Bylaws, Polices and Procedures

The following Policies & Procedures will guide the Staff Development Committee in carrying out and fulfilling the purposes of the Staff Development Grant Program.

1. Committee Chair
   • Ensures the Committee adheres to bylaws, policies and procedures.
   • Sets training schedule and agenda for new committee members.
   • Creates subcommittees; nominates, and appoints members to serve as needed.
   • In conjunction with the Communications Officer, puts a call out for grant applications during each grant cycle.
   • Collects submitted applications and provides the Master Evaluation Rubric for all grant applications.
   • Schedules, prepares the agenda, and facilitates all committee meetings.
   • Directs the review and voting process of each grant application.
   • Prepares, signs, and sends notification letters of award or denial for those who submitted an application within five (5) days of committee deliberations. The letter may be sent electronically from the Chair’s WSU email account.
   • Signs off on all financial documentation.
   • Fields questions from interested applicants regarding program bylaws, policies, and procedures.
   • Reports to the President's Council at the conclusion of the award cycle.
2. Committee Chair-Elect
   • Assumes responsibilities as delegated by Chair.
   • Assumes the position of Chair during absences.
3. Committee Secretary
   • Keeps a detailed account of meetings including discussion minutes, member attendance, and voting outcome.
   • Responsible for organizing “Staff Dev Box” files on the Box drive and keeping records of letters within each file.
     • Box folders will be organized by Year > Round > Applicant.
     • Applicant Folders will be labeled: Last Name, First Name.
     • Within each Applicant folder will be electronic copies of the following: application and all corresponding documents, letter of award or denial, financial documentation, funds transfer, and summary report.
4. Permanent Finance Officer
   • Schedules and provides the following trainings for applicants:
     • Applying for a Staff Development Grant;
     • Staff Development Grant Financial Responsibility.
   • Monitors balance of available funds.
   • Notifies awarded applicants of deadline dates for expenditure of funds and completed reports.
   • Gathers data and completes the Financial Report for Chair to present at the end of the fiscal year for the President's Council.
   • Informs committee of any and all financial concerns.
5. Communications Officer
   • Directs the promotion of the Staff Development Grant Program in an effort to increase the number and quality of applications.
   • Responsible for advertisements for Staff Development Grant deadlines via campus announcements, flyers, or broadcast messages, etc.
6. Web Manager
   • Updates Staff Development Grant website information as needed—including committee member changes, instructions, deadlines, online applications, and bylaw or policy and procedure updates.
   • Provides suggestions for areas of improvement or verbage clarification online.
7. Committee Members
   • Expected to attend 75% of committee meetings and retreats throughout the year. Members must notify the Chair if they are unable to attend a meeting.
     • Position is forfeited if they miss more than one meeting without approval of or notification to the Chair.
     • Recruit, nominate, and vote on a replacement member at the start of the next meeting.
     • Replacement members will attend the voting meeting.
   • Recruit, nominate, and vote on new members at the committee retreat prior to the first meeting of the year.
   • Attend required summer retreat and training sessions before the first-round grant review.
   • Review and score all grant applications for each round by time and date designated by the Chair.
   • Maintain confidentiality regarding applicants and pertaining discussions.
   • Assist in training new members.
   • Fulfill additional responsibilities as directed by the Chair - such as planning luncheons, retreats, and training.
     • Lunch: A designated committee member will be responsible for planning and executing lunch at quarterly meetings.
       • Lunch budget should not exceed more than provided lunch allowance for each Committee member (typically $10-12 each).
       • The designated committee member will coordinate and collect orders (if necessary) and use P-card for payment.
       • Reallocation logs and completed P-Cards statements should be given to the Permanent Financial Officer for funds transfer.
     • Retreat: A designated committee member will be responsible for planning, scheduling, and executing the yearly retreat.
       • Budget allowance is 2% or less of total Staff Development funds awarded within the year.
       • Time frame should not exceed a half day of work.
       • Location should be in the Ogden area.
       • Gifts for departing members and Chair need to be included in budget allowance and not exceed $20 for outgoing members and $35 for outgoing Chair.
     • Training: Should occur the month prior to the first round of applications and give an overview of the:
       • Application process;
       • Financial responsibility process;
       • Travel requirements;
       • How to use the Staff Development Box; and
       • How to review and score applications in accordance with Policies & Procedures and Scoring Rubric.
8. Staff Development Committee
   • Review and score all grant applications for each round by time and date designated by the Chair.
   • Meet, discuss, and award available funds based on committee ranking and approval.
   • Maintain confidentiality regarding applicants and pertaining discussions.

