Good afternoon:

I hope you’ve all been enjoying your summer so far.

You’ve been keeping me busy with your travel award applications!  It’s wonderful to see so many of our graduate students once again attending conferences and getting a chance to present your research and network with colleagues and peers.

I want to remind you that when you submit your applications, please make sure you include the total costs of the conference.  You need to submit receipts up to $1500 for reimbursement, but the total cost is really important.  Later this summer, I’ll be reviewing the funding levels for next year’s travel award.  If I’m going to propose increasing the award value, then I need data to support that recommendation.  As an example, up until 2015, our LFS GSTA funding levels were 1 award per program, $400 MSc and $600 PhD.  When the award value increased to $1500 in 2015W, up until last year, the average award was approximately $1250.  For 2022W, the average costs to students to attend a conference were approximately $2,028.00. I’d say that’s a substantial increase.   I’ll likely be sending out a Qualtrics survey within the next couple of weeks to get your feedback on funding levels for the LFS Graduate Student Travel Award.  Again, your feedback will be very helpful.

As always, please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Shelley

Shelley Small
Administrative Manager, Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies