Undergraduate Professional Development Application

GOAL

To provide financial support to undergraduate HDFS majors for costs associated with the pursuit of professional development. (e.g., attendance at professional conferences, unpaid internships, trainings, or other opportunities.
 

RESOURCES AVAILABLE

Each academic year, the department will support undergraduate student professional development for a limited number of awards of up to $500 each. The number of awards given may vary from semester to semester, depending on available departmental funds. Students may only receive the Undergraduate Student’s Professional Grant Reimbursement once during their time at UConn. Please be aware that this will be a reimbursement and an upfront provision of funds. Receipts must be submitted to Janice Berriault (janice.berriault@uconn.edu) within three weeks after the event.

 

ELIGIBLE EXPENSE EXAMPLES

  • Registration fees for conferences or training opportunities
  • Hotel/housing expenses
  • Travel costs
  • Printing expenses

 

ELIGIBLE STUDENTS

To be eligible, students must be:

  • Enrolled full-time or “adjusted” full-time at UConn at the time of the request;
  • Still a student at UConn and an HDFS major at the time of the professional event (i.e., cannot request funding in spring, graduate in May, and then participate in the professional event in June); and
  • A currently declared HDFS major for at least two consecutive semesters at the time of the funding request (e.g., that semester and the semester before).

 

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications will be accepted and awarded on a rolling basis until funds have been depleted, or until the last day of the fiscal year (June 30), whichever comes first.
To apply, please complete the Undergraduate Professional Development Application Form.


Here are a couple of example budgets:

  1. One time a week, for twelve weeks, the student will travel from 3384 Towers Loop Road, Storrs Mansfield to 140 N. Frontage Road, Mansfield, CT, and back. Each trip is 7.4 miles. There is no cost to park. Mileage is reimbursed at $0.67 per mile (FY 2024; click here to find the current mileage reimbursement rate in CT). The requested funds amount to $59.50 (7.4 miles * $0.67 * 12 weeks).
  1. The student will travel to conference at Mohegan Sun from the Storrs campus for three consecutive days. The student will drive from 3384 Towers Loop Road, Storrs Mansfield to 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd, Uncasville. There is no cost to park at Mohegan Sun. Conference registration is $100 for a student. Mileage is reimbursed at $0.67 per mile (FY 2024; click here to find the current mileage reimbursement rate in CT). Each trip is 60.6 miles. To cover travel costs, $121.81 (60.6 miles * $0.67 * 3 days) is requested. Because I am presenting a poster at the conference, I’d also like funds to cover the poster printing cost. Using Spoonflower, I estimate that after shipping costs and tax, the cost of the poster will be $28.50. The student therefore requests a total of $250.31 ($100 + $121.81 + $28.50).