If you will incur expenses for your project, you may wish to apply
for Odyssey funding. Under ordinary circumstances the schedule of deadlines for
funding applications is the following:
October 1 for spring semester and winter break projects;
February 1 for summer projects (see below for
more information on summer proposals);
April 1 for summer, fall semester and winter
projects (see below for more information
on summer proposals).
If the funding deadline falls on a weekend, submissions will be
due by 5 p.m. on the following Monday. Applicants who must have assurance of
funding further in advance than these deadlines allow are encouraged to consult
with the Odyssey Office. In cases where there are extenuating circumstances
(such as timetables imposed by external constituencies), you may be given
permission to apply during an earlier cycle than usual.
Funding proposals for summer experiences can be submitted
either in February or April. If
your plans are finalized before February 1 (e.g., you have been offered a
summer internship placement or undergraduate research opportunity), we suggest
you apply for funding during the February round. Please keep in mind that funding decisions on April
proposals are not announced until early May.
A summer experience proposal that has been rejected for
funding in February can only be resubmitted in April after substantial changes
to the plans or quality of the proposal.
To apply for funding, use the on-line Proposal Form, which will ask if you
need funding.
A. Steps in the Funding Process
1. You are strongly
encouraged to come by the Odyssey Office early in the process for advice and
suggestions as you prepare your proposal. Allow plenty of time to make
revisions and to consult with your supervisor. It is recommended that you meet
with your supervisor at least two weeks before the funding deadline. Note that
resubmissions are not permitted if your proposal does not satisfy the requirements
for Odyssey credit. The deadline is strict because many offices are involved in
the process, and there is a timeline in place for the consideration of
proposals by the CEL that cannot be delayed.
2. The
online Odyssey Proposal Form has sections to fill out if you require funding. You
will also need to complete a Budget form with worksheet for your experience. All of
these forms are available online.
3. Submit
your Proposal Form for funding online and upload your Budget Form. Your supervisor must approve your proposal before it can be
processed. Be aware that your project must be approved for credit BEFORE it can
be forwarded to the Committee on Engaged Learning (CEL) for funding
consideration. Only the proposals that satisfy this first step will be
considered. You will receive an e-mail message from the Odyssey Office
notifying you whether or not your proposal has been approved for credit.
4. After
the funding deadline, the CEL will consider and evaluate all funding requests
forwarded by the Odyssey Office. The committee will determine which requests
are to be funded and the dollar amount of each grant.
5. The CEL will then submit its recommendations to the Committee on
Faculty (CoF) for review. Once the CoF approves the recommendations of the CEL,
the Odyssey Office will notify you via campus mail of the outcome. Note that
your award may be less than your request. Therefore, it is important to have
a back-up plan to cover some of your expenses.
6. If you receive
funding, you will be asked to sign an acceptance form by the deadline
specified in your letter. You
must then work with Janina Cambiano, Manager of the Odyssey Office, to arrange
the disbursal of your funds. If you do not receive funding, you will be given a
deadline to alert the Odyssey Office that you still intend to pursue the
project so it can be included in your record. Otherwise, you will have to
submit a new proposal for credit.
Please note the following policies:
- The
Odyssey Office will prepay as many items on your budget as possible.
- For
most items that cannot be prepaid you must bring receipts for reimbursement. Mileage
is an exception to this policy; no receipts are required. Instead you must
submit the total number of miles driven.
- Cash
advances will be issued only for per diems for meals, currently $35 per day for
either domestic or international projects. No receipts are required for per
diem expenditures.
- Stipends
are paid through the Hendrix College payroll office. The required paperwork
must be completed before stipends can be issued. Taxes will be withheld from
your paycheck. Because the College begins a new fiscal year on June 1, the
earliest stipends can be paid to summer recipients is usually in the third
week of that month. Please plan accordingly. Also, be aware that the
Business Office ceases operations in the last weeks of May, and no payments
will be processed until that office reopens in June.
- If
you are awarded funding for campus housing, those fees will be paid on your
behalf to the Business Office. Please note that Odyssey does not pay for
associated utilities.
7. All funds must be used and all
documentation submitted by May 1 of the fiscal year in which your project takes
place. Any unexpended funds from your grant will be retained by the Odyssey
Office.
B. General Funding Policies
The Committee on Engaged Learning has
issued some general working guidelines for those interested in obtaining
funding for their Odyssey proposals. Each request received by the funding
deadline is considered on its own merits in a competitive process. There are no
category quotas, and there are currently no limits on the number of times you
may submit funding requests.
1. Odyssey
proposals with funding requests must be submitted online.
2. While
excessively lengthy Odyssey proposals are not encouraged or required,
successful proposals provide sufficient detail to allow a thorough
understanding and review of the proposal, without being so long as to be
cumbersome or tedious. The online form is divided into focused sections with
word limits.
3. Budgets
that include student or faculty remuneration must also include the Hendrix
share of FICA expenses (7.65% of gross salary). The recipient’s FICA expenses
will be deducted from the gross salary.
4. Ordinarily,
Odyssey funding will be available only for study abroad experiences that
include a specific, well-defined, distinctive, appropriate, and worthwhile
Odyssey-worthy project. Simply enrolling in a foreign study program, while
eligible for Odyssey credit, will not merit funding.
