Teaching, Learning & Assessment

Read grant proposal guidelines and criteria carefully. Funding will be prioritized as follows:

1. Presentations on use of prior assessment data to identify strategies for improving teaching and learning at the course section or higher levels, and the results of those strategies (i.e. includes prior and current assessment results).
2. Presentations on strategies for improving teaching and learning at the course section or higher levels, and assessment data on the effectiveness of those strategies (i.e. includes current assessment results).
3. Presentations on strategies for improving teaching and learning at the course section or higher levels, and assessment plans for assessing the effectiveness of those strategies (i.e. assessment plans without assessment results).
4. Presentations on strategies for improving teaching and learning (i.e. without assessment plans or results).

Presentations that do not directly address the scholarship teaching, learning, and assessment are not eligible.

If the number of strong applications for this semester’s Travel Grants exceeds the funds available, priority will be given to those faculty who did not receive a TLA travel grant during the prior academic year and junior faculty.

Application information & online form

The deadline for the Fall 2015 Travel Grants has passed. Check back in fall 2016 for information about 2016/17 travel grants.

The scholarship of teaching, learning, and assessment is a form of scholarship that makes our work public and available to the wider teaching community for faculty members' mutual continued learning about their teaching. The scholarship focuses on student learning and involves using evidence of student learning to improve the scholar's teaching and students' learning.

CSUMB faculty members are invited to apply for grants (capped at $750) to travel to conferences where they will present on teaching, learning, and assessment. Applications are due by the deadline posted above. After the deadline, we will review applications on a rolling basis while funds remain. Faculty funded to travel to conferences will be asked to publish their presentation materials on the TLA website.

Please fill out the information below and attach your proposal and confirmation of acceptance. (Application may be made in anticipation of acceptance, but funding will only be approved provisionally, pending acceptance of proposal.) Travel funds will be disbursed after the summary and travel receipts for the amount requested are submitted to TLA. All funds must be expended by May 30 of the year the travel grant was awarded.

Applications will be reviewed for their explicit contribution to the scholarship of teaching, learning, and assessment at the postsecondary level. Specifically, reviewers will look for: 1) explicit contribution to the scholarship of teaching, learning, and assessment at the postsecondary level and 2) impact on student learning and student success.

If the conference proposal for your presentation or abstract does not explain how your presentation directly addresses teaching, learning and assessment, please use the "Additional information" box in the application form to explain. Presentations that include critical evaluation of assessment data collected to determine the effectiveness of teaching strategies will receive higher priority for funding than presentations that only present on teaching strategies (see prioritization criteria above).

If approved applications for this semester’s Travel Grants exceed the funds available, priority will be given to those faculty who did not receive a TLA travel grant during the prior academic year and junior faculty.

Following presentations, all travel grant recipients should submit a travel grant blog to TLA. Guidelines are posted on the TLA website.

To ensure you receive reimbursement for your travel expenses, you must carefully follow the protocols below. Failure to do so may result in non-payment. The button below links to the official CSUMB Travel Policies and Procedures. This is followed by FAQs and guidelines that address the most common mistakes made by travel grant participants. These guidelines are mean to supplement, not replace that official policies and procedures.

Your next steps are:

Complete and sign a Request for Travel (RAT) form then get the necessary department approval before submitting it to the TLA Director for his/her signature. Remember to write a brief justification for the trip in the designated area (e.g., Presenter at the CABE Annual Conference). Contact TLA for the appropriate chart string (Unit, Acct, Fund, Dept ID). TLA's maximum award is $750.

Please be sure that your Department Chair reviews and signs your RAT. Other signatures will include the TLA Director and the Provost.TLA will route the form for you.

When booking your airline ticket, please remember to use the CONCUR Travel Store. You must manually uncheck the REFUNDABLE indicator for reduced airfare pricing to appear on the screen. If you find even better pricing elsewhere, you must print and provide hardcopy proof of the price comparisons as supporting evidence. For example, print the CONCUR pricing compared to the airline's pricing. This information must be submitted with your Travel Expense Claim (TEC) after your trip. Also know that airfare and registration fees can be charged directly to TLA. Contact TLA for the chart string and procedures.

Remember to save all of your receipts during the trip.

Regarding meals, the maximum daily amount is $55 with no more than a 20% tip.

Keep good notes, take photos and collect artifacts for your travel blog report.

We hope you had a very enjoyable and productive conference!

To be reimbursed, you must complete a Travel Expense Claim (TEC) and obtain the necessary approval signatures. Please refer to the TEC Checklist to be sure that the form is prepared accurately. The Remarks Section is to be used to explain any unexpected deviations from standard procedures.

Reminders...

ALL travel (for employees) should be pre-approved prior to traveling; RAT (Request for Approval of Travel) should be completed and approved prior to traveling. Submit original RAT to Travel Desk if requesting a Travel Advance at least 10 working days before the trip. Get approving authority and required signatures (fiscal authority for Trust Fund takes precedence over Dept ID) on TEC (Travel Expense Claim).

Submit TEC within 30 days of the end of the trip unless 'recurrent local travel'*For trips lasting more than 90 days, submit a 'quarterly report of expenditures'* to the campus Travel Desk. Submit original and itemized receipts including the payment method. Provide certification for missing receipts if cannot obtain a duplicate.

Review tip calculation. Should not be over 20% of the total cost of the meal. Exclude alcohol. Only request meal reimbursement for the actual cost of the meal. If forgo provided event meal requires a written explanation with supporting documentation. Review chart string; is the account classification correct for the activity?Review the distribution amount; is it correct?

For group meals, provide a signed list of attendees (preferred) and state who paid; only the person that paid is reimbursed.

Include registration form. Include event flyers (stating date, time and place of the event)Provide mileage odometer readings and MapQuest stating the total number of miles as verification within reason. Supply justification where applicable i.e. going over maximum allowed, reason for not going the most economical route, etc.

Show calculation and provide support to, if business trip had a personal leg and for others items of this nature.

Make sure the TEC form is completed entirely and is legible.

Submit within 30 days of return from trip any reimbursement or payment issued by the university which subsequently resulted in a refund to the individual. Return cash advance to the university for travel that was not used to cover the cost of the trip. Return cash advance to the university for trip that was cancelled.

Sign up for Employee Direct Deposit to receive your payment hassle free (BSS website https://csumb.edu/finance/procurement )*Ask Travel Desk for further explanation; some types of costs are not reimbursable; for more information see the CO Travel Policy**

All travel grant recipients should submit a conference "travel blog" entry to tla@csumb.edu that will be posted on the TLA website travel grant blog. Blog entries should be about 400 - 600 words and include the following:

1. Name(s) of travel grant recipient(s)
2. Conference name/organizer & location
3. Conference purpose and/or theme
4. Presentation title
5. Brief presentation description
6. Feedback you received on your presentation/topic
7. At least one major insight about teaching and learning you gained from the conference to share with your CSUMB colleagues (can be the same at #6 above)
8. Optional items:

• Anything else you would like to share about your experience at the conference
• An image of you or something else relevant to your presentation topic or conference
• Links to the conference website or resources/websites relevant to your presentation topic that your CSUMB colleagues might be interested in exploring
• Documents you want posted with your blog entry (e.g. full presentation abstract, PowerPoint, relevant publications, other resources, etc.)