Graduate Student Travel Award

As part of our mission, vision goals and values, the West Virginia University School of Public Health encourages its students to actively engage in research and service activities. We recognize that this vision may require either domestic or international travel for conference attendance or practice and service opportunities.

There are minimum requirements in order to request supplemental funding from the Office of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs within the School of Public Health. A request DOES NOT guarantee that funding will be provided.

Award for Domestic Travel

1. Proposal
   1. The first step in the process of requesting funding for travel is to create a brief proposal containing the following REQUIRED documentation:
      1. Letter of acceptance (email is acceptable) for presentation from conference administration
      2. Detailed budget breakdown of expenses and current support in place
      3. Letter of support/explanation from Dept. Chair that details rationale for the presentation at this particular conference and its relevance and importance to the School of Public Health, the department and for the student’s academic career. Conference travel that receives matching funds from an SPH department will be rated higher than those without funding.
      4. Description of conference/event from flyer/advertisement/brochure (may provide webpage link).
2. Deadlines
   1. It will be the student’s responsibility to confirm the deadline for a conference or any opportunity to travel. Every effort will be made to accommodate requests that come in at least 72-hours prior to the published due date.
3. Procedures
   1. The student must ensure that they are following all SPH travel policies and processes and obtain all required travel authorizations once any approvals have been received for funding support from the Department, School or other internal entity.
   2. Where possible, efforts will be made to direct pay (via Pcard) registration, flight or hotel to diminish the up-front expenditures that students may have to face.
   3. Upon return from the event/trip, all receipts must be processed following SPH travel policies and procedures.

Award for International Travel

Requirements for international travel are determined at the University level so prior to any request for funding it will be critical to read the published guidelines.

If your request adheres to the University guidelines for international travel then the following requirements from the Office of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs within the School of Public Health are posted below. Please note that a request DOES NOT guarantee that funding will be provided.

1. Proposal
   1. The first step in the process of requesting funding for travel is to create a brief proposal containing the following REQUIRED documentation:
      1. Letter of acceptance (email is acceptable) for presentation from conference administration
      2. Detailed budget breakdown of expenses and current support in place
      3. Letter of support/explanation from Dept. Chair that details rationale for the presentation at this particular conference and its relevance and importance to the School of Public Health, the department and for the student’s academic career.
      4. Description of conference/event from flyer/advertisement/brochure (may provide webpage link).
2. Deadlines
   1. It will be the student’s responsibility to confirm the deadline for a conference or any opportunity to travel. Every effort will be made to accommodate requests that come in at least 72-hours prior to the published due date.
3. Procedures
   1. The student must ensure that they are following all SPH travel policies and processes and obtain all required travel authorizations once any approvals have been received for funding support from the Department, School or other internal entity.
   2. Where possible, efforts will be made to direct pay (via Pcard) registration, flight or hotel to diminish the up-front expenditures that students may have to face.
   3. Upon return from the event/trip, all receipts must be processed following SPH travel policies and procedures.