Faculty Development Funds are to be used solely for the purpose of contributing directly to teaching, research and creative work. All full-time faculty members will receive an annual fund of $2,500, which can be used for the following types of activities:
- Travel to conferences, research sites, festivals, professional meetings (i.e., conference or workshop registration; plane, train, and auto travel; hotel and per diem; taxi, car rental, and parking);
- Pre‐approved professional-grade equipment purchases through the College (i.e., computers, laptop computers, tablets, printers and scanners, and other technology like magic keyboards, styluses, Owls, ); audio (including headsets and microphones used for TV, radio, and podcast productions), video, photographic acquisition or display/playback equipment, or VR/AR equipment. Equipment will remain the sole property of Emerson College, and must be returned upon termination of employment);
- Development of courses (i.e., workshops, conferences or other travel in support of course development; subscriptions, books, materials, software, equipment, or podcasts; library or archive access);
- Creative work (i.e., materials and supplies; software and hard drives; outside equipment rentals; transcription, editing, and translation; production expenses, such as transportation, catering, and props; and post-production services);
- Research and scholarship (i.e. materials and supplies; software; consulting services; publishing fees for scholarly journals; poster printing costs; academic conference fees; other costs as deemed appropriate by the department and Academic Affairs);
- Purchase of books and scholarly offprints;
- Publication of monographs;
- Assistance with university publisher client advances;
- Membership of professional/academic associations
College funds may not be used to purchase personal items, such as AirPods, smart watches, smart phones, gaming headsets. Items to be purchased must be pre-approved through the department chair or dean, in writing, electronically.
Funds may be used for a variety of purposes, including non-credit seminars, workshops, conferences, etc. that directly support research, teaching, and creative work. These will be reimbursed upon completion of the course/event. They may not, however, be used to cover the cost of courses taken as part of a degree program or for credit at another institution. Faculty may also pursue professional development opportunities covered under Emerson’s Tuition Remission policy.
Purchase Orders, Consultants, and Expense Reports
- If you require the purchase of equipment, you must contact your Academic Affairs department administrator to generate a purchase order through Workday. Equipment purchases made with personal funds will not be reimbursed.
- Only original itemized receipts indicating proof of payment may be used as documentation of expenses.
- There are tax implications when paying consultants. For that reason, you cannot pay the consultant directly. Contact your Academic Affairs department administrator for assistance.
- When faculty members are contracting with outside vendors (consultants, other services), the Acknowledgment of Payment Form needs to be signed by the vendor and the faculty member. Emerson College is only agreeing to facilitate the payment to the vendor on behalf of the faculty member, but are not a party to the contract legally. Along with the invoice and W-9, the Acknowledgment of Payment Form must be sent to the department administrative assistant to create the supplier invoice.
Faculty Development Funds may not be used to directly compensate any Emerson faculty member, staff, or student. It may be used to hire outside help that directly supports research, such as transcribers, translators, etc.
Administration of Faculty Development Funds
The funds will be administered through the department chairs. Each full-time faculty member will have his/her own activity code for their individual FD fund. This code must be included on all related paperwork, expense reports, purchase orders, etc.
Carry Forward of Faculty Development Funds
Tenure and tenure-track faculty will be permitted to carry forward unused Faculty Development funds up to two years in a three-year period. Term faculty with three-year contracts will be eligible to carry forward unused funds on the same basis as tenure and tenure-track faculty. Term faculty with one‐year contracts, though not eligible to carry forward funds, will be eligible, however, for Faculty Development funds on a one-year basis only. Tenure, tenure-track faculty and term faculty with three-year contracts will be phased into the carry forward program based on the date of hire. At the end of the three‐year carry forward period, tenure, tenure-track and term faculty with three-year contracts will submit a brief summary outlining how they used the funds. The previous three-year cycle ended June 2024, and the next three-year cycle begins July 1, 2024 through to June 2027.