Spring 2024 Award Announcement
Academic Professional Development Program: Guidelines Heading link
The AP Professional Development Program is an educational program at UIC that will provide funding to academic professionals to build their knowledge and skills related to their current job responsibilities. It is expected that participants will work with their supervisors and home units to select learning opportunities that can be reasonably expected to enhance their job performance.
The program is administered by the APAC Professional Development Subcommittee. The group is responsible for the solicitation, receipt and review of applications, notification of awardees, and disbursement of funds. Solicitation of applications is to be done through email announcements on the PAcademy listserv and posting on the APAC website.
Eligibility Criteria Heading link
All UIC employees who hold a permanent or visiting Academic Professional appointment of 50% or more of full-time employment at UIC are eligible to participate.
Academic Professionals are encouraged to design professional development experiences which:
- Enhance the applicant’s job performance and contributions to the unit and broader UIC community.
- Serve the purpose of facilitating the institution’s teaching, research, and service missions and/or the institution’s business objectives.
- Are planned or ongoing.
- Are supported in some way by the unit or college, such as through release time and/or cost.
Examples of Eligible Activities
- Registration for training workshops
- Conference cost and/or travel
- Purchase of professional publications such as books or journals
- Professional certifications
- Online classes/courses
- Membership to a professional organization
Funds may be requested up to $1,000, per person, per fiscal year (July 1 – June 15). All activities for the fall and the spring funding cycles need to be completed by June 30. Retroactive activities can only be considered as long as they occur within the current fiscal year (7/1/23 – 6/15/24). Preference will be given to APs who have not previously received an award.
Funds cannot be requested for personal enrichment or tuition reimbursement for degree-seeking coursework.
Step-by-Step Application Process Heading link
The Spring 2024 application cycle is now open. The deadline is Friday, February 9, 2024.
Please apply here! Applicants will be notified in early March.
Application
Spring 2024 application is now available here!
Application Deadline: Friday, February 9, 2024
Approval by the employee’s supervisor is required, especially if release time is necessary. Applicants should ensure they have received approval prior to submission of application.
Applicants can requests funds of up to $1,000 but funds should be in support of a single activity (attendance at a conference, for example). If the funding request is for annual membership in a professional organization, funding will only be considered for the first year.
Applicants receive an automated email notification that their application has been received.
Review Process
Each application will be reviewed by the APAC Professional Development Committee for the following information before funding is considered:
- Eligibility of the applicant
- Approval by the applicant’s supervisor
- Appropriateness of activity for which funding is being requested
- Justification for the activity
- Knowledge/Skill that the applicant is developing
- Budget amount requested
Notification on Status of Application
The employee and their supervisor will be notified by email of the status (i.e. approved or denied) of his/her application. Email notification is scheduled to take place in early March 2024.
Fund Transfer
APAC is unable to pay any expenses directly. Awardees should work with their business manager to have their department pay for registrations, airfare, etc rather than seeking reimbursement for these expenses after the event occurs. Receipts should be sent to the APAC Treasurer, Rodney Chambers, rchamber@uic.edu. Receipts must include the document number and the C-FOAP. Fund transfers will be processed to reimburse your department before year end close.
Failure to submit your receipts by the June 15, 2024 deadline might mean that we will be unable to process the funds transfer. Questions regarding reimbursement should be directed to the APAC Treasurer, Rodney Chambers, rchamber@uic.edu.
In order to receive the funds transfer, you will also need to complete a program evaluation –a link will be sent to you.
Please note that substitutions of professional development activities cannot be granted. If the awardee is unable to use the funds for the purpose originally requested, the award cannot be used for an alternative activity. The applicant needs to reapply during the next funding cycle.
Program Evaluation
The program participant will be asked to complete a short program evaluation form via UIC Qualtrics. Awardees must complete the evaluation in order to be eligible for the award and repeat funding.
Questions
For questions, please send an email to Justin Wier (jrjustin@uic.edu), Chair of the Professional Development Award Subcommittee.