About the Tenured Faculty Fund

Funding may support:

• Travel/Conference/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 medication 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]

The Tenured Faculty Professional Development Fund is provided by the Office of the Provost. 

The grant supports tenured associate and full professors at the University of Colorado Denver as they advance their careers. For examples of funding activities and non-funded activities, please click here. 

Grant Details

Funding Limit: $1000/year per faculty

Eligibility: Tenured faculty

Matching: Applicants must secure and document confirmation of matching funds from their school/college, department, professional organization, or another body.

Only eligible for one Tenured Faculty Professional Development Fund award per year

Faculty must complete an evaluation of outcomes after activity is completed

Fund Amount: $20,000 annually

Application Deadline: October 24, 2025 by 11:59pm

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.
• Please see examples at the end of this reference page of appropriate activities.

   

  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?

• Applicants are reviewed by a committee of tenured faculty and the CFDA Director.
• 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 for this grant, please click here. 

The view the rubric of the grant, please click here.