Professional Development Fund

About the PDF

This Professional Development Fund (PDF) supports several areas of professional development for language instructors. All applicants should indicate clearly how this presentation will positively impact language instruction, and/or enhance existing or future language courses here at NU. The PDF supports the following areas of professional development:

1. Language instructors’ travel to professional meetings such as the ACTFL conference and participation in programs that benefit a lecturer’s professional development (for example special workshops in technology, pedagogy, or linguistics) are eligible for PDF.
   1. Applicants may expect travel reimbursement of up to 80% (but not to exceed $800 per request) if they deliver a paper or perform some equivalent function (give a talk, lead a discussion or a panel) at the professional meeting in question. Only papers with direct bearing on language pedagogy, as opposed to other forms of scholarly research, are eligible for support.
   2. Applicants may expect travel reimbursement of up to 60% (but not to exceed $500 per request) for attendance at conferences or professional meetings at which they do not present, and for travel to programs or workshops that benefit a lecturer’s professional development as a whole. This support is given to lecturers who a) need experience at conferences to be able to move on to the paper-presenting stage, and/or b) would benefit (for their programs as well as themselves) by scrutinizing new textbooks and other materials that may be available at conferences.
   3. Support for travel to programs which benefit a lecturer’s professional development such as special workshops in technology, pedagogy, or linguistics, also falls under this category. These requests may be funded up to 60% (but not to exceed $500 per request).
2. Language instructors may also apply for funds to support presentations tangentially-related to language teaching (i.e., presentations not directly related to language pedagogy) at conferences to which they have been accepted. Applicants should indicate clearly how this presentation will positively impact language instruction, and/or enhance existing or future language courses here at NU. Grant requests may be up to 80%, with a maximum of $200. Applicants are encouraged to solicit matching funds from their programs/departments, as well as from WCAS. These awards of support will be made as long as there are sufficient funds available, and those presentations directly related to language pedagogy have been funded.

The availability of the PDF does not alter the expectation that departments will share the cost of travel. Lecturers applying for travel subsidies through the CLI are encouraged to check with their department first about possible support through their department. Those PDF requests that fall within the guidelines found on the CLI webpage and that are for amounts of $100 or less will be funded at 100%, provided funds are available.

Applicants may be full-time or part-time lecturers in one of the language departments but must have at least one year of employment with Northwestern.

If there is an unusually large request for travel reimbursement in any given year, preference will be given to lecturers delivering papers at a conference or professional meeting. The final decision lies with the CLI Funds Request Committee.

What is supported?

Travel costs (flight, taxi, car, bus): Applicants are expected to make their travel arrangements well in advance and to check out several airlines to take advantage of the lowest fares. CLI will reimburse the lowest advertised fare only.
Hotel costs: Applicants are expected to share their rooms with other conference attendees if at all possible.
Conference registration fees

What is excluded from support?

Meal expenses
Personal expenses such as hotel phone bills, conference purchases, etc.

How to apply for support?

Faculty complete the electronic application and submit it to their department chair. The chair must endorse the application and forward it to the CLI Funds Chair by the application deadline. Applicants may apply for funding in any following quarter.

Reimbursement of travel costs

After returning from the conference, workshop, seminar or training, recipients of CLI funding must update their Application for Pre-Approval for Professional Development/Application for Reimbursement to reflect their actual expenses and submit this to Sue Pechter. This application provides space for entering the actual expenses that will be reimbursed by the CLI and other funding units.

Application Procedure

The Professional Development Funds Application Procedure for Departmental, CLI & WCAS Funding:

1. There is now one electronic form that is used to apply for funding from the department, CLI & WCAS. This form is completed by the applicant and forwarded to the department chair. WCAS-CLI Professional Development Fund 2012-2013 | Detailed Instructions (Please read before completing a funding application.)

1. The chair is responsible for endorsing the application at the department level and forwarding it to the CLI by the CLI deadline. The CLI Funding Committee meets once each quarter to determine funding for the following quarter, so it is imperative that the application reach the CLI Funding Committee before the application deadline. The individual faculty member is responsible for making sure that the chair forwards the application to the CLI co-chair.
2. The CLI Funding Committee will award funds and forward the application to WCAS.
3. WCAS will notify the applicant, the department, and the CLI of the level of funding provided by the department, CLI, and WCAS.
4. Faculty members may apply for support for any subsequent quarter. It is now possible to apply for funding of a Spring project in the Fall. Summer applications will be considered during both the Spring and Summer Quarter Funding Committee meetings.