Adjunct-CET Professional Development Fund

The City University of New York/Professional Staff Congress

Adjunct-Continuing Education Teacher Professional Development Fund

**PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY.  ALL PROCESSES ARE NOW FULLY ONLINE. DO NOT MAIL PRINTED APPLICATIONS OR REIMBURSEMENT REQUESTS** 

Acting ADJ-CET PDF Committee Liaison: Ambar Cordero, [email protected]

(For reimbursement of awards made before September 2023, please email your materials using the subject line REIMBURSEMENT: Your last name to Ambar Cordero, [email protected])

GUIDELINES

A. Description The Adjunct Professional Development Fund was established in 2006 as outlined in Appendix B of the PSC/CUNY contract, marking the first time in CUNY’s history that a professional development program was offered to adjuncts, and was one of the first such programs in the country. Known as the Adjunct-CET Professional Development Fund (ADJ-CET PDF), the program has awarded thousands of small grants to teaching adjuncts and continuing education teachers throughout CUNY. During several past contract campaigns, the PSC fought to expand funding of the program and won several additional allotments from the University. Article 33.6 states that effective January 2020, the University will provide $660,000 annually to the Adjunct Professional Development Fund.

B. Eligibility In order to be eligible to apply, you must NOT be a CUNY retiree or a CUNY full-time employee. You must meet all of the criteria listed below for one of the two following categories:

1. Adjunct teaching faculty
   • a. teaching six or more classroom contact hours in the current semester and
   • b. have taught one or more courses for the two most recent consecutive semesters (not including summer session).
   • c. To be approved for an event that would take place during a winter intersession or summer session period when not otherwise employed at the college, an adjunct must meet the above eligibility requirements and in addition must have been notified of reappointment for the next consecutive semester.
2. Continuing Education Teacher
   • a. appointed to a position that will continue for a period of more than six months and that requires teaching a minimum of 20 hours per week and
   • b. have taught in such an appointment for the two most recent consecutive semesters (not including summer session).

C. Use of Funds Applicants cannot propose events that have already taken place, and proposed events must correspond to the Due Dates listed in section G.

YES – Acceptable proposals may include:

1. Conferences, workshops, trainings, and research events that require travel outside of the NY metro area
2. Local or online conferences, workshops, trainings, and certificate programs
3. Schooling at an accredited college or university (CUNY or non-CUNY), which could include tuition, fees, and books listed on the relevant syllabi
4. Research projects and field studies (not requiring travel)
5. Upcoming membership dues for a professional organization

NO – Funds will not be approved for:

1. Travel not related to a documented event as described under “YES” above.
2. Salary, wages, or stipends for employees, research assistants, research participants, etc.
3. Computers, tablets, cameras, or other technology, equipment, or software.
4. Certain travel expenses including entertainment tours, baggage fees, upgraded seats, travel insurance, etc.
5. Activities that the Committee deems not relevant to the development of skills, resources, or credentials necessary to complete the professional duties or career advancement of a person in their eligible CUNY title.

