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HCDE BS & MS student travel policy

The below travel policy applies to HCDE bachelor's (BS) and master's (MS) students.

Introduction

HCDE has limited funding to support conference attendance.

Students who are attending a conference based on work from a funded faculty research project should first speak with their faculty supervisor and request that their expenses be covered by the project before requesting funds from the department. If their faculty supervisor does not have funds, students should then look into the HCDE travel funding options below.

With HCDE’s limited funding, first priority is reserved for students who are presenting a peer-reviewed paper in a conference proceeding, followed by Posters and/or workshop attendance (see Option A). 

If you're not presenting, see Option B (other).

Option A (presenting)

Eligibility for funding

Students are eligible to apply for funding through Option A if all of the following conditions are met:

  1. The student is currently enrolled in the BS or MS in HCDE program or will be enrolled during the quarter in which the conference is taking place
    (Exceptions can be made for presenting at a conference on research done while at HCDE up to 2 quarters post-graduation)
  2. the student is presenting at the conference,
  3. the student is in good academic standing in HCDE (not on academic warning) and,
  4. the student has submitted reimbursement requests for any previous travel supported through this program.

Process

Awards are competitive and based on the quality and appropriateness of the requests.

Begin this process a month (or more) before your conference.

Step 0: Due to budget constraints, the first step to conference funding being approved is filling out a Dean's Office form.

Step 0.5: If you receive an email from the Dean's Office with their approval of your funding request, then screenshot it.

Step 1: You will then need to fill out this form: HCDE BS/MS Student Conference Fund Request form to get HCDE Approval. (Within this form, you will be attaching the Dean's Office screenshot.)

Step 2: After submitting the form, within ~5 business days, you will be contacted by email about the status of your request. If your request is approved, you will be given instructions on how to pursue reimbursement. Save the email in your inbox so you can be ready to pursue reimbursement once you've paid for things.

Step 3: Reimbursement. Reimbursement requests should be sent to hcdefiz@uw.edu within 45 days of completion of travel. Reimbursement requests should include copies of receipts for travel, lodging, conference registration and any incidentals greater than $75. HCDE Student Travel will be handled as reimbursement and does not provide travel advance.

Note on travelling abroad: You are required to register any travel abroad that's funded by UW with Global Travel Health and Safety. Beyond a requirement, registering your travel with UW grants you many useful benefits such as travel notifications, emergency response, and medical insurance.

Step 4: Conference Experience Reports. Please write up a two–three paragraph Conference Experience Report describing your experience at the conference. An experience report can be a document with your name, describing what conference you attended through these funds, and what you gained from the conference. Photos from the conference would also be appreciated. This will be used for the News section of the HCDE website. Your Experience Reports keeps funding available for other students by demonstrating to donors what their f contributions can lead to. Submit your Experience report by uploading it to this folder.

Notes about funding limitations:

A. Although each request is considered on its own merits and is subject to availability of funds, decisions regarding student funding are expected to follow this pattern: Up to $750 of expenses reimbursed for conferences, even if conference costs are higher than $750.

B. If a student requests funding for multiple conferences, they could get multiple requests granted, but a singular student can't receive more than $750 total for all conferences they attended.

C. MS students may be eligible for support from the UW Graduate School through the GSTA award (MS students presenting at conferences will be asked additional questions in the travel request form to determine eligibility and the department will apply for this award on their behalf)

Option B (other)

If you're not presenting, there are still some opportunities you should explore for funding.

  • Conferences often offer a substantial discount for people who volunteer to help with aspects of the conference. A good way to see if this is the case for the conference you'd like to attend is to go to their website and see if you can spot anything like that. It might be under a section labeled "Organizing" or "Student Volunteers" or something similar to that.
  • BS students may be eligible for an Undergraduate Research Program Conference Travel Award (students would need to apply for this themselves, as it's not something the department can nominate you for).
  • It's worth checking out the DEI Committee's Mini-Grant Application form.
  • For more scholarship opportunities, please see the Additional Funding Opportunities section of our main conference funding page.