About the IRC Fund

Funding may support:

• Travel/Conference/Professional Training Courses
• Instructional Improvement Activities
• Institutional Improvement Activities
• Student Improvement Activities

Examples of Activities that can be funded by Professional Development Grants

Instructional Improvement Activities include:

• Attend professional conferences/workshops
• Take a short-term class
• Develop new instructional skills
• Improve course delivery
• Make significant modification of a course to address the learning needs of diverse populations
• Explore alternative instruction methods
• Visit sites related to your program and/or areas of responsibility
• Participate in wellness activities that assist you with your physical and/or mental ability to better perform your job (e.g. stress reduction, self-defense, nutrition, exercise programs, weight reduction).
• Instruction on how to incorporate more technology into your lessons.

   

  Institutional Improvement Activities include:

   

• Attend workshops on how to mentor students, staff or faculty
• Attend workshops or activities that are designed to improve or enhance your skills or knowledge in your discipline
• Participate in disaster preparedness courses (first aid, district procedure, review of facilities needs, etc.)

   

  Student Improvement Activities Include:

   

• Attend training in classroom research techniques
• Participate in student orientation programming or classes
• Participate in institutional research focused on meeting the needs of students

Please note that this list is not all-inclusive.  If you have any questions regarding if your funding will be supported, please email us at [email protected]

Maximum Award: $1,000 per academic year

Total Annual Fund: $20,000

Application Rounds: 

Round 1 Deadline: October 24th, 2025 at 11:59pm

Round 2 Deadline: To be determined

Criteria: Does your proposal meet each of these criteria?

Travel/Conference/Courses

• Proposed travel and conference/course/webinar should be directly linked to your position or your field of study in the areas of teaching or work on campus.
• Faculty are limited to $1000 per academic year in travel/conference funding.
• Funding cannot be given for an event that is also being submitted for salary advancement.
• If the proposal is for a course, the course must have direct applicability to your teaching/field of study/position.
• Only one course outside of colleges/universities (i.e. tuition-based courses) should be proposed as this funding does not cover college tuition. Course may be from educational organizations.

   

  Funding Rubric

   

• How well does the request support CU Denver’s mission and in particular, the goals of the Strategic Plan?
• How well does the proposal support the goals related to our student populations?
• How strong is the plan to share the information you learned with your colleagues, programs, department, campus, students, etc.?
• How broad is the plan to share the information learned with the campus? Does it reach students, faculty, the entire campus, system, etc.?
• How does your request contribute to research methods and creative processes (if applicable)?

• Applicants are reviewed by a committee of IRC faculty, and the UCDALI president. A second review will be conducted by a CFDA staff person. 
• 2025-2026 academic year review committee will be determined soon

Instructions for Completing the Travel and Professional Development Fund Request

Please complete and submit your application at least one month before travel. If the event has already passed, your application is approved, and you are looking for travel reimbursement, we will need a signed document from your Chair stating the approval of the reimbursement after the fact.

Once the proposal is approved, you will need to submit the documentation via email to the CFDA at [email protected].

At this time, the CFDA is not supporting international travel requests.

Application Instructions

1. Funding Source
   1. If you are requesting funding, please indicate where the matching funds will be coming from. Please provide departmental approval match, or your application will be considered incomplete.
2. Selecting Appropriate Request
   1. In the application, provide a title for your activity and select the type of activity.
   2. For example, choose “Travel/Conference” if you are attending a conference that includes/does not include travel; select “Event/Training” if you are attending a non-conference event, or proposing an event such as a campus-wide professional development activity; “Project” if you are requesting compensation for a departmental/campus wide project; “Other” for any other request. You will need to submit a short, supplemental statement that explains why you chose “Other”.
3. For Travel/Conference Expenses Only
   1. Please submit the following information in your proposed budget:
      1. Flight costs
      2. Hotel costs
      3. Round trip mileage if applicable. You must submit a mileage map showing the distance from the airport to your destination.
      4. Any meals that are not provided at the conference. If you are unsure, please email us at [email protected] for more clarity.
      5. Department match confirmation
4. Approval signatures
   1. Please obtain the departmental approval signature forms before submitting your application. Your application will be considered incomplete without the submission of these forms and may or may not be considered in the review process.
5. Written Sections
   1. Section 1: Overview
      1. Describe the nature of your proposal and provide all the information needed for the committee to understand your activity.
   2. Section 2: Goals
      1. Please refer to our strategic goals to complete this section, linking your proposal to how it meets CU Denver’s strategic goals.
   3. Section 3: Outcomes and Deliverables
      1. Please indicate in this section of what the general results of engaging in your proposed activity will be.  This might include dissemination of information, increased motivation, developing new skillset, engaging in topics of interest etc. Please indicate the deliverables by stating how your proposal will produce results.  This can include new materials, updates to curriculum, evaluations, or other data.

To view the official communication regarding this grant, please click here. 

To view the grant rubric, please click here.