I'm not sure how strictly we adhere to the Thirsty Rules, so I'm calling this "not-a-thirsty" instead... I've come up against needing funds to help students to go to a conference (at my Does your campus have funding for such, and if so, where does it come from? Any ideas for raising funds that would bring in more than bake sales in the next three months? I've considered all of the online ones that people post on FaceBook and flat-out asking my friends to help, but that would alienate them pretty quickly, plus most of my friends are academics who have no money!
My grad institution funded grad students and faculty. (Not adjuncts, though, and I'm not sure about FTTs.) The college of graduate studies would fund up to $500, and there were activities funds and such that students could apply for, as well.
ReplyDeleteDoes this conference have grants for funding? Sometimes they do.
I don't know much about the online fundraising thing, but maybe something like Go Fund Me could work? That would open it up to people outside your friends.
Wait, grad students but not adjuncts? SMH.
DeleteEverywhere I've been has at least a little funding for grad students going to "accepted" conferences or seminars, but usually only with prior requests or approvals. I know that's not very useful in many cases, and I had a couple of students in the past who have passed on great opportunities because we couldn't pry $500 from the money folks.
ReplyDeleteI even taught someplace that had a flexible budget for undergrads, but that place was incredibly flush.
Oh, I have no stake in the game anymore, obviously, but one of the last times I was asked for the Thirsty Rules, I posted this. Nobody, especially not brave mascot-fan Terry need to follow them. They're just a vestigal part of the 9 year history of this site.
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Monday: Wait until tomorrow.
Tuesday: Early Thirsty.
Wednesday: Early Thirsty.
Thursday: Big Thirsty. (But if someone has already posted one, DON'T CALL YOURS A BIG THIRSTY. And don't make up a name like "mini Thirsty." That will put a revolver in my hand.)
Friday: Friday Thirsty.
Saturday: Weekend Thirsty, but seriously, why are you asking questions on Saturday.
Sunday: Why ask a question on the weekend, BUT if you have an aching spiritual query, then this is your big chance to go Sunday Thirsty.
No other made up thirstys like "undergrad thirsty" or "smelly colleague thirsty."
It's clearly something we need to work on getting set up. This is strictly undergrad, and admin is all FOR students going, but not when it comes to supporting them with funding.
DeleteSo calling it a Not-Thirsty on Monday doesn't work, huh? ;o)
Call it a Hungry and really piss people off!
DeleteI like the locution because it connects us with the previous site. Not even Cal would be pissed off about it. I know he takes great pride in the fact that this page still exists, many years after the original site closed. But I've always assumed, and I'm quite sure of this, that he's mostly happy we continue on in any way, with or without the Thirstys.
DeleteOh, everyone knows how petty and controlling I am. Being a Canadian, it's all I have besides back bacon, hockey, and socialism. Nobody needs to use the Thirsty thing. Please. In fact I forbid it! And any other tropes that come from RYS!!!
DeleteNow we're cooking. A good old fashioned throwdown. I never liked the thirsty thing, mostly because didn't come up with it.
DeleteHey, Reg, stop taunting Cal. As a Canadian, he can't help it, you know.
DeleteAt my institution we get funds from the department, dean or grad student association, and (no offense) I hope our grad student association isn't giving out funds to undergrads, however deserving. Sounds like you exhausted most of those options. Are there mysterious "centers" at your uni who might have slushy budgets? If not the conference itself, would other disciplinary societies contribute for "advancing the field?".
ReplyDeleteIs there a way you can spin it to ask a local community service group (for example women's studies = PEO or local women's club, history = VFW, religious studies = houses of worship, etc?)
Do groups like AAUP or AAUW have any funds for this?
Also, I think you should make the students do it.
Another idea that may be a bit of a stretch--if your institution or disciplinary society gives pedagogy or research grants, could you be researching the pedagogy of what happens when you take students to conferences (make it sound prettier and fancier?) I've also heard of "mentoring grants," which might be something to ask about.
DeleteI didn't think of reaching out to the community. The local Kiwanis club or local businesses might be willing to sponsor us if we wear a t-shirt with their names printed on it or something. I'll look into that.
DeleteCC: see if your Foundation has returned overhead on grants. One of the best parts of this is that they need not necessarily be your grants.
DeleteFoundation?
DeleteWe have no Foundation. One person on campus has a grant that she got on her own. We don't have an office that helps with that.
DeleteWe have a small fund for undergrad travel and expenses that can be accessed after the fact, but all of the responsibility falls to a faculy mentor who has to also then support the conference or whatever with a report to an admin committee. It's encouraged, but never used.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of conference travel funds for undergrads, beyond a token amount ($50-100) with a special program with a large exposure component (Our Undergrads Are So Good That They Present Papers At Academic Conferences!), or where an undergrad is doing a 4th yr thesis project and their thesis supervisor pays for them to go. Someone, somewhere, higher up, with actual purse strings in their hands, will have to be convinced to loosen them as getting these students to go with some university funding would be A Good Thing for The University, with some proper PR to accompany the exercise.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I need to start cultivating relationships with "someone, somewhere, higher up, with actual purse strings in their hands..."
