Conference Travel

PharmD students can apply for funding to help pay for travel to professional meetings, conferences, and competitions. The underlying purpose of this funding is to support professional development, experience, networking, career-building, and education.

Funding Request Form

Review the policies and guidelines below and then submit a Funding Request Form (UW NetID login) by the relevant deadline (see below).

Eligibility

All matriculated students in the PharmD program are eligible to apply for this funding. Priority is given to students presenting scholarly work, contributing to committee activity, or participating in skills competitions. In some cases, class year is a deciding factor.

Limitations

Funding is limited to travel expenses defined by the UW Travel Guidelines. Funding is limited, and generally 10 – 20 students per year can expect to receive travel funding. You may be approved for a maximum amount (i.e., a “cap”) that only covers a portion of your costs. Funding may become exhausted mid-year if there is a heavy demand for conference travel support earlier in the year. Meeting one of the application deadlines below does not guarantee funding. Students interested in conference travel are highly encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Expected Outcomes

When using School funds to participate in any professional activity, student pharmacists represent the School and are held to high standards for professional accountability. Recipients are expected to participate fully in conference activity and submit a listing of the sessions, workshops, and classes they attended, along with a brief summary of their learning.

General Travel Policies

• Prior approval is required for all travel involving School of Pharmacy funding and requiring logistical support (such as the booking of flights, etc.).
• Expect to use personal funds to cover at least a portion of travel expenses before your trip and get reimbursed following your trip. The expense you will most likely have to incur yourself is lodging.
• If multiple students attending the same event wish to share lodging and other travel costs, please be aware the reimbursement will go to the traveler who actually paid the expense and submits a receipt; this individual will then have to reimburse the other travelers by either cash or money transfer. Determining who will be paying up front and who will be reimbursing the paying traveler is at the students’ discretion. See Conference travel funding – shared expenses scenarios (PDF)
• The “cap” mentioned above (see Limitations) may supersede other restrictions such as maximum hotel rates and maximum per diem rates.
• In most cases involving out of state travel, plan to arrive at the destination one day before an event begins and leave the site one day after the event ends (particularly if the event ends after 12 noon). In some cases involving local or regional travel, it may be possible to arrive on the day the event begins and leave on the day it ends.
• If you are interested in adding personal travel before or after a conference or professional meeting, you must include the dates and destinations of the additional leg(s) when submitting the Approval Meals (per diem) and other expenses will not be reimbursed during personal travel.
• Excess costs, circuitous routes, unnecessary delays, luxury accommodations, or any other unnecessary or unjustifiable expense are not acceptable and will not be reimbursed.

Meals

Meal expenses are generally reimbursed at established Per Diem rates; therefore receipts for meals are not needed for reimbursement. Students will not receive meal reimbursement (per diem) if meals were provided at an event. Per Diem eligibility begins when student leaves home for the airport and returns home from the airport.

Registration

If your approved travel support includes conference registration, the Assistant Dean for Program Operations can make this purchase on your behalf in advance of the event, eliminating the need for you to use personal funds.

Flights

You can book the flight individually or with other funding recipients. Plan to arrive the day before the first day of the event and leave the day after the last day.

Local Transportation

Taxi and Uber expenses are reimbursable for necessary travel between airport, the conference site, and receipts are required for reimbursement. Trips to other local destinations (sightseeing, nightlife, etc.) are not reimbursable. You are encouraged to use free shuttles if they are available.

Lodging

You are free to share lodging arrangements with other students in order to maximize funding. However, in this case, when checking out from the hotel, you must request a “guest folio” or final invoice showing your individual name and individual amount to be reimbursed. We will not accept a receipt showing only the name of the person who paid on behalf of other students. If you do not produce this individual receipt when you return, you or the other students who shared your accommodations may not get reimbursed.

Reimbursement Guidelines

Submit the following items to the Assistant Dean for Program Operations within 3 weeks of your return to campus after the trip.

• All travel receipts excluding meals
  • Note: to maximize efficiency of processing, send the receipts scanned as a single file attached to the funding request form email thread (which includes a form number such as “Form #79”)
• A completed Non-employee travel form for misc payment available on the UW Travel site
• A listing of the sessions, workshops, and classes you attended, along with a brief summary of your learning

The Approval Form you submitted prior to your trip will be sent along with the receipts and the travel form to our Program Coordinator, who will contact you when your reimbursement check is available for you to pick up.

Conference Travel Deadlines

Students interested in applying for conference travel funding must submit the Funding Request Form by the deadline corresponding to the conference they wish to attend. Late submissions will be considered case by case. Meeting one of the application deadlines below does not guarantee funding.