Educational Development Initiative Team

For completing the Budget (item #17 of the application):

• Download the budget worksheet (https://bit.ly/EDITBudgetForm)  This can be saved and submitted as either an excel document or a PDF.
• Provide a complete budget that specifies all items for which the EDIT grant funds will be used.
• In preparing your budget, review the type of expenses funded by EDIT as well as those that are not.
• Academic Affairs will cover 100% of the registration fee and 40% of travel expenses for full-time faculty presenting at a domestic conference (only one conference for Fiscal Year ’25), so don’t include your conference registration fee in the budget, but do list 60% of each travel-related expense and indicate whether you are providing the ACTUAL or ESTIMATED cost of the item. (If approved by the Provost, applicants who present at an international conference will receive approximately 40% of their conference fee and travel expenses from Academic Affairs in one lump sum).
• For services not yet rendered or for travel which takes place after the application deadline, you must include the pending item(s) for airfare, train or bus tickets, hotel accommodations, etc. in your budget with estimates based on verifiable prices from a travel website such as Expedia or Travelocity, or from the airline’s or company’s website. For smaller-scale items such as taxi rides, you may approximate the cost. Try to use public transportation, but if that is not possible, make sure taxi fares are not excessive.

Use Per Diem Rates for Meals and Hotels:

• Meal and hotel expenses incurred at conference presentations or during travel for research, scholarship, or creative projects are reimbursed at per diem rates.
• Domestic travel per diem rates.
• International travel per diem rates.

Please note that EDIT only considers the expenses of the applicant. If you are sharing expenses (hotel room, etc.), or traveling with others, please adjust your budget accordingly and make specific references to this in the notes section of your Budget sheet (https://bit.ly/EDITBudgetForm).

Documentation

All applications must be accompanied by two types of documentation: evidence of activities undertaken for your project, and receipts for expenses (or verifiable estimates of these expenses if unavailable before the application deadline). You may list estimates of airfare, hotel, and other expenses taken from official websites if your project takes place after the application deadline. If your project involves travel, use per diem rates for that location. Your affiliation on conference programs and/or other project documents must indicate that you are representing LaGuardia Community College (not simply CUNY or another institution). Highlight your name and the title of your presentation/project on all supporting documents.

Examples of this evidence of your project activities include, but are not limited to:

• Conferences & Invited Lectures (Domestic & International)
  • Evidence of Activities—Conference acceptance letter, conference program (copy of the page with your panel’s listing and LaGuardia affiliation; a formal invitation for invited lectures).
  • Receipts for Expenses—Hotel, travel (air, train, bus, taxi, car).
• Research or Scholarship, or Creative Endeavor
  • Evidence of Activities—an invitation or letters requesting and confirming access to the archive or library at which you are conducting the research, or to rare materials housed at the archive or library, in which the nature of your project is indicated; an invitation from the artistic or cultural institution.
  • Receipts for Expenses— Entrance fees for museums, institutions, or research sites, or for photocopying materials at archives or special collections; hotel, and travel (air, train, bus, taxi, car); art materials or processes not available at the college.
• Attending Workshops, Seminars, and Conferences
  • Evidence of Activities—confirmation of registration, program of activities, and, if applicable, an invitation to attend.
  • Receipts for Expenses—Registration fees, hotel, travel (air, train, bus, taxi, car).
• Do not provide original documentation. EDIT only accepts copies. Highlight and label expenses that are included in your budget on receipts and credit card statements. Convert prices given in foreign currencies on your receipts to dollars. On the credit card statements, black out your credit card numbers and irrelevant expenses.
• Beware that if you are awarded a grant you will need to upload the same (and most likely additional) documentation to your CUNYfirst Travel Expense Report. If you travel by plane, train, or bus, retain your ticket or boarding pass for submission to CUNYfirst as proof of travel.

