The purpose of the professional development grant is to provide GVSU faculty and staff with the opportunity to develop skills that facilitate the institutionalization of diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility on campus. This includes:

• Attending a conference for the purpose of learning new skills or sharing expertise with others (e.g., presenting)
• Completing online or in-person course work
• Developing training expertise or honing existing skills in support of equity, inclusion and diversity.

Conferences must be a recognized conference or professional meeting. Attending a professional meeting alone does not qualify unless the conference provides specific opportunities that advance the employee's skills around diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility.

All approved funds will be transferred to the employee's home division, college, or unit, which will manage expenditures within GVSU policy.

GVSU full-time, regular faculty and staff, who are have passed their probationary period, are eligible to apply for funding once every three years.

Please complete the application here as fully as possible to be considered. The following will be required for application completion.

• Applicant information: First Name; Last Name; Email; Phone; Primary Affiliation; Position/Title; Department
• Professional Development Opportunity details: Type of Opportunity; Name of Opportunity; Brief Description; Website; Start Date of Opportunity; Registration Deadline (early if possible); Semester (when funding will be used)
• Personal and/or Professional Growth & Budget:
  • A short narrative (no longer than one page) which describes the professional development opportunity. Requests may be submitted for travel, training and participation at professional meetings, training conferences, and other activities of direct benefit to the individual’s professional development around issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility.
  • Include how the experience with further your personal or professional growth related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility.
  • Include how you will use the experience to further the university, college, and/or department goals and commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility.
  • A budget which includes all the expenses related to the opportunity, and how much funding you are seeking. Generally, expenses include conference registration, travel and lodging. Expenses should conform with all GVSU travel and expense policies. Questions regarding allowable expenses should be addressed with your division or college business manager.
  • Include any funding that will be provided by your personal professional development funds (if applicable), your department, and/or your college/division.
  • These items can be typed into the application or uploaded as a file.
• Endorsements/Support: Name and Contact Information of Supervisor (will be obtained if not provided) and Dean or Vice President (optional)

Following the submission of your application on the form linked above, you will receive a confirmation email and be redirected to "Thank you" page. If you do not receive the confirmation email or are not redirected to the "Thank you" page, please attempt to re-submit or email materials to [email protected]. 

• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the early registration deadline or 30 days prior to the opportunity if there is no early registration deadline. The Division of Inclusion & Equity will provide a decision on funding within 30 days.
• Budgets that include secured partial funding from personal, division, college, or department professional development allocations are encouraged and may be considered in the evaluation of the application.
• Awards from the Division of Inclusion & Equity will generally be capped at a maximum $2,500 per application (in addition to any individual or departmental support). Once fiscal year funding is exhausted, this website will be updated to close applications until the following fiscal year.
• Faculty and staff professional development grants are to be used within the current fiscal year, unless an extension is requested and granted by the Division of Inclusion & Equity. After that deadline, unused funds will revert to the Division of Inclusion & Equity. 
• Where appropriate, awardees should provide to Division of Inclusion & Equity copies of any publications or training materials obtained at the conference or professional development opportunity.
• Award recipients should report on the impact of their attendance in a 1-2 page statement within 60 days of the professional development opportunity.
• Applications, impact statements, and materials may be posted on this website for sharing with the broader university community.