Professional Activities

Professional Activities Funding

Next Deadline: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 11:59 PM

Professional activities (short-term leave) funding assists faculty in attending and participating in professionally relevant conferences, workshops, and courses (including online courses, books, and instructional materials).

Provided that funding is available, faculty members are eligible for up to $3900 every three fiscal years to cover registration fees, transportation, lodging, meals/ incidental expenses, tuition, and/or materials. 

Contracted faculty members are eligible for Professional Activities funds immediately upon employment. Part-time faculty members are eligible for Professional Activities funds after one year (4 terms) of employment at LCC at a .20 average annual FTE. Awards are made on a first-come, first-served basis depending on the availability of funding. Applications are reviewed monthly with the exception of the Summer term.

You MUST submit your application to FPD via the FPD Professional Activities Application Softdoc form prior to the date the event starts for your application to be considered. We cannot award funding for past events. *The only exception to this policy is the first deadline of the Fall term, when you may submit an application for late summer events.

Please try to keep travel costs down. FPD funds are limited and we want to be able to maximize funding to benefit as many faculty as possible. At the same time, when in doubt, slightly overestimate your expenses when you apply, as you cannot be reimbursed for more than your award amount. If your expenses are less than your award amount, you will be reimbursed for the actual amount of your expenses.

For more information about specific guidelines, please see the Guidelines page. Click here to learn more about Softdocs.

To Apply:

Step One: Fill out the FPD Professional Activities Application Form on Softdocs.

  • All parts are required even if the conference or course is local and does not require travel. If you have questions about completing the first part of the application, please view the short video outlining how to complete the application through question 2.
  • Please spell out acronyms when applicable (e.g. American Chemical Society instead of ACS).
  • Airfare: FPD suggests searching several sites to find a reasonable cost estimate for your flight. Don't forget to include baggage fees!
  • Lodging: The federal government sets per diem rates for lodging. View the per diem rates for lodging in the 48 states here. If your lodging rate exceeds the per diem amount for the event location, explain why in your application (e.g. staying at conference hotel). If you are traveling to Alaska, Hawaii, a US territory or Internationally, view the per diem rates here.
  • Meals: Meals will be reimbursed based on a per diem rate. These rates are set by the federal government and vary by location, please provide the per diem rate for the location to where you will be traveling along with the number of full days and travel days. The number of full days is one less than the number of nights you will be staying over and the number of days spent traveling to and from the activity us usually two. 

    View the per diem rates for meals here
    • Choose the year, city, and state in which the event is happening and click "Find Rates."
    • Scroll down to find "Meals and Incidentals Breakdown."
    • Enter the "M&IE Total" number on the line on the application for "Meals per diem- full days."
    • Next, enter the number of full days as well as the number of travel days (the day you travel from home to the event location and the day you return from the event location). The form will automatically calculate the per diem amounts for both travel and non-travel days (the per diem for a travel day is 75% of a non-travel day.)
    • For international per diem rates, please use State Department rates. The per diem meal rate is the 6th column from the left and is in U.S. Dollars.
  • Questions about completing the per diem section of the application may be answered in this short video, how to determine per diems and complete the application for lodging, meals and registration.
  • Mileage (privately owned vehicles): Federal government rates are also used for private auto mileage reimbursement. View the current mileage rates here. Current privately owned automobile rates can be entered into the form along with the number of miles and the total expense will be calculated.
  • Ground transportation, parking, miscellaneous expenses, etc.: Be sure to include all expenses such as parking, shuttle fees, additional conference-related materials, etc. If you are planning on using a college car, please include the anticipated cost in your application. Note: FPD is not able to pre-pay for rental cars. However, we can reimburse you upon your return.
  • Questions about the remaining parts of the application may be answered in this short video: how to complete the rest of the application from auto miles though miscellaneous.

Step Two: Link to or attach any supplementary documentation to the form.

Be sure to link to or attach relevant documentation. This may include event information or brochure, or an acceptance letter, etc.

Step Three: Submit your application.

Softdocs will store a copy of your application. You can also download the application from Softdocs and save it for your records.

