Heinstadt Grant Fund
John P. Heinstadt Professional Development Grant Fund for Students
The John P. Heinstadt Professional Development Grant Fund for Students gives Wentworth students the ability to take advantage of career, leadership, social justice, and community development opportunities. It has been utilized to help students attend national conferences, present papers, compete in academic competitions, and other ways that help them develop. Submit all applications electronically. A committee will review the application and typically responds within three to five business days.
Those who have already received funding from the grant cannot reapply for the same event. This includes clubs, who are returning to the same conference, even if the membership is different from the previous trip or it is held in a different city. Clubs should budget for reoccurring trips and not rely on funding from the grant. Individuals and groups who have previously received funding are welcome to apply for different events, conferences, and opportunities.
What is the Professional Development Grant?
Professional development may occur on or off campus. On-campus activities that meet one of the above listed areas of professional development may be eligible for funding. Additionally, the grants aid student groups or individual students in attending various professional development opportunities, including workshops, symposia, conferences, competitions, lectures, networking events, or other activities that support students’ professional development. Funds are not available as part of a graded course activity. The grants are intended to assist students with some of the expenses, including travel, registration, and/or lodging, of the professional development activity. Grants do not cover meals during the professional development experience.
Eligibility
Undergraduate students who wish to apply for a grant must be currently enrolled at Wentworth Institute of Technology when the grant is submitted, must be currently enrolled at the time of the professional development experience or have plans to graduate within a month of the experience, and must be in good academic & disciplinary standing at the time of the experience. Graduate students who wish to apply for a grant must be currently enrolled at Wentworth Institute of Technology when the grant is submitted, must be currently enrolled at the time of the professional development experience or have plans to graduate within six months of the experience, and must be in good academic & disciplinary standing at the time of the experience. Individual students can apply as a group in one application. If students apply separately to attend the same experience, the committee will consider all students as applying together and may make funding decisions based on the entire group traveling to the same experience.
Student groups applying for a grant must be registered with the Center for Wellness, the Center for Student Life, or the Center for Diversity and Global Education or be a department-recognized student organization with an active LeopardSpot page. The events/activities must relate to one of the professional development areas listed above.
Please note: Students cannot seek a grant as reimbursement for any past event or activity without prior approval from Dr. Joseph Rios.
Application Process: Students must apply at least one month before the event or activity they wish to attend (graduate students may need to plan further in advance). This request includes a substantial summary of the professional development opportunity and an estimated budget. When creating the budget, please note that the grant cannot be used for food/meals. Additionally, students are not permitted to use housing/room-sharing services (like AirBnB).
Student Organization Requests: Complete the Budget Request, Heinstadt Professional Development Fund for Student Groups and Organizations, available through your LeopardSpot Finance portal.
Individual or Small Group Requests: Submit a Budget Request, Heinstadt Professional Development Fund for Individual Students, through LeopardSpot. Review the instructions on how to locate the request in your personal LeopardSpot account settings.
All applications must be submitted via the appropriate form. If you are having difficulty with the form, please contact Dr. Joseph Rios, Director of Student Engagement.
Applications are accepted and reviewed until the annual funds have been depleted. Applicants seeking funding for events or programs that will start after June of each year should submit their applications earlier than the month requirement.
The request will be reviewed by a committee of staff & faculty members. Students will be notified of the acceptance or non-acceptance of the grant application within three to five business days. Students should not assume that they are guaranteed funding when submitting an application. The committee may decide to fully fund the request, fund a portion of the request, or deny funding.
Grants awarded to student groups will be distributed through their Center Advisor. Individual students or small groups of students receiving funding who are not applying as a student organization will meet with the Director of Student Engagement before and after the event to review the funding process and review post-event requirements.
The application includes the following:
Student’s name -or- name of student group
Current contact information and Wentworth ID number
Name and date of event/activity
Summary of the professional development activity
Amount being requested from the grant
Indicate which of the four themes, career exploration, leadership development, promotion of social justice, service to the community, is/are being met and how that theme will develop the student/group
A detailed budget, which includes a projected expense report, a summary of organization and/or individual contributions, and a listing of all support, income or out-of-pocket expenses that will cover event expenses.
If you are presenting research at a conference, please include confirmation that the faculty member who led/supervised this research is aware of and agrees to the research being presented
The grant committee may deny a request if the conference is deemed to be a predatory conference. Predatory conferences often charge a high fee and provide little to no content or services when the participants arrive and/or have a history of canceling parts or whole days of the conference.