Heller Fund Policies

Heller Fund: Practices and Policies

General Policies

Travel to APA Convention or Conferences

Summer Travel Grants

General Policies for Use of the Heller Fund

Revision Approved March 1998

The following list of uses to which the Heller Fund is put is given in order of priority, reflecting the department’s policy of dedicating most of the expenditure of the fund to the support of graduate students. (This policy derives from the original connection of the fund with the Nemea project, which is itself tied to the support of graduate students).

[1] $17,000 is appropriated annually by the head graduate adviser to supplement Block Grant fellowship funds to provide graduate student fellowships and/or non-resident tuition. (This use of the fund replaces the Heller graduate student fellowship.)

[2] Graduate student subsidy for conference-related travel: for policies see below.

[3] Graduate student subsidy for summer travel to classical lands and/ or to pursue study projects abroad. For policies see below.

[4] Full coverage of costs for an annual Heller lecturer (chosen by the graduate students) or a contribution to the costs of an occasional Heller colloquium (organized by the graduate students).

[5] A contribution may also be made from the fund towards the costs of colloquia or conferences organized on campus by faculty of the department.

[6] In general, in considering expenditures other than the first five listed the committee should consult the department.

NOTE 1: The Heller committee is officially the Committee on the Heller Fund and Other Restricted Funds. The latter part of the name refers at this time only to the J. K. Anderson Award Fund. Each year the committee reviews the applications and recommends an awardee for the annual J.K. Anderson undergraduate travel award to the department chair. (The award does not derive from the Heller fund, however, and it is the department chair who is responsible for inviting applications.)

NOTE 2: A single consolidated folder of Heller materials is kept and passed on by the chair of the Heller committee, containing (a) past policy documents and memos, and (b) documentation of the awards made in the current year, with explanation of cases in which the decision was not automatic. A copy of this folder is kept by the MSO. The spreadsheet for the fund is maintained by the department’s financial assistant.

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Subsidy for Conference-Related Travel: Policies

Revised December 2006

Please see also the separate document on sources of subventions for graduate students for conferences.

(1) Placement-related travel to the APA (or to any other) convention within the continental United States will be automatically subsidized once in a student's career, at 100% of airfare if funds are available, and regardless of whether the student is giving a paper at the convention. (However, students eligible to apply for subsidy for this purpose from Graduate Division are strongly urged to do so; see details in section [3]). Students may apply for placement-related travel subsidy more than once, but subsequent awards are not automatically granted.

(2) Students may also apply for subsidy for non-placement related travel (i) to the APA convention (e.g. to give a paper, or to gain experience) or (ii) to conferences other than the APA convention. In the latter case the student should normally be a formal participant in the conference, whether by giving or commenting on a paper, or participating in a panel. Students may apply for subsidy for the types of travel listed in this section more than once, but priority is given to first-time applicants. Unlike awards for first-time placement-related travel, awards for the types of travel listed in this section are not automatically granted. (Again, students eligible to apply for subsidy for these purposes from Graduate Division are urged to do so; see details in section [3].)

(3) Students who are "in the final stages of their graduate work" (i.e. advanced to candidacy and working on their dissertations), who are presenting a paper at a professional conference on the topic of their dissertation research, and who are registered Ph.D. students (not on filing fee) in good academic standing, can apply to Graduate Division for travel subsidy. A letter of support from the Graduate Adviser (not the chair of the Heller Cttee) is required. Application must be made at least three weeks before date of travel; earlier application is strongly recommended. No student may apply for such a grant more than once. If a student is eligible for such a grant, application should be made both to Graduate Division and to the Heller Fund, so that the Heller Fund can step in (under the guidelines in sections [1] and [2]) should funding from Graduate Division not be forthcoming. The Heller Fund may provide a supplement to a Graduate Division award if the latter is insufficient to cover airfare. Such a supplement will not count as the student's one-time placement-related award.

(4) Heller fund grants will be given to reimburse long-distance travel only (either airfare or other long-distance travel). They may not normally be used to cover short-distance travel (van, limousine, taxi etc.), lodging, or meal expenses. Travel will be reimbursed up to a maximum that varies annually, or actual fare, whichever is less.

(5) Grants in excess of the maximum may be given to students who must travel to more than one convention in any one year in order to make themselves available for job interviews. [Policy approved December 1999.]

(6) Application for a Heller fund grant should be made by writing to the chair of the Heller committee as early as possible in the fall semester of the year in which you plan to attend the convention. Include relevant details of your long-distance travel plans, and mention whether you have applied for a grant from Graduate Division.

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SUBSIDY FOR SUMMER TRAVEL: POLICIES

(1) Students in graduate programs in Classics or Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology with an emphasis on Classical studies may apply for a grant from the Heller Fund to help cover the costs of overseas travel in the summer.

(2) The purpose of summer travel shall be to pursue an academically justified and practical program of self-enrichment and education either through the travel itself, or through a study project, or both.

(3) The Heller Grant is intended to help graduate students travel for enrichment, study in academic institutions, participate in excavations or other field work, pursue individual research projects, etc.; but not to cover the full cost of such projects. Since the Department offers only supplemental assistance, applicants are urged to seek financial aid from other sources, such as the Graduate Division, foundations, etc.

(4) Students in Classics shall receive priority consideration over students in AHMA.

(5) Students who have not traveled to Classical Lands and/or pursued study projects abroad shall receive priority consideration over students who have done such travel and/or study.

(6) The amount of each grant will depend on the funds available from Heller resources, and on the number of grants awarded.

(7) To apply, fill out the form distributed annually by the Heller Committee in late March, along with a single page containing (a) a description of your overall plan for travel, including a fairly detailed itinerary if enrichment travel is included, (b) an explanation what role that travel will play in your education as a graduate student, and (c) an estimate of your travel costs.

(8) Heller grant recipients are required to submit a brief report describing the project and giving an account of how the funds were used, within three months of the end of the travel or project.

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