D. Application and Award Process

1. Read these entire Guidelines about the Fund before applying.
2. Check the Upcoming Due Dates and Current Application Link section at the bottom of the page. Due dates are relative to the documentable start date of a proposed event.
3. Verify with the PSC Membership Department ([email protected]) that you are in an eligible title if you are not sure, but you should have this information in your appointment letter. Membership will not answer other questions about the Fund.
4. Verify with the Committee Liaison that you have not exceeded your award limits, if you are not sure.  (To ensure broad access to grants, applicants may receive only one grant every other academic year.)
5. Use the Current Application Link listed in Section G below to open an application in SmarterSelect. You can look through the application, draft and save your work, return to edit and review before making your final submission.
6. Once you have fully drafted your online application in SmarterSelect, you can fill out the request for the Supervisor Approval Form to be signed by your department chair. Enter your chairperson’s contact information and SmarterSelect will email your chairperson with a link to submit the online Supervisor Approval Form in your application. Give your department chair plenty of notice before their deadline, which is seven days BEFORE the application deadline. After you send the request to your chairperson via SmarterSelect, print your application as a PDF and email it to your chairperson to notify them that SmarterSelect will be emailing with a request. Your department chair’s signature indicates review of your application and verification of your title and workload.
7. After sending the request to your department chair to sign the Supervisor Approval Form, click Submit; your application status will change to “Pending” until your chairperson signs the Supervisor Approval Form, which will change the status to “Submitted” (but only if you’ve already clicked Submit). Applications that are still under the status “Incomplete” or “Pending” supervisor approval will not be reviewed by the committee, so follow-up with your department chair to sign the form and double-check that you have properly submitted your application before the deadline. When you click Submit, you will receive an auto email to confirm receipt.
8. Review your application after you click Submit. Applications that are “Submitted” will not be approved if any of the following occur: the uploaded documentation is irrelevant or incomplete (you must print-to-PDF the entire web page that includes the URL, and do not upload full conference brochures); Supervisor Approval is not completed by the request deadline; two or more fields contain the same copy/pasted answers in the details section or the same paragraph is copied multiple times to meet the word requirement; or if it appears that multiple applicants have copied/pasted the same answers between their individual applications. The technology cannot prevent you from “submitting” an incomplete or inadequate application, so it is your responsibility to review your application, which you can edit any time before the deadline. After the deadline, the application is locked and you cannot make any additions or changes. Incomplete applications are no longer available to edit or use for future due dates, so do not apply early with the wrong application link.
9. Shortly after the deadline, the Adjunct-CET PDF Committee will begin reviewing the submitted applications. All applications are read by two members of the committee and no committee member will read an application from his or her own campus. If there is a dispute, there will be a third reader. Decisions from the Committee are final.
10. Applicants will be notified of the Committee’s decision via the email used to register the application. Make sure your email account is prepared to accept an email from the Acting Adjunct-CET PDF Committee Liaison, Ambar Cordero, [email protected], so your decision email does not bounce back or go to spam.

E. Reimbursement Process

1. If awarded, all details regarding the reimbursement process and reimbursement policy will be made available with the decision email. Award totals are estimates and reimbursements will be made within the limits of the reimbursement policy.
2. The Adjunct-CET PDF is a reimbursement grant, so awardees must pay for and complete the approved activity before requesting reimbursement.
3. Any changes to the proposal—including non-attendance of the proposed activity—must be reported to the awardee’s supervisor and to the Adjunct-CET PDF Committee Liaison BEFORE the approved start date.
4. While preparing to participate in the approved activity, awardees should keep track of all itemized receipts, credit card statements, conference materials and other documents that will support their reimbursement request.
5. Awardees will be given access to a link in their award notification email to the online Reimbursement Request Form where awardees will write their Activity Report (approximately 200-400 words), list their requested expenses with uploaded receipts and credit/bank statements, show proof of course completion (if awarded tuition), and report the address where a check can be mailed.

F. Limitations on Awards

1. Preference is given to applicants who have not yet received awards from the ADJ-CET Professional Development Fund.
2. To ensure broad access to grants, applicants may receive only one grant every other academic year.
3. For requests related to schooling at CUNY, you may want to consider using the contractual benefit of the Tuition Waiver Program for Fall and Spring semesters, if you are eligible. Contact your HR office to learn more. It is best to use the Tuition Waiver Program for Fall and Spring tuition, and apply to the PDF to cover Winter and Summer semesters, which the Tuition Waiver does not cover.
4. If an eligible applicant proposes an activity that costs more than $3,000, and the Committee approves the request, the maximum possible award will not exceed $3,000.
5. The ADJ-CET Professional Development Fund will consider and possibly award grants for activities that are being funded from other sources, but if specific expenses are waived or paid for by the college or another party, the Fund cannot reimburse for those specific expenses.
6. Applications requesting awards for less than $250 will not be considered.

G. Upcoming Due Dates and Current Application Link 

There are rolling due dates so prepare ahead by using the calendar below.  When you know the start date of your proposed event, check the calendar to determine which due date you must meet in order to apply on time.

You do not need to be registered for an event/course or accepted to a program/conference in order to apply.  The application is to explain to the Committee about a proposed event in the near future. If the event organizer has not yet published their full agenda in time for the due date, do not delay your application. Complete the application with as much information as is available on the organizer website (or via direct email exchange with the organizer), or reach out to the Committee Liaison to determine the best way to complete your application in time.