Remember to submit your application BEFORE the conference, workshop, or course begins. The only exception to this policy is for events that take place late summer through early fall prior to the first committee meeting of the academic year.

Application status:

You will be notified of your application status within one week of the posted committee meeting date. Please see below for Deadlines and Meeting Dates. 

To Request Reimbursement: 

If you requested reimbursement for expenses prior to the event on your application:

Once you receive an approval email, you can request reimbursement. You will need to submit a FPD Professional Activities Reimbursement Request form in Softdocs before the event for the expenses listed on your application to be reimbursed prior to the event. Prior reimbursement is not available for events scheduled within two weeks of the approval date. Lodging, mileage, M&IE, ground transportation, and parking can only be reimbursed after the event. Another reimbursement request will be completed after the event (so two total). Each reimbursement request form can list different expenses. The "total actual expenses" on the form should only include the total expenses being requested on that form. Receipts/proof of payment must include the date, and either the total paid or balance of $0.

Within one week after completion of the event:

You will need to submit the FPD Professional Activities Reimbursement Request form in Softdocs. Many of the expenses will be the same as those listed in your application. You can view a copy of your original application in the activity section of Softdocs if you did not download a copy.

Receipts or proof of payment for all expenses listed in the request form must be uploaded to the form, even if you uploaded them with your original application (which is not necessary). If you don't have an electronic copy of a receipt, take a photo and upload a photo of the receipt. Receipts/proof of payment must include the date, and either the total paid or balance of $0. Receipts/proof of payment are not required for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) and mileage which are reimbursed at federal rates, ground transportation for taxi/bus/Uber/Lyft if less than $75.00, and parking expenses if less than $75.00. Total mileage and the current private auto mileage reimbursement rate must be entered. Dates, addresses, and miles from point to point must be entered if seeking reimbursement for mileage. 

If there are any errors or missing receipts, the reimbursement request form will be returned to you through Softdocs for correction; the email notification will be from etrieve. Photos of receipts are acceptable. Receipts/proof of payment must include the date, and either the total paid or balance of $0.

Once a reimbursement request is submitted and accepted by the first approver in the approval queue, it cannot be returned for corrections or additional expenses. Another reimbursement form can be submitted. 

The reimbursement request form(s) submitted will need to include the expenses you are requesting reimbursement for, proof of payment where applicable, the total amount of the award from FPD (see the FPD award email for the amount), the amounts already reimbursed, charged to department p-card, and/or amounts already paid directly by FPD, and the total reimbursement due.

Optional: Check your Professional Activities account balance.

If you want to find out how much money you have available to you, you can check your Professional Activities account. Be sure to use a capital "L" when entering your L#, and the entire password you use to log into Moodle, ExpressLane, etc. Once logged in, you will need to enter your L# again with a capital L to view your available balance. If you have never applied for funding, you will receive an "invalid L#" when you try to check your balance. Once you apply, you will be added to the database.

Please note that this is a theoretical account balance. Awards are made on a first-come, first-served basis, depending on the availability of funding.


Deadlines and Meeting Dates (2023-24)

Submission Deadlines: (at 11:59 pm) Approval dates/Committee Meetings:
Tuesday, October 3rd 2023 week of October 9th-13th
Tuesday, October 31st, 2023 week of November 6th-10th
Tuesday, November 28th, 2023 week of December 4th-8th
Tuesday, January 16th, 2024 week of January 22nd-26th
Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 week of February 19th-23rd
Tuesday, March 12th, 2024 week of March 18th-22nd
Tuesday, April 9th, 2024 week of April 15th-19th
Tuesday, May 7th, 2024 week of May 13th-17th

Tuesday, June 4th, 2024*

*Please note this is the last day to turn in applications for summer activities for advance approval.

week of June 10th-14th

How the Professional Activities Fund Works:

Your Professional Activities Fund doesn't replenish once every three years. Instead, it replenishes once a year on July 1 in the amount that you spent three years earlier.

If you need more guidance: You are welcome to email Monica Hancock at fpd@lanecc.edu or Brooke Taylor at taylorb@lanecc.edu for advice or instructions. You may also find the how-to videos useful: