Bristol Professional Development Fund Guidelines 2025-2026

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND GUIDELINES 2025-2026

The purpose of this document is to make the Professional Development fund process transparent. Bristol's Learning Council oversees professional development applications and funding. Members of the Learning Council will review applications periodically over the course of the academic year, and will award $25,000 for professional development activities during the fall semester and $25,000 for professional development activities during the spring semster, until funds are depleted. Eligibility, as noted below, does not guarantee funding as funding is limited.

General Guidelines

All activities and events must be completed prior to July 1, 2026.
Funds are open to all full and part-time/adjunct faculty, all MCCC staff and all full-time Bristol staff except those who are members of the AFSCME union as there are Classified Development funds available for this group via Human Resources.
Funding is available for individual or group professional development projects and the maximum amount awarded is $1,200 per year for 2025-2026.

Eligibility

You can apply for funds for expenses to support Sabbatical professional development.
You can apply for funds for Tuition/Fees and/or Books for Certificate, Undergraduate or Graduate credit-bearing courses offered by a currently accredited institution, even if they were state-supported with tuition remission.
You can apply for conferences and workshops.
You can apply to organize a professional development event on campus.
There are no limitations on the number of people attending from one department while maintaining adequate personnel for each area.
You can apply for funds if you received them in the previous year.
You should apply for funds if you are presenting a workshop or conference session, representing Bristol.

Ineligible

Activities or events that are not professional development, such as: Study abroad, Book tours
Reimbursement to College Departments – Professional Development funds can only reimburse individuals

Priorities

For 2025-2026, the Learning Council will use the following priorities for awarding funds. Please note: While you may be eligible, your application is not guaranteed to be funded.

1. Presenters and Award Recipients at conferences (application MUST discuss the presentation or award with the
title and description)

2. Attendance at conferences (applications MUST be complete with all required documentation submitted and
CLEAR connections to the applicant’s current position)

3. College/University courses (applications MUST be complete with all documentation including course name and
description). It does not have to be an accredited program and the $1200 may be used for tuition, fees, books,
and supplies for the course.

4. Workshops or events (again all applications MUST be complete)

The Professional Development committee reviews applications by priority, then by date submitted within the priority, to allocate funds. Applications missing any piece of information or supporting documentation (incomplete applications) are denied. Applicants can resubmit a complete application for consideration at the next scheduled meeting.

Application

• The application is electronic and required for use.

o All applicants are asked to share their learning with the college; options are provided on the application as
well as a place for your own ideas.

o All supporting documents must be uploaded in the application in order to be considered (i.e. documents
about the event - agendas, workshops; etc.). The Learning Council will assess applications based on what
is included, as they will not seek out missing materials.

• All applications require supervisor’s signature of acknowledgement.

Reimbursement

Please use the proper forms for reimbursement (most commonly a Travel Voucher Form) and be sure to fill them out completely, attaching all original receipts; see the provided example.
Reimbursement must be submitted within 45 days of the event/activity.

Please direct questions to your Learning Council representative or Nicholas O'Brien (nicholas.o'brien@bristolcc.edu)

Revised:

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