In addition to Faculty Development Accounts (FDAs) and startup funds for new tenure-track faculty, the College also supports faculty professional travel through the Headley Travel Fund. This fund has two components: an endowed fund (which also bears the name Headley) and an operating budget, both of which are managed by the Office of the Provost.

All faculty can apply to the Headley Travel Fund to support professional travel, independent of whether they are eligible for an annual FDA allocation, as long as they are employed by Carleton when that travel will occur.  

The application form for the Headley Travel Fund is linked from the Requests for Financial Support page of the Provost Office’s website. Since faculty members who have an FDA are expected to use their FDA to finance their first trip in each fiscal year that is paid for by Carleton sources, faculty who apply for Headley Travel Funds will be asked to submit information about their first trip of the fiscal year, including a list of expenses connected with that trip that have been, or will be, charged to their FDA. Faculty are expected to apply for support from the Headley Travel Fund at least one month before the travel is to take place. Applications will be considered in the order in which they are received and applications submitted after the travel has begun will only be considered in special circumstances.

Faculty for whom the cost of the first trip of the fiscal year is greater than the annual FDA allocation and greater than their FDA balance are eligible for Headley funding to cover the difference between their FDA balance and the cost of their first trip of the fiscal year.  

Expenses which are eligible to be covered by Headley funds include the following:

• conference registration fees;
• a competitively priced airfare for round-trip travel between Minneapolis and the meeting location;
• competitively priced lodging for the nights required to attend the event;
• ground transportation to and from the relevant airports;
• reasonably priced meals for the faculty member during travel and while at the event.

For travel by private car, mileage will be paid at the regular College rate. If this cost exceeds the cost of round-trip airfare then the reimbursement will be limited to the cost of round-trip airfare.

Headley funds are limited, so some restrictions are in place to make them available to as many faculty as possible. These include the following:

• Faculty who have sufficient funds in their FDA to cover the cost of professional travel beyond their first trip of the fiscal year are expected to use those funds to cover those costs before applying for Headley funds.
• Separate trips require separate Headley requests.
• In general, Headley funds cannot be used to support travel to locations within 100 miles of Northfield.
• Headley funds are only intended to cover travel specifically and primarily for the purpose of professional development, typically through meeting or conference attendance. They are not intended to support meeting or conference attendance which is incidental to travel for other purposes, such as holiday trips or family vacations.

Due in part to these restrictions, faculty can expect certain levels of Headley funding to be available.

• Faculty who are eligible for an annual FDA allocation can normally expect to receive full funding for one Headley request in each fiscal year. 
• Full-time visiting faculty members are guaranteed up to $1500 of Headley funding in each fiscal year, though if funds allow then requests from visiting faculty for up to $2000 in a fiscal year will be funded.
• If funds allow, then a faculty member may receive full or partial funding for requests beyond their first request of the fiscal year.

Since the Headley Travel Fund cannot usually accommodate all funding requests, faculty who plan early and avail themselves of special incentive airfares can help to stretch the Headley Fund and allow more of their colleagues to travel. In addition, faculty who have received Headley funding, but due to a change of plans do not make use of them, are urged to inform the Office of the Provost as soon as possible. Prompt notification sometimes makes it possible for a colleague’s application to be approved.