DeleteWe have Faculty Sponsored Student Research Awards of up to $1k available annually even here at Fresno State, and my students do use them to present real posters at American Astronomical Society meetings (and nothing to do with sheep). I know for a fact that Dartmouth and Yale also have similar pots of money. Your administration is a bunch of cheap-ass bastards with no idea of what's necessary to launch an academic career, but you knew that.
ReplyDeleteOne of my students is so good, I want her to hit up the physics department or the honors college she belongs to so she can show her poster at a second meeting. A bunch of our undergraduate women will be using funding from SPS (the Society of Physics Students) to go to the Women in Physics meeting of the American Physical Society in San Luis Obispo, only 3 hours drive away. (That's considered local here in California.) Past students have used funding from the American Physical Society to attend their meetings, when they're in California. I've suggested to the grad students to hit up the graduate school, but alas, all they ever seem to be capable of is saying "No." (You wouldn't be the first to wonder how our graduate school justifies their existence, but I digress.) All these pots of money want the students to present posters or give talks: no one is too cool to be above this.
DeleteCongrats on your one students who is outshining everyone.
DeleteEveryone agrees that it's a good thing for our students (we're an undergrad institute) to be doing these presentation at national and international conferences, and yet, when it comes to funding, we're at a loss BECAUSE we aren't set up like places that support that regularly. If it were within driving distance, I'd just bundle them all into a van, but we're talking going from one coast to another for this. Maybe in the future I need to only encourage them to submit when the conference is within driving distance (every 5-7 years?).
I know this all too well. For the exploration of space, Kennedy both talked the talk and walked the walk: he increased NASA's budget by over 50% each year he was in office. Nixon and the Bushes all talked the talk only, as does Obama.
DeleteMore to the point: Perhaps your alumni director might start a campaign to tell your alumni? It's never easy to get alumni to donate, but when they do, they feel good about giving small amounts of money that directly help students. This is especially so if the alumni, the Dean, the alumni director, and your students (and not necessarily you) will pose for pictures. This may not help you this time around, but who knows next year?
I'm on it! :) Alumni Director has already pledged $500 just from his budget and is continuing to seek funds. Thanks for the suggestion.
DeleteNice! That's better than my thought, which was to do the gofundme (or similar), then get in touch with a local reporter or two, in hopes that that would embarrass someone into shaking loose some money from somewhere.
DeleteI think you mentioned your college is a self-identified Christian one; does it have a denominational affiliation? If so, the national denomination might be another place to go looking for possible pots of money.
There's at least some money for such things at my institution, but we're a regional university (somewhat similar in our place in the state university hierarchy to Frod's home institution, I think), *and* an increased focus on undergraduate research is part of our most recent reaccreditation plan (which means some or all of it may go away in another 5 years or so, when the accrediting agency will probably ask for something else).
Our Dean of Student Services seems to have money for students to attend these things -- she funded the snacks and beverages for the student members of our book club; I funded the same for faculty/staff and community members.Cross the silo and give it a shot...
ReplyDeleteAlready shot down there (Academic Dean and Dean of Students both said "not in our budget"). So sad.
DeleteMy place regards itself as a "flagship R1", with a thriving graduate program. Paying for grad students to go to meetings is part of their educational mission, and I've always assumed there were pots of department/college money set aside for this.
ReplyDeleteThe other obvious source of funds for this are faculty research grants. Well, in my dept few of us have active NSF grants; I don't, although I have graduate students. It's not hard to get a conference grant from NSF to pay for grad student/postdoc participation, and most established conference series have one. I always get a grant when I'm organizing.
Last December a conference turned up which was perfect for my students; I really wanted at least the most advanced one to go. I asked around: no dept funds or college funds for this! The organizers told me it was "put together at the last minute": so no NSF grant from them. I went by myself, and saw how my colleagues from more established (enlightened, richer) places all brought their students, even beginning ones. Grrrr...
My advanced student has been accepted to give a talk at an overseas conference in the spring, which again has no funding for students. So I've already told them to start looking for University sources to fund this from. I'll look too, but I regard it as basically his (and the university's) concern.
Another way to defray costs for going to meetings is to encourage your students to volunteer to help run the conference. I've done this myself, and it's educational, at least the first time: typically they'll have you do something mundane such as stuff envelopes and hand them out with name tags at the registration desk, etc. At American Astronomical Society meetings, registration fees can be waived if you or your students do enough of this.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, serving as bouncer and pummeling colleagues who become unruly during the sessions, particularly when the session Chair shows their time is up, is seldom one of these duties. That's strictly voluntary!
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