2026-2027 Academic Year

Faculty Professional Development Funds may support conference expenses, workshop attendance, residencies, professional travel that might not be funded by other means, or other activities that advance the faculty member’s professional development and growth. Contract faculty (half-time and above) in all five colleges are eligible to receive funding.

2026-2027 Faculty Professional Development Funds

The Provost's Office will distribute $2,000 per contract faculty to each college to be used on professional development with regards to scholarship (research, conference presentations, article submissions, membership fees, etc.), teaching (attending conferences or workshops), and/or professional service. Faculty must receive approval from their Department Chair and Dean prior to travel.

Professional memberships, continuing education credits, attendance/participation at professional meetings (and associated travel costs), professional licensure (as it applies to the position at MSUB) and any other justifiable faculty development expense ARE all acceptable for application.

Professional Development funds will NOT be used for the purchase of technology, teaching/lab equipment, or teaching supplies. Other avenues of funding exist for these types of purchases.

Faculty who have not submitted a Professional Development Request Form by March 1st will waive their professional development funds for the current year. As each fiscal year closes, the college deans will determine how unused PD funds will be used.

Faculty Procedure:

  • Submit the Professional Development Request Form via Docusign:
    • Provide details of the Professional Development activity.
      • For conferences, include the name of the conference, location, role, and dates of travel.
    • Provide an itemized budget and describe the expenses as clearly as possible.
  • Submit a Chrome River Pre-Approval prior to the conference, if travelling.
  • Submit a Chrome River Expense Report following the conference.
  • Follow the travel and purchasing processes and procedures as outlined by Business Services.

Staff Procedure:

  • Assist faculty with their Chrome River Pre-Approval and Expense Reports.
    • The index will be provided by the College Dean.
  • Track each faculty member’s spending.
  • Contact faculty members who have not submitted a funding request by the first day of the spring semester to remind them of the March 1st deadline.

Professional Development funds expire on June 30th and are expected to follow the spending guidelines provided by Financial Services and Business Services.

Please send questions to provost@msubillings.edu.