Navigation
Search

Faculty Scholarship Account

Faculty Scholarship Account (FSA)

Effective Fall 2025

*Note: Scholarship, Research & Sponsored Programs now processes FSA through their Research Foundation. Research Foundation rules, regulations and forms are replacing Payment and Procurement Services rules, regulations, and forms that were previously used.

Faculty Scholarship Award (FSA) funds reimburse eligible expenses associated with professionally relevant activities that the faculty’s department APT document values towards promotion, tenure, and performance at rank. FSA reimburses approved expenses associated with a wide range of professional activities, such as:

  • Travel to present or attend a conference or workshop, participate in a professional organization, do an artistic performance, or conduct research.
  • Attendance at a professional training activity (non-credit bearing), leading to a credential or certification that enhances or enables the faculty’s teaching obligations.
  • Purchases of lab or studio supplies, research documents, data, or software, or shipment of artwork to an exhibit. Faculty will be asked to provide vendor quotes for comparison.
  • Other academic uses deemed appropriate by your School Dean (e.g., journal and conference submission fees).

All Federal, New York State, SUNY Brockport, and Research Foundation guidelines related to purchasing and procurement must be adhered to. If you have questions related to these guidelines, please visit the Scholarship, Research & Sponsored Programs Post Award Information or call (585) 395-2351.

Application & Evaluation Processes

  • FSA funding will be pooled at the school level based on the annual budget allocation.
  • An FSA Allocation Committee of each school will be responsible for reviewing and making recommendations for single requests greater than $500 and additional requests exceeding the $500 individual allowance. Each school has the discretion to decide the composition and size of its FSA committee.
  • Total reimbursement is limited to $2,000 per person per year max.
  • FSA committee will review applications four times per year in September, November, February, and April. Applications are due by the second Wednesday of each respective review month.
  • Final recommendations and fund allocation will be approved by the Dean’s office.

Workflow

  • Each school sets up a TEAMS folder for record keeping.
  • Faculty submit the preapproval form to Associate Dean for pre-approval of eligibility for funds.
  • Applicants can apply up to $2,000 in funding support per year; however, only one preapproval form per activity can be submitted (e.g., faculty cannot split expenditures of the same activity into two FSA preapproval forms)
  • All eligible fund requests of $500 or less may be approved by the Associate Deans without committee vetting.
  • Applications of more than $500 and additional requests exceeding the $500 individual allowance preapproved by the Associate Deans for eligibility will be put in the TEAMS folder for Committee review. As long as the funding request is appropriate for FSA dollars and sufficient funds exist, a minimum of $500 will be approved.
  • Administrative assistants of each school create an Excel file listing all preapproved applicants for review periods. The Excel sheet will include columns on committee recommendations, rationales, ranking of the applications, and recommended dollar amounts.
  • Administrative assistants add the applicant’s prior FSA grant information (e.g., prior award amount and award time) to the Excel sheet for committees to consider.
  • The Committee evaluates each application, completes the Excel sheet, and provides a ranking. The following criteria will be used to evaluate all applications:
    • Alignment of request with FSA guidelines (yes/no)
    • Faculty rank: Preference should be given to junior faculty.
    • Time since last FSA award
    • Amounts of last FSA award
    • For funding to support conference travel, the following additional criteria also will be used:
      • Level of the conferences/exhibitions: International, national, regional, or local
      • Roles at conferences/exhibitions: Presenting, chairing, service responsibilities, or attending. A maximum of $500 funding is available for conference attendance that does not include presentation or service responsibilities.
    • For non-conference travel requests, committees will also consider:
      • Purposes of expenditures necessary for scholarly and creative activities: Purchase of materials, expenditures related to shipping and exhibiting artistic works, data collection expenditures, journal and conference submission fees, etc.
  • The Associate Dean reviews the FSA Committee’s recommendation and finalizes awards based on amounts available in the pool.
  • The Associate Dean notifies applicants regarding the status of their applications.

Summer FSA Requests

(July 1 - August 31)

Summer FSA requests (July 1 - August 31) should be made through the preapproval process that is in place. The Associate Dean will preapprove requests equal to or less than $500 during this time. Any request over the initial $500 has to be reviewed by the School FSA Committee during the April review. Expenses from FSA activities that are incurred on or before June 30th will be funded out of the current FSA budget (i.e. the last fall/spring) Expenses from FSA activities that are incurred after June 30th will be funded from the new academic year’s FSA budget.

FSA Pre-approval/Reimbursement Form and Instructions for Processing

Follow the instructions provided carefully. A separate form is required for each transaction. Incomplete/incorrect forms will be returned. Should you have questions, consult your administrative assistant or School Dean’s Office.

Additional Funding

FSA is just one source of funding available to faculty to support their scholarship. Consider exploring one or more of the other grants available. For more information go here: Faculty & Staff Grants: SUNY Brockport