FAMU Faculty Senate Offers Monetary Assistance in Advancing the Institution

In the midst of a struggling economy, the Florida A&M University Faculty Senate has pulled together to establish a source of monetary aid for FAMU faculty members for professional development.

The FAMU Faculty Senate Travel Grant (FFSTG) provides monetary assistance to support faculty members who help advance FAMU into the forefront of universities in the world.

“In this time of budgetary cuts, faculty members are still expected to bring excellence to the classroom and carry out the other duties pertaining to scholarship,” said Maurice Holder, faculty senate president and member of the FAMU Board of Trustees. “These travel awards are a small way to help deserving faculty attend meetings and present their scholarly work while bringing added recognition to FAMU.”

According to Roscoe Hightower, Ph.D., chair of the Faculty Senate Travel Grant Committee, funding for the grants came from a combination of the FAMU Faculty Senate, the Division of Academic Affairs and the Office of the President’s budgets. Hightower is also a professor of marketing for the FAMU School of Business and Industry.

“This was first time we implemented such an effort, but we hope and expect for it to become bigger as we move forward,” Hightower said. “It is tough in these financial times and this monetary amount is small, but it’s a great start.”

FFSTG provides support for faculty wishing to attend professional meetings, conferences or workshops that address research, teaching or institutional issues, and individual growth or professional development. The grants can only pay for travel, per diem, and fees for attending events in the faculty members’ discipline.

They may only be used to cover travel to a professional meeting where the faculty member will be presenting a paper or poster representing research conducted at FAMU. A maximum of $1,000 will be awarded per FAMU school, college or institute per semester.

To be eligible for the FFSTG the applicant must be tenured or tenure-track member of the FAMU faculty or a librarian and have not received a FF0STG in the previous 24 months.

For more information on the FFSTG or to obtain an application, call the Office of the Faculty Senate at (850) 599-3023 or visit www.FAMU.edu/FacultySenate.