Professional Development Fund
The Part-time Faculty Professional Development Fund (PTFPDF) is designed to foster professional development opportunities for eligible part-time faculty. Article XIX of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the University and the part-time faculty union provides that part-time faculty with good faith consideration may apply for up to three reimbursements from the Part-Time Faculty Professional Development Fund (PTFPDF) each fiscal year for professional development activities related to their teaching assignment or discipline, providing the total reimbursement for the fiscal year does not exceed $1,400.
Good faith consideration is defined in Article V of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Part-time faculty who are paid by the course receive good faith consideration for reappointment once they have taught the same course for a minimum of four semesters (summer session is not a semester) within the five most recent academic years. Regular part-time faculty receive good faith consideration in their second consecutive year of appointment.
Requests for reimbursement are made on the PTFPDF Application Form. Faculty must first apply for financial support and approval from their department and school. If departmental and school funds are unavailable or insufficient to cover the total cost of the professional development activity, eligible part time faculty may then apply for additional support from the PTFPDF. Retroactive requests will not be processed.
Funding support under the PTFPDF will take the form of reimbursement based on the submission of a request through the University’s online reimbursement system, Concur, no later than 30 days after the professional development activity.
Requests are approved at the Provost’s level based upon eligibility, availability of funds and appropriateness of the activity. The faculty member's department takes the first step in determining whether the professional development request is appropriate and the activity is directly related and valuable to the faculty member's teaching assignment. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The fund can used for events that are relevant to a faculty member's discipline and teaching responsibilities. Examples of appropriate events are attending a conference or presenting a paper in the faculty member's discipline, trainings or workshops that are relevant to a faculty member's discipline and will improve or update course offerings. The PTFPDF can cover travel and registration fees for such activities. Up to one hundred dollars of membership for a professional organization may be reimbursed as long as the membership is relevant to the faculty member's discipline or teaching responsibilities.
The fund is not intended to pay for the purchase of equipment, the creation of promotional videos, activities such as book signings or other commercial or promotional events nor events not related to the faculty member's teaching at GW.
Questions regarding the PTFPDF should be addressed to the Director of Part-Time Faculty Personnel Administration, Debra Churos, at fpo_pt
gwu [dot] edu (fpo_pt[at]gwu[dot]edu).