OCG staff attend a variety of conferences, including research administration professional associations, professional development conferences and meetings, and meetings for associations such as FDP and COGR.

Attendance at professional association and professional development conferences and meetings require a conference application. Meetings for associations and IMURA are attended by members of senior leadership, as determined by the Director and Deputy Director, and do not require an application (note that our FDP membership requires meeting attendance).

Conference travel that requires an application is reviewed three times annually through an application process in order to better manage a limited travel budget and track conference travel among OCG staff.

Note: If you intend to propose a presentation for a professional association meeting, it is recommended to discuss your plans, attendance at the meeting, and application timeline with your supervisor. Your supervisor can help determine which deadline to submit an OCG Conference Application.

Application Deadlines

Generally the timeframe for deadlines are:

For conferences occurring

March and later

July and later

November and later

Date application due to supervisor

January 15

May 1

September 15

Date application due to Director/Deputy Director

January 31

May 15

September 30

Employee notified of application status

February 15

June 1

October 15

Process

Staff should complete the conference application and submit to their supervisor.

The supervisor will recommend or not recommend the application and note on the form the reason. Applications, whether recommended or not, are forward to the Director and Deputy Director. If a supervisor does not recommend attendance for conference travel, they will meet with the employee and review the reasons for not recommending the application.

The Director and Deputy Director will review all forwarded applications for final approval.

The supervisor review and the final review will take into consideration a number of criteria including:

  • Employee has been with OCG for a minimum of one year
  • Past performance
  • Involvement with professional associations, including volunteer activity at conferences
  • Current CRA and need for CRA contact hours
  • OCG budget limitations
  • Staffing implications

After final review, all applicants will be notified both in writing and in-person of their application status.

Expectations for Approved Conference Travel

Approval for conference travel includes the following expectations for the employee to:

  • Consult with the Training Development Specialist after travel has been approved to discuss preparations and practice of their presentation, if they are speaking at the event, or guidance on how to get the most out of the conference.
  • While attending the conference, provide some volunteer service to the professional organization. The Training Development Specialist will assist employees with identifying these opportunities.
  • Upon returning from the workshop, conference or meeting employee will schedule time to meet with the Training Development Specialist to discuss the information disseminated at the event and determine how the information, tools or materials from the conference will be shared with OCG.