1. Applicant Eligibility
   • Applicants within the probationary period of current position are ineligible for grant funding.
   • Staff Development Grant Committee members are ineligible to apply for grant funding during the sitting term.
   • Applicants must be able to complete their project and all travel within six (6) months of application deadline.
   • Priority will be given to individuals that have not been funded in the past three years.
   • Department chairs and/or supervisors may apply for funds to provide staff development training for employees in their department.
2. Application Guidelines
   • Application forms must be complete and include:
     • Specific dates
     • Destinations
     • Detailed budget
     • Back-up documentation (actual and estimates) including agendas, price, air fare, lodging, ground transportation, and any miscellaneous items.
     • Letter(s) of support from supervisor
   • Funding support from department or other sources is encouraged and should be included on the Project Budget Worksheet.
   • Proposals without additional funding support must include an explanation for lack of funding.
3. Application Submissions
   • Applications MUST be received by the Chair or Division Representative by 4:30pm on the last working business day of August, October, January, and March.
   • Several members of the same department may request funding for the same project. However, applications must be submitted individually and will be evaluated and scored on their own merit.

1. Evaluation & Awarding
   • Prior to Committee member award evaluation, the Permanent Financial Officer will verify the following information:
     • Has the applicant received funding within the last three years?
     • Has the applicant attended the “Applying for a Staff Development Grant” training?
     • Will the project be completed within six (6) months of application deadline?
     • Is the applicant currently within their position’s probationary period?
   • Prior to each Staff Development Committee meeting, each committee member will have access to all applications electronically to score and rank according to rubric guidelines.
   • The Chair will collect evaluation tables and prepare a Master Evaluation Table, which will display committee member scores and average scores of committee members.
   • Applications that fail to reach an average score of 75 points will not be considered by the committee for an award.
   • Funding decisions will be determined by a two-thirds majority vote based on evaluation discussion and funds available.
   • The Staff Development Committee will make every reasonable effort to ensure that all applications receive equal opportunity for consideration.
2. Conditions & Stipulations
   • The Committee may award “one time” funds to help a project start.
   • Grants will not be awarded to fund ongoing projects, such as certification programs with multiple classes.
   • Grant funding is not available to replace normal departmental expenses including, but not limited to:
     • Wages or benefits
     • Production costs
     • Equipment purchases (i.e. computers or printers)
     • Higher education expenses (i.e. tuition, fees, textbooks)
     • Faculty-related responsibilities
   • Grants may be awarded to multiple members of the same department.
   • The Staff Development Grant Program is not responsible for any increase in costs associated with the project. The department or individual must absorb any costs in excess of the amount appropriated by the committee.
   • If a staff member is unable to attend their conference or complete their project - due to unforeseen circumstances, cancellations, etc. - there will be a six month grace period from the original date of the conference/project for rescheduling. If the staff member is unable to attend a rescheduled event within that grace period, the award will roll back into the staff development grant fund. That staff member is eligible to apply again and will not have the previous award count against them.
   • Grant funding decisions by the Staff Development Committee are final and are not available for appeal. Individuals are encouraged to apply for the next round if denied funding.
3. Award Notifications
   • Grant recipients will be notified of application results within five (5) days of the Staff Development Committee meeting.
   • For those who receive grant funding, the letter will include the date of the award and dates of available mandatory Grant Responsibility trainings.
   • For those who did not receive grant funding, the letter will include the reason for denying funding.
4. Award Requirements
   • Grant recipients are required to attend the Staff Development Grant Responsibility training prior to project start. Failure to do so will result in the forfeiture of awarded grant money.
   • Upon completion of the project, recipients are required to submit financial statements as per the Grant Responsibility training and a summary report to the Financial Officer.
     • Final reports are due one month after receipt of the last applicable P-Card statement OR one month after project completion, whichever comes first.
     • If three months pass without submission of financial statements and summary report, the grant recipient forfeits their award and their department is responsible for covering the costs.
     • Individuals who fail to submit their final financial statements and summary report will be ineligible for further funding by the Staff Development Grant program for three years.