The Rhodes Student Travel Fund provides support for students to present their research or creative activity at professional conferences/meetings and also allows students to engage with a broader professional community. This fund gives students the opportunity to communicate their results to a professional audience and to experience networking with professionals in their discipline and students with similar interests.
The Office of Fellowships and Undergraduate Research aims to promote equitable distribution of funds. In doing so, we consider many factors when allocating limited funds, including how funding is distributed among departments and programs, the number of students who collaborated on a project, and previous student travel awards.
Students and faculty/staff sponsors should investigate efforts to reduce costs associated with travel. Examples include: students working the conference registration desk to reduce their registration fee, faculty advocating for lower registration fees in their professional organizations, student travel grants awarded through honor societies and professional organizations, and students sharing rooms or staying at less expensive hotels or youth hostels near the conference venue.
Who can apply?
- Students who are currently enrolled or between semesters of current enrollment and in good academic standing at the time of application for funds and at the time of the conference.
- Normally, students can receive support from the Rhodes Student Travel Fund only once per academic year (July 1 to June 30). Although a student can apply twice during their 4 years at Rhodes, priority will be given to first-time applicants. Additionally, a student can only receive a total of $1600 in a four-year period.
What type of travel is supported?
The student travel fund supports two types of travel:
Category 1: Requests that support ongoing or completed student scholarship (up to $800 may be requested):
- A student can apply for travel funds to present their research or creative activity at a professional conference. The work being presented must have been done in a Rhodes-sponsored program or under the direct supervision of a Rhodes faculty or staff member.
- A student can apply for travel funds to support an ongoing research or creative arts project, such as travel to an archive, museum, lab, archeological or historic site, or a location that is central to the student’s work. The research or creative arts project must be under the direct supervision of a Rhodes faculty or staff member.
Category 2: A student may also apply for travel funds in order to engage with the broader professional community (up to $500 may be requested). Work of this nature may include attending special research-related workshops, exhibitions, film festivals, music conferences, or professional conferences (at which the student is not presenting). In such cases, the student’s attendance must be endorsed by a faculty member.
Other Details
- The student must have endorsement of a faculty or staff member and approval by the chair or program director of the sponsoring department/program.
- Funds cover transportation (airfare or fuel reimbursement for automobile travel) to and from the conference venue, lodging for days of conference attendance (including arrival and departure days), and conference registration fees. Food is not covered with these funds, and extra days before or after the conference dates are not covered.
- The maximum amount that can be received per meeting per student is $800 for Category 1 requests and $500 for Category 2 requests, but funds cover only the cost of actual travel expenses. A budget section is provided at the end of the online application.
- Students are expected to find the lowest available airfare and purchase airline tickets at least 21 days in advance of travel. Students should also arrange to share hotel rooms with any other Rhodes students who are attending the same conference.
- When the travel has been completed, the student must submit all receipts to Mr. Stevie Drieberg, 300 Southwestern Hall (x3606), driebergs@rhodes.edu. Receipts must be submitted no later than two weeks after the conference. Students who need to pay certain charges before attending the conference should contact Mr. Stevie Drieberg to make arrangements.
- Students receiving support from the Rhodes Student Travel Fund in order to allow them to present their own original work must also submit their work for presentation at the Rhodes Symposium following their conference attendance.
How do students apply?
- After reading this document, the student should complete the Rhodes Student Travel Funds Application.
- The student must have faculty/staff sponsor and the department/program chair approval for the travel fund request before submitting the electronic application.
- It is recommended that students submit travel requests at least six weeks prior to the proposed travel. When presenting at a conference, students should document that their research has been accepted for presentation. However, travel requests may be submitted as soon as travel is anticipated, but allocation of funds is contingent on acceptance.
- Students and their faculty/staff sponsor will be notified of approval as soon as possible, in most cases within a week of submitting their application.
For questions regarding the student travel fund, please contact Dr. Brian Larkins (larkinsb@rhodes.edu).