ORSP Faculty Travel Grants

• Applications are now open for FY25.
• Funds may be requested to apply towards travel costs or conference registration fees—including for virtual conferences requiring no actual travel.
• The maximum per trip award is $700 for domestic, or $1,200 for international. Actual awards may be less, depending on demand and other factors.

• In FY19, ORSP made 110 Faculty Travel Grants totaling ~$57,000 (out of 129 applications received requesting a total of ~$115,000).
• For FY20, ORSP made 77 award notifications totaling $34,985; however, as of June 12, 2021, only 48 awards totaling $26,356 were redeemed, due to the COVID-19; the remaining trips were cancelled, and the awards rescinded.
• For FY21, no travel applications were accepted, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
• In FY22, ORSP made 62 award notification totaling $20,456 (out of 77 applications received requesting a total of  ~$58,908)
• In FY23, ORSP made 85 award notifications totaling $66,414 (out of 93 applications received requesting a total of ~$79,860)
• FY24 Information Coming

• Applicants must be faculty members (primary appointment) at UM at the time of application and travel.
• Applicants must not have yet received an ORSP Travel Grant for the current fiscal year. Exceptions to this One Trip Policy will be considered for faculty proposing trips to visit funding agencies or to attend events sponsored by funding agencies (e.g., grant writing workshops), or who are participating in IDRUM. To see whether you qualify for an exception, contact orspfacultravel@olemiss.edu.
• At this time, visiting scholars are not eligible for travel grants.
• Not “claiming” an awarded ORSP Faculty Travel Grant by submitting the completed travel voucher could result in a year of ineligibility for the awardee. Additionally, failure to notify orspfacultytravel@olemiss.edu of changes in plans (ex: trip/conference cancellation) could result in a year of ineligibility for the awardee.

While applications are especially encouraged by assistant professors and also associate professors, applications from full professors, instructors, and others with faculty roles will also be considered, as funds are available. We especially encourage applications that have the potential to lead to grants, research or creative collaborations, or other scholarly achievements.

The budget for Faculty Travel Grant program, along with most other ORSP programs and operational expenses, come from ORSP’s share of UM central administration’s portion of indirect costs recovered from externally sponsored programs (or grants). Without external grants, there would be no budget for the travel grant program. For this reason, ORSP is keen on investing these limited funds in a way that will help travelers positions themselves not only for scholarly productivity leading to advancement and promotion in their careers, but also to compete for future external funding awards. Those external grants in turn should be budgeted to fully fund those scholarly projects, including travel to conduct or present the outcomes of the projects. Thus, ORSP travel grants should not be used to supplement or supplant grants, but rather to fill travel funding gaps between sponsored projects, or help the faculty member compete for their next grant. Departments in disciplines where external grant opportunities are rare might rely more heavily on articulating potential non-grant-related impacts when making their case for ORSP travel grant funding.

Per Award ~
Maximum for domestic travel: $700 (unless otherwise noted)
Maximum for international travel: $1,200

Award Cycle: Once per month throughout the year.

Eligible Expenses: Grants cover eligible expenses, up to award amount, incurred in accordance with UM travel policies. Funds are allocated as direct travel reimbursements after completion of your trip and submission of your UM travel reimbursement form.

Deadlines

Applications for domestic and international travel should should be submitted at least six weeks and as long as six months before the planned trip. All complete applications received by the 15th of each month will be reviewed as a batch by the 25th.  If the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday, applications are due the next working day. NOTE: Requests received AFTER the trip has already occurred will generally not be considered.

Travel Applications are now completely online, and must be completed by submitting an online application form at least six weeks before the planned trip. Applications received less than 6 weeks prior to the planned travel date will be marked as “late” and preference may be given to on-time proposals when allocating limited resources. Applications received no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 15th will be reviewed as a batch.

Be sure to allow enough time for processing a UM travel authorization if you receive support. For international travel, a completed and signed authorization should reach the Travel Office a week before your trip–sooner if a travel advance is requested. Do NOT include the travel authorization with your application to ORSP, but DO route the locally-approved authorization to ORSP for cost-center approval before sending it to Procurement. ORSP will forward the authorization on to procurement (by way of the Provost’s Office, for international trips).

• Complete an online application form.
• Enter the required information, to include: applicant information, travel destination and dates, amount of ORSP request, detailed purpose of trip, detailed budget, and the e-mail addresses of Chair, so that we can copy them on any notice of award.
• Click “Submit” to submit the application at least six weeks before the planned trip (or better yet, two months before the proposed travel).

• Your name, appointment title, and email address
• The name and contact info of any other person in your department who will be helping administer your travel (optional)
• Whether or not funds are for a virtual conference with no actual travel requirement
• Whether or not this is an international trip
• The name of your home department or unit or center
• Conference/Meeting name
• The travel destination
• Brief purpose of trip (30 words or less)
• Planned departure and return dates
• Total funding requested from ORSP
• Name of your chair or administrative supervisor
• Questions about the nature of the trip, including:
  • Is this trip related to your work on an active sponsored project? If yes, briefly explain, in 50 words or less, why you aren’t paying for the trip out of that grant or recovered F&A.
  • Is this trip important work with regards to your progress towards tenure or promotion at UM, or present a development opportunity that will help make you more competitive for future positions within UM, or will it help advance your scholarly productivity? If yes, briefly explain in 50 words or less.
  • Does this trip have the potential to lead to or advance the prospects of a future external funding proposal? If yes, briefly explain in 50 words or less.
  • If this is a scholarly conference, have you been invited or selected to give a presentation? Or, do you have leadership responsibilities at the conference? If yes to either, briefly explain in 50 words or less.

Applications will be reviewed by the University Research Board Travel Committee. Generally, applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision via email by the 25th of each month. After notification of award, UM Travel Authorization must be completed by award recipients and processed through normal UM travel procedures. Note that ORSP will need to approve your authorization and enter an account number for its share of the total funding. To inquire about the status of a pending request for which notification has not been received by the 25th, e-mail orspfacultytravel@olemiss.edu.

Awardees are bound by all UM travel policies that pertain to their mode of travel and destination. See https://procurement.olemiss.edu/travel/ for details. Supporting documentation that the funds were spent in accordance with the original application intent is required for reimbursement and subject to ORSP audit.

ORSP Faculty Travel Grants are generally NOT appropriate for travel strictly related to instruction activities. Those seeking funds for instructional-related travel are encouraged to apply for funding from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

For international travel that might involve or lead to collaborations, see the UM Office of Global Engagement offers an International Travel Grant for Faculty.

Notifications and questions regarding ORSP Faculty Travel Grants should be submitted to Mary Lea McMillan and Jason Hale at orspfacultytravel@olemiss.edu.