Professional and Career Development Travel Grant

The Professional and Career Development Travel Grant supports WSU Graduate and Professional students on registration and transportation expenses for professional development activities including but not limited to conferences (NOT PRESENTED), workshops (NOT PRESENTED), certifications, professional training, exhibitions, performances, competitions, and foreign language instruction.

The primary purpose of such activities is professional and career development, such as events where you are an invited speaker (when costs of the trip are not already covered by the inviter), conferences you attend as an officer of a professional organization, or certificates you earn as a proof of competency in a specific skill, technique, method, or software.

These activities must relate directly to the graduate and professional students' professional/career development, NOT an academic requirement of the degree. Students must explain the benefit of travel/ attendance for their professional and career development at the application.

Applying

Complete the Professional and Career Development Travel Grant form by logging in below.  Please select "Create New Account" if this is your first time using our new form.

Note: As of April 2, 2023, GPSA travel grants are no longer accepted through Coug Presence.

Apply for Travel Grant

Required Documentation 

Fill out all seven sections of the form and attach the following documents.  Please read all instructions carefully. 

• Proof of attendance or completion of degree
• Travel and Registration Receipts
• Department Certification Form
• Spend Authorization Form*

Virtual conferences and events do not require a Spend Authorization Form.  Please email the travel coordinator of your department and let them know you applied for a travel grant.  The form will request a screenshot of your email as proof of contact with a travel coordinator.  Please blind your name and email in the screenshot.  

*Spend Authorization must be approved before the travel date

Spend Authorizations are prior approval for travel, which is required for all official university travel outside of Washington state.  This allows the traveler to be eligible to travel on behalf of WSU and to receive reimbursement for allowable expenses. 

Your application will be evaluated in 2-weeks after the application period closes using the information and documents provided.

Documents to Submit After Approval

Generally, you must submit your:

• Travel Grant Application
• Original payment receipts,
• Signed Expense Report
• Approval letter (I.e., Approval Email GPSA Sent You) with identifying information to your department’s travel coordinator.

Please be in touch with your department travel coordinators. The process of creating expense reports might be varied across departments. Due to the university’s interpretation of the U.S. tax code, all reimbursements for in-person travel must be made within 60 days of the end of travel. Awardees should sign the Expense report to start the reimbursement process officially.

Additional Information

• Blind your name and email address in the uploaded document.
• The review process of each application is a scoring criterion based on the overall application quality, the content of answers to the questions, and the submission of all the required materials and forms.
• Award amounts per application will NOT exceed $500 for professional development activities.