HART Funds (Annual Research and Travel)

Hamilton Annual Research and Travel (HART) Funds for Current Faculty and Emeriti Funds for Post-Employment Professional Development

 

HART Funds

The College will provide faculty members with Hamilton Annual Research and Travel (HART) funds to support their professional travel and scholarly/creative work. Funds may be used to directly support pedagogical and scholarly or creative activities that promote a faculty member’s intellectual enrichment and allow you to grow as a teacher-scholar. These funds can be used to support attendance at professional conferences or other travel related to one’s research. Unspent HART funds at the end of the fiscal year will not roll over to the subsequent year. HART funds can be used during periodic leaves and do not affect eligibility for Grants Activity Fund or Gertrude F. Bristol sabbatical support.  Faculty members who anticipate that their research and conference/travel costs will exceed the $4,000 HART allotment may seek supplemental funding through the Faculty Teacher-Scholar Award Program.

Who is eligible?

Faculty in tenured, tenure-track, professor of instruction, physical education, special appointment, and visiting positions (as defined by the Faculty Handbook) of half-time or greater, will be allocated $4,000 of HART funds in each fiscal year (July 1 through June 30). Faculty with professorships providing endowed funds for research and travel and faculty holding postdoctoral positions with dedicated allowances will be required to spend these eligible funds first before accessing their annual HART funds.  Pre-tenure faculty with startup funds are eligible for up to $4,000 HART allotment annually. Normally, lecturers are not eligible for professional development funds; however, you may reach out to your associate dean to explore options for support. Emeriti faculty are eligible for up to $2,500 reimbursement annually for a professional conference at which they are presenting their scholarship.

What expenses can I use my HART funds for?

All funds allocated to individual faculty members (HART funds, startups, professorships, postdoctoral research expenses, etc.) are to be used to support the development of your pedagogical, scholarly and/or creative work. Expenses must follow our spending policies in order to be paid or reimbursed. Please review the funding sources and spending guidelines for specific details and restrictions.

Due to the volume of end of fiscal year processes, new requests to purchase goods or services received by the DOF after May 31 will be posted to the subsequent fiscal year.  All other receipts or final documentation must be turned in to the Business Office by mid-July, or the expense will be posted to the subsequent fiscal year.

How do I use my HART funds?

Instructions for utilizing faculty professional development funds with the transition to Workday are still under development. Instructions will be posted here when available.  If you have questions, please reach out to your associate dean.  It is expected that all expenses will be in compliance with the DOF spending guidelines.

Please note when reporting your use of funds, you will be asked about professional development associated with this activity. Responses will be used for donor relations reporting through Advancement.

Please refer to the spending guidelines for steps and policies related to travel as well as purchasing small or large dollar items.   

What if I anticipate that my professional development needs in a given year will exceed the $4,000 allowance?

Faculty members who anticipate that their research and conference/travel costs will exceed the $4,000 HART allotment can submit a Supplemental Funding Request (check the appropriate box on the Research request form). In addition, each year, the Dean of Faculty invites proposals for competitive awards that may supplement HART funds.  Please visit the Development Awards page for more information and specifically see:

Faculty Teacher-Scholar Awards

The Dean of Faculty invites faculty to submit proposals for Faculty Teacher-Scholar Awards supporting course and pedagogical development; research and creative work; and international and domestic research travel. Proposals are reviewed biannually on December 1 and March 31.

Faculty pedagogical awards for supplemental teaching enhancement 

Pedagogical awards are advertised each spring for summer and/or academic year support. The deadline for applications is March 31. More information can be found at this link. Awards include:

• FYC Course Development Award
• The Class of 1966 Career Development Award
• The Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship
• Dean's Pedagogical Development Award

Emeriti Professional Development Funds

The Dean of Faculty provides emeriti faculty with an annual professional development allocation of up to $2,500 to support the continuation of their scholarly and creative work in their post-Hamilton employment. These funds recognize that emeriti remain active contributors to their disciplines and reflect the College's ongoing investment in their intellectual lives.

Allowable Expenditures

Emeriti professional development funds may be used for the following purposes:

Conference travel, when the emeritus faculty member is presenting their own work. Allowable travel expenses follow the same guidelines as those described in the Spending Guidelines Section A (lodging, transportation, meals, mileage, and registration fees at economy/standard rates). Travel to attend conferences without a presenting role is not covered under this funding allocation.

Publication-related expenses, consistent with the guidelines in the Spending Guidelines Section I (Publication Costs). Eligible expenses include indexing, press subventions and page charges, image reproduction costs, print permissions, post peer-review copy editing, and open access fees on a limited basis. As with active faculty, these funds support the technical aspects of bringing an accepted manuscript to publication, not content or developmental editing prior to peer-review.

Important Limitations

Because emeriti faculty are no longer employees of the College, these funds are subject to administrative constraints that differ from active faculty:

Emeriti funds may not be used to purchase computers, tablets, or other technology. Devices such as laptops and iPads purchased with College funds are College-owned assets, and the College's technology purchasing program exists to support current employees. Emeriti are not eligible to participate in this program.

Emeriti funds may not be used to hire or supervise student workers. Arranging, approving, or managing student employment requires active employee status in the College's HR and payroll systems, which emeriti do not hold.

Emeriti funds may not be used to enter into service agreements or contracts that require the emeritus faculty member to act in a supervisory or quasi-employment capacity on behalf of the College. For example, arrangements in which the emeritus faculty member would be responsible for approving time worked by others or would be listed as a responsible party in College employment systems.

Independent contractor arrangements funded through this allocation follow the same process described in Section D, with the Dean of Faculty Office serving as the responsible signatory.

Reimbursement requests should be submitted with documentation consistent with the College's standard receipts and reimbursement guidelines. Questions about whether a specific expense is allowable under this allocation should be directed to your associate dean before the expense is incurred.