Checklist:

• Did you include evidence of your EDIT project activities such as your conference acceptance letter, the conference program (a copy of the page with your panel’s listing, formal invitation for invited lectures), exhibition pamphlet or webpage, etc. with your name and the title of presentation/project highlighted, and your LaGuardia affiliation listed?
• Did you include receipts for expenses and/or estimates of airfare, hotel, non-local train or bus costs from a travel website such as Expedia or Travelocity, or from the airline’s or company’s website (only if your project has not yet taken place)?  Did you indicate the per diem rates for your hotel room and meals (available at https://www.gsa.gov/travel-resources for domestic and https://aoprals.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=184&menu_id=81) for international?
• If you are sharing expenses (hotel room, etc.), or traveling with others, did you adjust your budget accordingly and make specific references to this in the notes section of the application (see budget worksheet)?
• If you are applying for funding for a research project, did you include evidence of activities such as letters requesting access to the archive or library at which you are conducting the research, or to rare materials housed at the archive or library, in which the nature of your project is indicated?
• Did you indicate that you have requested funds for your project from Academic Affairs (#12 of the application) and did you remember to indicate 60% of each of your travel expenses in your budget worksheet?

Sample Applications

• Edit Sample Application # 1
• Edit Sample Application # 2
• Edit Sample Application # 3
• Edit Sample Application # 4
• Edit Sample Application # 5

If, after reading through the instructions and reviewing the sample applications, you have any questions, please feel free to contact the EDIT co-chairs.

• EDIT committee members will review all proposals that are submitted by the deadline with all the supporting documents.
• Applicants can expect to receive notification concerning their application after November 29, 2024.
• Award amounts are dependent on the funding we receive from Academic Affairs and on the number of applications we receive.
• Awards are for projects undertaken between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. All monies must be disbursed by June 30, 2025.
• If you receive an EDIT award, you must submit the exact amount stated in the award letter on CUNYfirst.

Our goal is to fund as many faculty members as possible.  We award amounts based on the number of applicants and our available budget. The maximum award is $500 for domestic conferences and $1,000 for international conferences. The maximum for publication expenses is $1,000.

Applications must clearly demonstrate how your professional development project supports faculty tenure and promotion, and/or the College’s strategic plan.  For your “Abstract” (item #15 on the application form), include a brief narrative description that identifies specific ways in which your project supports tenure, promotion and/or the strategic plan.

If your project involves human subjects, check with IRB to learn if you are required to obtain a statement of clearance/permission from the IRB. If so, this statement should be included in your application.  Visit https://www.laguardia.edu/research/ for more information.

Predatory journals, conferences, or organizations are ineligible for funding.

Priority will be given to projects in the following order:

1. Applicants who have never been awarded an EDIT grant. 
2. Applicants who have not been awarded an EDIT grant within the last two years. 
3. Applicants who are presenting at or organizing a conference, or who are seeking reimbursement of publication fees or expenses incurred for research or creative projects. 
4. For applicants who submit multiple proposals, the committee will prioritize the proposal with the largest budget amount, and then consider the remaining proposals depending on the amount of money we have in our budget.   
5. Applicants attending, as opposed to presenting at or organizing, a conference, workshop, or seminar.

Travel Forms

Awardees need to complete CUNYfirst travel procedures to receive funding:

• You must first submit a Travel Authorization through CUNYfirst (ideally 30 days before travel).
• Then, no later than 5 days after returning from your trip, you must submit a Travel Expense Report on CUNYfirst for reimbursement of the amount you are awarded.

Contact your department’s Travel Liaison for assistance with submitting the Travel expense report for your EDIT award in CUNYfirst.  Your liaison is a wonderful resource.

Department Travel Liaisons

Petition to Travel

CUNYs Petition to Travel is required for international travel if the Travel Advisory is at a level 3 or higher or if the CDC COVID-19 Travel Health Notice is at a level 4 (https://www1.cuny.edu/sites/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/media-assets/Petition-to-Travel-Form.pdf). (Domestic travel no longer requires this form). Send your travel petition form to Keisha King (keking@lagcc.cuny.edu).