Faculty Affairs

Full-Time Professional Development Fund

The Steinhardt Full-Time Professional Development Fund is a combined contingency fund to support the research and professional development of faculty, as well as to support the faculty’s efforts to enhance the school’s intellectual life. This mechanism has been established to help support faculty in situations when IDA funds have been expended or are insufficient, or where department budgets are insufficient to support faculty-led activities. This contingency fund is established with the financial support of the Dean and is renewed annually. Priority for this contingency fund is given to junior faculty (both tenure-track and clinical) to further their research, to support special projects that enhance faculty scholarship, and to travel central to the professional development process. Funds are limited and funding will be partially dependent upon the number of requests received. It is expected that requests from this fund are for focused short-term undertakings.  Faculty requesting support from the Professional Development Fund must obtain the recommendation of their department chair. Proposals will be reviewed three times each academic year: October 15th, February 15th, and April 15th. In order to maximize the use of the Professional Development Fund, those faculty members who receive awards in the fall and winter will be asked in April to indicate whether or not they expect any monies to go unspent and to return those funds for re-allocation. In accordance with University guidelines, all reimbursement requests must be submitted within 30 days after expenditures.  Monies provided by the Professional Development Fund must be spent before August 31st of the same academic year in which they were rewarded; all requests for reimbursement must be submitted by the August 31st deadline, although faculty are encouraged to submit receipts before August 1st. Note, NO funds will be “rolled over” into the following academic year. Professional Development Funds that are unspent are lost and reduce our ability to support faculty development in that year.

To be considered for funding, faculty should submit a proposal that indicates the nature of the project and addresses the criteria below. They should indicate whether or not they have been recent recipients of other NYU or Steinhardt research support in the previous two years.  Note that no faculty member may receive more than $3,500 in support from the PDF in any two-year period.  In other words, if no funds were received in the prior year, the faculty member may receive up to $3,500 for an approved request.  If, for example, $2,000 were awarded and spent in the prior year, the faculty member may receive no more than $1,500 in the current year. Faculty who receive support from the Professional Development Fund should provide a brief report on the outcome of the activities via e-mail to brady.galan@nyu.edu shortly after completion of their activity.

Below, please find the guidelines for Special Projects, Travel, and Research Support. Please review these guidelines thoroughly. Once you have reviewed these guidelines, you may submit a request using the link at the bottom of this page.

All requests will be reviewed and jointly approved by the Vice Dean and the Associate Dean for Research and Doctoral Studies.

Additional Information to Consider Before Filing for Professional Development Fund:

  1. Funds for travel should be requested in the academic year (9/1 - 8/31) in which the travel will occur.
  2. All receipts for reimbursement must be submitted within 30 days after the date of expenditure, completion of event, or return from a trip in accordance with University policy.
  3. All receipts for reimbursement must be submitted by 8/31 in the year in which the award was made.
  4. Requests for funds may not be made in two consecutive years.
  5. No award may exceed $3,500 per faculty member in any two-year period; funds being requested for a common project by two faculty may not exceed $7,000; 3 faculty - $10,500 etc.
  6. Funds must be requested prior to the initiation of project or travel.
  7. A brief budget should be included.

Criteria for Allocating Contingency Funds for Special Projects

  1. That the project helps move the faculty member towards tenure or promotion.
  2. Demonstrated merit of the project in the context of school and department priorities or the relevant field.
  3. Demonstrated level of innovation within Steinhardt, or within the larger community or field.
  4. Promotion of interdisciplinary or collaborative work
  5. Potential to lead to improvement of research or teaching, or both.
  6. Potential to support graduate/doctoral student education
  7. Demonstrates a potential to obtain independent/outside funding for the project in the future.
  8. Total project budget, and the faculty member’s use of IDA for that year.

Criteria for Allocating Contingency Funds for Travel

The trip is to present an invited paper, or

  1. helps the faculty member in their progress towards tenure or promotion;
  2. the trip is to conduct program or department business for which the faculty member should not have to use individual IDA funds. The request should detail the main elements of the meeting and its relevance to the department;
  3. If the trip is to present an invited paper, faculty should provide information about the likelihood of turning the presentation into a published piece of work; and,
  4. the allocation of funds will take into consideration the benefits of the trip in terms of professional development, the benefits of the trip in terms of the development of school programs, the cost of the trip, the faculty member’s use of IDA funds for that year, and whether the faculty member has received additional funding in previous years.

Criteria for Allocating Discretionary Research Support

  1. Evidence that the project will help the faculty member move towards tenure or promotion.
  2. Demonstrated merit of the project in context of school and department priorities or relevant field.
  3. Demonstrated level of innovation within Steinhardt, or within the larger community or field.
  4. Promotion of interdisciplinary or collaborative work.
  5. Potential to lead to improvement of research.
  6. Potential to support graduate/doctoral student education.
  7. Potential to obtain independent/external funding for the project in the future.

Click here to submit a request.