»Request for Travel and Development – Faculty and Staff

Application

The Fowler School of Engineering offers support for faculty and staff development including funding for sharing scholarly work at a conference and travel to professional meetings and conferences.

2025/26 Travel Restrictions (applies to faculty, staff, and students)

For events that take place from June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026, Chapman University will be limiting university-sponsored travel to essential business or revenue generating activities. Please note that on December 11, 2024, Provost Bouchard sent a message similar to the guidelines listed below.

All travel requests from Fowler School of Engineering faculty, staff and students require approval from the Dean to ensure alignment with the University’s budget priorities. Fowler School of Engineering (FSE) faculty and staff are required to complete this request form for all business travel and development purposes, regardless of funding source. Students are required to complete the Student Travel Grant Request Form.

Examples of “essential travel”: University-sponsored travel may be approved if it fulfills one or more of the following criteria:

Essential University Business: Travel critical to the university's core operations or strategic mission that cannot be conducted effectively through virtual means.
Revenue-Generating Activities: Travel supporting efforts to increase university revenues, such as admissions recruitment, donor engagement, or partnerships that contribute to the university’s financial health.

Research-Required Faculty: Travel necessary to advance the research, scholarly work and/or the creative endeavors of faculty for whom research is a contractual requirement, especially pre-tenure faculty. This includes:

- Presenting research findings or creative work at major professional conferences.

- Collaborating on projects requiring in-person interaction to advance research objectives.

- Conducting essential fieldwork or data collection supporting academic and scholarly excellence.

- Engaging in other scholarly activities that are essential to professional development and discipline-specific advancements.

Student Research and Course-Required Travel: Travel necessary for undergraduate and graduate students’ research projects or directly tied to academic coursework requirements.

Externally Contracted Visitors: Travel involving external parties contracted by the University to fulfill obligations such as program reviews.

Mandatory Accreditation and Professional Development: Travel essential for maintaining accreditation or meeting accreditation-related professional development requirements.

Examples of non-essential travel that will not receive University funding:

Professional Development: Travel for staff or faculty professional development not directly related to the university’s mission-critical goals, essential operations, or accreditation requirements.

Networking Conferences/Events: Attendance at conferences or events where the primary purpose is networking without presenting research or advancing revenue-generating activities.

Non-Mandatory Training: Participation in workshops, certifications, or training programs not required for maintaining accreditation, licensure, or critical job performance.

Optional Committee Meetings: Travel to serve on external professional or academic committees unless explicitly tied to revenue generation or essential research activities.

Regional or General Interest Events: Travel to regional conferences, expos, or gatherings not directly aligned with permitted travel criteria.

Recreational or Team-Building Activities: Team-building retreats or social engagements.

Note: Grants, IDC funds, endowment earnings, and unrestricted gifts are exempt from these restrictions.

Faculty and staff of the Fowler School of Engineering (FSE) are required to complete this request form for all business travel and development purposes, regardless of funding source. Travel and development requests are accepted on a rolling basis. However, FSE faculty and staff are encouraged to apply immediately upon acceptance to present their scholarly work or invitation to attend a conference and a minimum of four (4) weeks prior to the travel date. 

Faculty and staff must seek approval prior to the dates of travel and with enough advance notice to allow the request to be processed. Please allow a minimum of 14 business days for the request to be reviewed. Expenses incurred prior to approval may not be reimbursed, especially if the request is denied. Faculty and staff should not pay any costs before receiving approval.

The FSE Dean's Office will contact you once the request has been reviewed.

Incomplete applications will not be accepted and must include the following supporting documentation:

Link to training, conference or event organization website

Proof of acceptance by conference or event organization, if applicable

Please review the policies below before submitting a Request for Travel and Development. Chapman University's complete Fiscal Policy is available online.

Do not include student travel requests on this form. The Student Travel Grant form can be found here.

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In the case a faculty member is not able to attend a scheduled class session, they must notify Program Director Elizabeth Stevens for undergraduate classes, Program Director Mohamed Allali for graduate classes, and Administrative Coordinator Nicole Olguin. Faculty should reschedule all missed session(s) to ensure the student contact hours for the class are sufficient to meet the requirement. The faculty member should give students sufficient advanced notice of the rescheduled session(s). Class absences of longer than two (2) weeks must be approved by the Dean.

University funds allocated to travel are generally designated for approved travel within the United States. However, these funds may be used for foreign travel in special circumstances, as described:

The faculty is an invited speaker to a professional conference, where the sponsor partially supports the expenses. In that case, the remaining expenses are eligible for approval.

The faculty is attending a professional conference, in which the faculty is presenter of peer-reviewed poster(s) or oral presentation(s) and there is justification for presenting at a foreign conference over available domestic conferences.

The faculty or staff is attending a workshop or training course for development purposes, which is not available in the United States.

Other situations not listed in this policy will be considered based on their merits, including professional benefits to the faculty, staff, school, and university.

This policy does not cover the use of extramural grant funds designated for foreign travel, which is subject to the rules and regulations of the granting agency.

International Travel Registry:

Faculty and staff traveling internationally in connection with University programs, research, scholarship and creative activities must register their travel in Chapman’s Travel Registry using their user login. Registering travel helps the University provide resources, useful information, and assess any potential risk and how to mitigate them.

Travel Guidance for International Faculty, Scholars and Students:

Chapman University cautions faculty, students and scholars from countries potentially included in an imminent travel ban to consider the necessity of any travel outside of the U.S. In the event a travel ban is announced, ability to return to the U.S. to continue employment or study may be restricted or compromised.

The Office of Faulty Affairs (OFA) is available for J-1 scholar support and H1B visa holders. Additional resources are available on the J-1 Scholar Page.

For domestic travel, Chapman University follows Internal Revenue Service rules for per diem meals and incidental expense (M&IE) reimbursement. Employees will receive a per diem allowance for their personal meals consumed when traveling out of town for substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work, so that you need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from your home campus. The University does not pay per diem for meals provided by your host or other party.

The University has adopted GSA (domestic) and SSA (international) rate standards for per diem payments. These rates will vary by location and are updated at least annually. Rates are automatically calculated within Concur based upon the travel itinerary entered.

Guidance on current rates can be found at the websites listed below:

GSA (domestic)
SSA (international)

See Fiscal Policy section 2.6 Meals and Entertainment for more information.

»Request for Travel and Development – Faculty and Staff

Faculty Absence Policy

Foreign Travel Policy

Meals and Entertainment

Student Travel Grant