Travel Stipend for Faculty Dependent Care - UofU Health

The University of Utah Health strongly supports faculty who are working to balance family wellness with scholarly and professional obligations. With initial funding from the Castleton Family and donations from U of U Health leaders, funds are available to individual faculty members to offset the costs associated with dependent care (e.g., child, ill/disabled partner, or elder care) expenses while traveling to attend professional meetings, conferences, workshops, study sections, and other professional development offerings away from home. This pilot funding mechanism is aimed at improving the career success of diverse faculty. This stipend will support up to$1,500 per faculty member, per fiscal year, for approved expenses.

Eligibility

• Applications are limited to health sciences faculty (Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, and Colleges of Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, and the Eccles Health Sciences Library). Faculty on the tenure, research, or clinical tracks may apply.

Expenses covered by the travel scholarship may include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Reasonable daily wages, transportation, lodging, and estimated meal costs and incidentals for the caregiver, either at home or during travel to, or onsite at the conference meeting location.
• The cost of transporting the dependent to a conference/meeting location, and reasonable costs associated with travel for the dependent. Entertainment expenses are not reimbursable.

Recipients must verify that funds requested for dependent care are due to travel for university business and are above and beyond normal dependent care expenses (e.g. normal daycare or caregiver expenses).

Given the personal nature of this support, payments will be made as taxable additional compensation to the faculty member. Contacting your tax professional to discuss the impact of this compensation on your taxes is advised.

Scholarship Application Cycles:

Application Deadline                       Application Review                    Notification of Funding
January 2, 2020                                    January 20, 2020                           February 1, 2020
May 1, 2020                                          May 20, 2020                                 June 1, 2020

Applications should be completed by the requesting faculty member and submitted to the SVPHS Education Office. A review committee comprised of representative members from University of Utah Health Sciences will meet in January and May to review and respond to submitted applications. Following review, applicants will be notified of a decision within one month.

Reimbursement of expenses for travel that has occurred more than 4 months prior to the application deadline will not be considered. Faculty members should plan to apply for funding in advance of their chosen activities. 

Prioritization of applications will be based on: 

• Quality and significance of the scholarly activity to be supported by the award 
• Potential impact of the proposed activities for career development 

Questions about eligibility for the program, or other queries, can be directed to Kim Clark, 801-213-3757. 

Completed applications must be submitted no later than  

Thursday, January 2, 2020. 

American Medical Association: “Implementation of Federal Dependent Care Policies for Physician-Scientists at Leading U.S. Medical Schools” Research Letter