The goals of the Professional Development Grant (PDG) program of the Bloomington Professional Council (BPC) are to:

• Demonstrate the value professional staff members add to the IUB community,
• Promote increased visibility of the professional staff and of the variety of professional responsibilities at IUB,
• Reward unique contributions to the professional staff and to the IUB community,
• Contribute to the professional development of all professional staff members,
• Support continuing and advanced education and skill development for all professional staff members,
• Encourage collaboration among professional staff members within the IUB community,
• Increase networking opportunities for professional staff members within the IUB community,
• Enhance professional advancement potential,
• Ease the financial burden of professional development events and activities for professional staff members.

• Each applicant must have an IU Bloomington campus  full- or part-time PAE, PAO, or PAU appointment.
• Each applicant must have completed one year of continuous service full- or part-time PAE, PAO or PAU service by the proposal deadline.
• The professional development event/activity may supplement or expand upon, but may not duplicate, any training/development currently available at IUB in any form or through any office.
• The professional development event/activity must be demonstrated to relate to the applicant’s current or future duties and responsibilities.
• Each awardee will permit the BPC to use submitted photographs of and submitted writings by the applicant on the BPC website.
• Applicants may not have received a BPC Professional Development Grant within the previous two-year period.
• Current members of the IUBPC are not eligible to apply for the grants.

Each proposal must include the responses to following items:

1. Professional development grant application (pages 2-3 of this web form)
2. Description of the opportunity (250 word limit)
3. Explanation for attending (250 word limit)
4. Applicant job description (250 word limit) and resume/CV (to be uploaded)
5. Letter of support from the applicant’s supervisor

The proposals most likely to be selected by the committee and awarded with funding will demonstrate any, many, or all of the following:

• Thoughtful and understandable descriptions of the professional development event/activity and the organization offering the event/activity
• How the described professional development event/activity contributes to the purpose and goal statements, noted above
• A professional staff member’s representation of the professional staff, and of IUB, to an outside constituency (such as selection for participation, chairing a committee, etc.)
• A professional staff member’s active engagement in a professional development event/activity (such as leading a training or workshop, presenting at a conference, recruiting, etc.)
• Convincing enthusiasm and fit for the professional development event/activity, and recognition of its rewards and value
• Networking and/or collaboration opportunities (both within and outside of the IUB community)
• An impactful follow-up ‘contribution’ to the IUB community (such as an workshop/presentation, brown bag lunch discussion, collection of an artifact, demonstration, etc.)
• Alignment with the goals, directions, strategies, and missions of the President and/or Provost
• Strong writing/communication skills in a professional-looking proposal
• A unique request or a unique event/activity (with a strong rationale/description behind it)
• Willing support and solid justification from a supervisor
• Additional funding source(s)
• PDG funding is not being used to replace department/unit funding (the PDG is a financial enhancement and not a need-based grant)

Completed grant applications (with the exception of the letter of support/recommendation from a supervisor, which should be sent by the supervisor directly to the BPC office) will be accepted at any time, but must be completed online no later than 5:00 p.m. EST by each deadline:

Example:  If the professional development opportunity takes place in January 2018, the applicant should submit grant application materials by the October 1st, 2017 deadline.  The applicant will hear back regarding their application status by October 15th, 2017, and funds will be transferred on/after November 1st.

• A maximum of $600 may be awarded to selected proposals.
• The Treasurer of the BPC will contact awardees to make arrangements to transfer funding to the awardee’s university account.. 
• Grants are not transferrable to another professional (or any other) employee. 
• Grants may not be applied to a different professional development event/activity. 
• The decisions of the BPC Professional Interests Committee are final. 

Each grant awardee will provide:

• Digital photograph for inclusion on the BPC PDG web page.
• Presentation or 1 page maximum essay/letter/journal response to the professional development activity to later be shared with the council and/or inclusion on the BPC PDG website.