College of Business and Economics

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MA / PhD in Economics: photo of the globe and numbers.

Travel and Other Reimbursements

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Policy on Economics Department Contributions to Professional Doctoral Student Activities

This policy covers any requests from graduate students for contributions from the economics department towards: Travel expenses, Software purchases, Data purchases, Data collection, Journal submissions, Copying, Job market expenses, Other professional expenditures.

Each applicant must submit a proposal to the chairperson of the economics department. The proposal must follow a specific format. The form is available here or from the departmental office. The formal proposal requires an abstract, statement of purpose, estimate of total cost associated with the activity, description of efforts taken to economize on expenses (such as other sources of funds applied for), and other basic information. When applicable the proposal also should document who else may benefit from the purchase.

Based on the proposal and at the discretion of the chairperson awards may be made to the applicants. The awards cover a portion of the estimated cost (which should typically be around 75%) and in rare cases may cover the full amount of the estimated cost. An award will be paid out in a lump-sum payment, typically as soon as evidence of completion of the proposed activity is provided and submitted, together with receipts, to the business office. Note that for any type of travel a form must be completed and submitted to the business office prior to departure.

Proposals are judged by the chairperson in conjunction with the graduate coordinator and are largely based on the following criteria:

  1. The intrinsic merit of the proposal (do you have a good paper to present).
  2. The frequency of awards obtained in the past (one trip a year will be a higher priority than subsequent trips).
  3. The overall cost (have you economized, can you take the college car).
  4. The status of the applicant (are you making appropriate progress toward the degree, are you a Ph.D.-student in good standing with full-time resident status, is your performance of G.A. duties adequate).
  5. The benefit to other current or prospective future department members (will others use your data set).
  6. The importance of the proposed activity in furthering your academic career (will the activity improve your marketability, is it essential for obtaining your degree).
  7. Application to other funding sources

At the discretion of the chairperson, awards are covered by Departmental funds or by the Dadisman fund. Note that set-up costs for elaborate research projects, travel costs, or matching funds for data acquisition may be covered by the University's Office of Academic Affairs or other university-wide funding sources.

No proposal is necessary for copy cost or job market expense reimbursements. Instead, these reimbursements are paid from Departmental funds according to the following arrangement:

  • All doctoral students properly positioned for the Ph.D. job market receive a one-time fixed subsidy of $300 to cover administrative job market expenses.
  • First- and second-year doctoral students receive an annual allocation of 1000 free copies. Third-year and more advanced fulltime doctoral students receive an annual allocation of 2000 free copies.

Specific guidelines and examples:

Presentations at the AEA or Econometric Society meetings would normally be supported anywhere in the continental U.S. at 75% of total proposed cost of travel, hotel accommodations, meals, and registration fees.

Presentations at the Western Economic Association or international meetings would not be supported (or only in proportion to the amount that it would take to present at a similar nearby meeting), as cheaper (professionally) perfect substitutes are available in the form of other meetings.

A set of trips to Washington D.C. to collect data would be supported.

Software and data costing above $500 would only be supported if several other current or prospective future department members would benefit, or may be only partially supported.

Mailing and printing costs associated with the job market are covered in the $300 lump-sum job market subsidy. Job market travel costs may be covered in part if a paper is presented at the job market conference site.

Copying of class notes, dissertation drafts, required readings, etc. are included in the annual lump-sum allocation of free copies.

Journal submission fees are covered for 75% of the student's share.