Handbook of Operating Procedures
Chapter 2 - Faculty and Academics
Publication Date: January 1, 1991

2.20 Policy on Academic Travel

The following policies, resulting from recommendations proposed by the University Assembly, will apply at UT San Antonio.

College Academic Research Committees
These committees will be appointed for each College by the Dean, to include representation from each Division in the College. Each Dean shall appoint a committee capable of evaluating travel applications from faculty members of the College on the basis of the quality and potential importance of the papers. This committee will administer the disbursement of travel funds, as these become available.

Each committee will, following the guidelines and deadlines laid down for the University, evaluate applications on their professional merits for academic travel, and will approve funding.

After making its funding decisions, each College Academic Research Committee will send notice of its allocations to the Academic Resources Committee of the University Assembly for the Assembly's information.
Allocation of Funds
The Vice President for Academic Affairs will allocate a proportion of the University's academic travel funds to each College's Academic Research Committee for its further disbursement. The allocation of funds will be based on:
1. The number of FTE tenure track faculty in the College with the rank of Assistant Professor and above.
2. The number of FTE visiting faculty in the College with the rank of Assistant Professor and above.
3. The number of FTE senior lecturers in the College (those whose salary rates are comparable to that of faculty with tenured positions, i.e., Associate Professor and Professor, but who for various reasons are not given formal tenure appointments).
Guidelines for Disbursement of Travel Funds
1. Purpose of Travel
  
  The UTSA Traveler's Aid, states the following: "The State regulations recognize two purposes for travel--(l) to benefit The University of Texas System, and (2) to present original research before a national, international, regional, or state teamed society." These two purposes will regulate these travel funds as well.
2. Eligibility
  
  Only full-time faculty members may be funded with these travel funds. A full-time faculty member is one paid 100% time from the University.
3. Limitations
  1. Amounts available for individual requests will be established annually by the College Academic Research Committee based on funds available.
  2. Only one trip per year per faculty member in any one Division will be funded until all eligible applications have been funded.
4. Priorities
  1. Other factors being equal, travel requests from nontenure faculty shall have priority over requests from tenured faculty.
  2. Other factors being equal, faculty requests for travel not funded by grants, contracts, and other sources shall have priority over those requests so funded.

Within the above University-wide guidelines, the Academic Research Committee will set specific rules for each College.