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Student Travel Awards

School Psychology Student Travel Awards

 

The School Psychology program will be offering travel awards to fund student travel to professional conferences.  Students may receive up to $300 in travel reimbursement for their presentation at a professional conference.  The purpose of travel awards is to increase student attendance to professional conferences and to encourage student involvement in research.

Award Amount: up to $300 of travel reimbursement

Eligibility: All TAMU school psychology students who do not have travel funding from other sources (e.g., EPSO; faculty advisor; grants etc.) are eligible to apply.  Students must be presenting at a national or regional professional conference to be considered for the travel awards (e.g., NASP, NAN, SRCD, TASP, APA etc.).

Funding Cycle:  Award decisions will be made semiannually, in February and September, contingent on funding availability. 

  • February deadline will include all conferences attended between July 1st and Dec 31st
  • September deadline includes conferences between January 1st and June 30th  

 

Application Procedures:

Before the conference:

1.  Letter of Intent:  Prior to leaving for the conference, submit a letter describing your goals for the conference and how you contributed to the presentation or poster.  Your letter should address the following questions:

  1. Why did you select this conference?
  2. What was your contribution to the research project and specifically to the development of the presentation?
  3. How do you believe that attending the conference will help your professional development:
    1. What new knowledge are you hoping to gain from attending this conference?  What sessions are you planning to attend outside of your own (or members of your research team) to enhance your professional knowledge or skill as a School Psychologist?
    2. What are your networking goals?  Are you seeking opportunities to meet and interact with professionals outside of your program/university? 
    3. In what areas are you hoping to improve your presentation/communication skills? 
    4. How will attending this conference contribute further to the research you are engaged in at TAMU?

After the Conference

  1. A copy of the conference program page which lists your presentation or a letter of approval that states that the presentation was accepted
  2. A letter from your advisor or the faculty member who is supervising your research stating that you have not received additional travel funding to present your research and explaining your level of contribution to the presentation
  3. An abstract summarizing the content of the presentation
  4. A detailed expense list of your travel expenses for reimbursement (preferably with original receipts)
  5. A brief (one page max) statement describing how you fulfilled the goals and expectations described in your letter of intent.

Deadlines for submitting funding application:

Your letter of intent is due prior to the conference.  We will date and file your letter, and match it up with your completed materials following the conference.  Completed application materials are due: February 1st and September 1st within each calendar year.

Questions and Answers:

  • Do I have to be a first author on a presentation to be eligible for this award?  No, you do not have to be a first author to be eligible for this award.  Level of authorship is not one of the criteria evaluated.  However, it will be important for students’ to highlight their contribution to the study and the presentation. 
  • If your presentation includes a number of School Psychology students can only one School Psychology student submit a funding application?  No.  Each School Psychology student who is presenting at a conference may submit a funding application for a travel reimbursement award even if they have presented the same project.  However, students are strongly encouraged to be very clear about their contribution to the presentation in their application.  
  • Can I still apply if I receive travel funding from my advisor or EPSO to present another presentation at the same conference?  The purpose of the travel awards is to facilitate attendance at conferences for students who do not otherwise have supporting funds.  Therefore, preference will be given to students who do not have other funding to attend the conference.
  • Am I required to publish my presentation? No, receipt of student travel awards is not contingent on submission of the presentation to a journal or other publication. 
  • How long should my letter of intent be? There is no format for submitting letters of intent.  However, your letter of intents should not exceed 2 single spaced typed pages.  
  • Can I receive multiple travel awards in a single year? In order to allow every student an opportunity to attend professional conferences, students will be only be eligible to receive one travel award per calendar year (i.e., once per every two funding cycles).  
  • What if I do not have original receipts for my travel expenses?  If you have no receipts whatsoever you will be ineligible for the travel award.  However, even if you don’t have your receipts for hotel or other expenses, you should at the very least have electronic receipts for air travel and conference registration (these are usually sent via email).  Make sure you keep track and hold on to your receipts! 
  • How will funding applications be evaluated?  We will review each application using an evaluation rubric.  Your letter of intent will factor heavily in this process, as well as your follow-up statement describing how you fulfilled the goals you described.  We will give preference to students who have a clear plan and set of goals for attending the conference, as well as students that were instrumental in the development and completion of the presentation or poster. 
  • If I received a travel award in previous year, can I receive it again the following year?  A goal of the student travel awards is to facilitate conference attendance for as many students as possible.  Therefore, we will give preference to students who have not previously received a travel award.  However, this will not exclude students from receiving the award; if there are no first-time recipients in the applicant pool, we will consider students that have received an award in a previous year.
  • Am I still eligible if I present a poster at a professional conference instead of a paper?  Yes.  The nature of the presentation type will not be a factor in award decisions.