by student's Advisor or Division Chair.

Step 6: Reimbursement After Travel

After your conference or approved travel has concluded, your faculty advisor’s financial administrator or administrative assistant will assist you with submitting your reimbursement documentation through Workday.

If you have questions regarding the application process, please contact Dimetra Harris.

 

Application Rules for $1000 grants

For $1000 grants, GSC will handle the applications. All questions should be directed to gsc-travel@cc.gatech.edu.

$1000 Grant Basic Rules:

  1. Application periods and bins are set here so that people can be notified if they receive a large grant at least 1 month before their conference (so they can plan to get other funding if they don't get it)
  2. A GSC sub committee will accept applications, and rank them at the end of an application period and send them to the CoC administrators who will get the final word on who gets the $1000 awards.
  3. Only 1 $1000 grant can be awarded per area in an academic calendar year for fairness (Areas are HCI, LST, IS, etc)
  4. $1000 grants are only for PhD students.
  5. The application periods are:
    • For conferences in Sept 1 - Oct 31, applications are accepted from Jun 1 - Jul 31; notification is Aug 3
    • For conferences in Nov 1 - Jan 31, applications are accepted from Aug 1 - Sept 30; notification is Oct 3.
    • For conferences in Feb 1 - April 30, applications are accepted from Oct 1 - Dec 31; notification is Jan 10
    • For conferences in May 1 - June 30, applications are accepted from Jan 1 - Mar 31; notification is April 3.
    • For conferences in Jul 1 - Aug 31, applications are accepted from Apr 1 - May 31; notification is Jun 3.
  6. Students may apply for both the $600 and $1000 grant; however, students who receive a GSC or GPO travel grant are ineligible to receive the other travel grant.
  7. The GSC subcommittee for Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 is made up by Ceara Byrne (ceara.byrne@gatech.edu) and Ian Stewart (istewart6@gatech.edu).

Applications are evaluated based on these criteria in the order specified:

  1. Preference will first be given to people without papers (Reason: The GSC created this award primarily for students without support. The assumption is that advisors usually support students who have papers at conferences.)
  2. Preference given to more senior PhD students
  3. Preference given to importance of conference to student's research area
  4. Preference given to students who have not received CoC funding this year
  5. Only one student per Area can be selected in a calendar year (Areas are HCI, LST, IS, etc)
  6. Only one $1000 grant is available for each application period

How To Apply:

To apply, the following information should be submitted to gsc-travel@cc.gatech.edu during the appropriate application period.

  1. Which conference are you applying for? What are the dates of the conference?
  2. What year are in you in the PhD program?
  3. What area are you in the PhD program?
    • Computational Science and Engineering, Computer Architecture, Database Systems, Graphics and Visualizations, Human-Computer Interaction, Information Security, Intelligent Systems, Learning Sciences and Technology, Machine Learning, Networking and Communications, Programming Languages and Compilers, Social Computing, Software Methodology and Engineering, Systems, Theoretical Computer Science, Other (please specify)
  4. What is the estimate for the total cost of the conference?
    • Air:
    • Hotel:
    • Registration:
    • Food/other:
    • Total:
  5. How much money do you expect to get from other sources? (e.g. advisor, scholarship, SGA funds, personal money)
  6. What external assistance will you be seeking ? (e.g. Student Volunteer, student scholarships)
  7. Are you presenting a paper that will appear in the proceedings? Are you the first author on this paper? Is it a short or full paper? [Note: Currently preference is given to students not presenting papers]
  8. Have you been funded by CoC money for another conference this academic year?
  9. What area in the College of Computing does this conference fall into? What tier conference is this? How important is this conference to your field/research area? How will it benefit you?

Supporting Materials

  1. Letter of Support from faculty saying he/she does not have the funds to send you (if you are presenting a paper)


**New Policy** If you are awarded a GSC travel grant and for any reason cannot attend the conference, please notify the GSC travel committee as soon as possible. If you are awarded a travel grant and do not attend the conference, you will be ineligible to apply for the GSC travel grant in the future. Exceptions due to emergencies will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

 

College of Computing and GT requirements for Travel support

 

Before any GT travel, if you are granted a full or partial funding award, you must complete a Travel Authority (TA). The Financial Officer in your Area or Administrative point person can assist you with the "TA". Once it is completed, David White must sign it and you will be set to travel.

Once you return from your trip, you will have 15 days to complete a Travel Reimbursement form and submit to your Area Admin. person or Financial Officer with your "original" receipts, etc. to receive your reimbursement.

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