5. Shared
housing on campus for students engaged in summer research at Hendrix or
qualifying with a PL experience in the local area is eligible for funding. For
any student who lives off-campus at the time that funding is requested and has
a continuing and unbreakable lease already in place, Odyssey will reimburse an
amount equivalent to the cost of shared on-campus summer housing. Evidence of
the lease must be provided. Students who do not have existing housing
commitments will be expected to live in the Hendrix apartments. Please include
housing in the budget submitted with your funding request. Attach a copy of
your lease if appropriate.
6. Normally,
Odyssey funding will not be awarded for:
• tuition at other colleges or universities;
• paid internships or professional field
experiences;
• equipment or hardware;
• projects by seniors that take place
predominantly or exclusively after their graduation;
• faculty stipends for projects that are carried
out during the academic year while classes are in session; or
• ordinary expenses to travel abroad (items such
as passports, visas, immunizations, etc.).
7. Students
who are on disciplinary probation or who are in financial arrears to the
College (without a payment plan in place) are
ineligible to receive Odyssey funding. At the time of a student’s applying
for funding either individually with a group, the Odyssey Office will check on
these issues with the Office of Student Affairs and the Business Office. The Odyssey Office will not forward funding
applications to the Committee on Engaged Learning (CEL) unless the situation is
remedied by the time the CEL begins consideration of proposals for that funding
cycle.
Therefore, all students applying for
Odyssey funding will be asked to sign the following statement:
“By signing below, I/we request that the
Office of Student Affairs and the Business Office provide to the Odyssey Office
access to relevant information in student personal files and student financial
accounts (i.e. whether a student is on disciplinary probation or is financially
in arrears to the College). This permission is given with the understanding
that all such information will not be shared outside the Odyssey Office and
will only be used to determine eligibility for funding.”
Additionally, all students who will
participate in a funded project are subject to the same review and must be in
good standing regarding discipline and financial status to participate in the
experience. Please note that this may impact group projects if one or more
proposers become ineligible.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CEL DOES NOT EXPECT A
SPECIFIC PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION AS PART OF STUDENT-INITIATED FUNDING REQUESTS. HOWEVER,
IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO KEEP YOUR EXPENSES REASONABLE, AND IT IS HELPFUL
TO THE COMMITTEE TO KNOW WHICH ONES YOU CAN COVER YOURSELF. IT IS ALSO
APPROPRIATE AND ADVISABLE FOR FACULTY AND STAFF TO REQUIRE PERSONAL
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN GROUP PROJECTS THAT THEY DESIGN.
C. Funding for First-Time Travel to Present AC and UR Projects
Odyssey
will fund student travel (transportation costs, lodging expenses, registration
costs, and a per diem for food) up to $1,000 per person who has been accepted for
individual or small group presentation of undergraduate research or artistic
creations at any state, regional, national, or international meeting organized
for such presentations. The request must be the first one to come from a
student during his or her Hendrix career, and the project must be approved for
AC or UR credit by the Odyssey Office. Requests to use this travel money must
be submitted online with a First-Time
AC/UR Travel Grant Request Form and will be accepted by the Odyssey Office on a rolling basis as
long as funds are available in a given fiscal year.
Students may apply for additional funding
for:
• any
costs that exceed $1,000 for the first trip;
• presentations
at professional meetings after the first one.
However, these additional requests will
not be automatically funded and, instead, will be considered in the pool of
funding requests from students and faculty for the appropriate cycle.
A presentation is considered the required
CULMINATION of a UR project, and it could be the culmination of an AC project.
The project must be completed by May 1 of the fiscal year in which the travel
grant is requested. It is therefore in your best interest to postpone applying
for the travel grant until you are ready to complete your project.
Travel supported by a First-Time AC/UR
Travel Grant should be completed before graduation from Hendrix. However, in
rare circumstances, an appropriate professional conference or performance may
occur after the student has been graduated. In such cases, travel will be
supported if:
• the
above policies are followed;
• the
majority of the research or preparation occurs while the student is still
enrolled;
• the
student applies for First-Time AC/UR Travel during her or his senior year
(while still enrolled);
• the
student has not presented the research or performed the material before;
• the
conference or presentation occurs within three months of the student’s official
graduation date; and
• the
Odyssey supervisor for the AC or UR credit submits a statement of support
providing compelling reasons for a post-graduation presentation or performance.
D. Requirements for Odyssey Grant Recipients
All recipients of Odyssey funding who
accept their grants must sign a form agreeing to the following before any
funding will be released:
_______By accepting this Odyssey grant, I
hereby acknowledge my obligation to complete the project for which this funding
is awarded within ONE YEAR of the time of this acceptance or by the time of my
GRADUATION from Hendrix College, whichever comes first. If I fail to
participate in the project or am unable to complete the project prior to the
deadline established in the preceding sentence, I shall refund to Hendrix
College the full amount of the grant set forth above.
_______I acknowledge that the project is
not considered complete until a “Project Completion Form” is submitted to and
approved by the Hendrix College Odyssey Office.
_______If asked by the Hendrix Office of
Development, I agree to write a thank you note to the donor who made my Odyssey
project possible.
_______I will consult with the Odyssey
Office for details about processing this grant funding.
IF THIS AGREEMENT IS NOT MET, A HOLD WILL
BE PLACED ON YOUR ACCOUNT IN THE BUSINESS OFFICE UNTIL THE PROJECT IS COMPLETE
OR THE MONEY RETURNED TO ODYSSEY. Under extenuating circumstances, you may
request an extension of this deadline. Submit your request in writing to the
director of the Odyssey Program.
Please note that while the project itself
may not be complete, all funds must be expended and accounted for by May 1 of
the fiscal year in which the project takes place.