Graduate and professional schools
Research, rotations and the conference circuit.
Graduate and professional students travel to present, to collect data, to train in placements and rotations, and to interview. Faculty and staff recruit, host visiting scholars and run programs abroad. Much of it is paid from awards and small travel grants, and every dollar has to be accounted for.
Graduate travel this term
At a glance
How graduate schools usually travel
- Most trips
- Conferences and research
- Often long
- Fieldwork and placements
- Paid from
- Awards, travel grants, program funds
- Who approves
- PI, program director, dean
- Special care
- International and remote fieldwork
Who travels
Who travels from a graduate school
Researchers in the field
Doctoral and postdoctoral fieldwork, archives and field sites, sometimes for weeks or months.
Students presenting
Conferences and symposia, often paid from small departmental travel grants.
Placements and rotations
Clinical rotations, residencies, practicums and internships away from campus.
Recruiting
Program recruiters on the road, and candidates flown in for interview and visit days.
Visiting scholars
Speakers, examiners and visiting faculty, booked as guest travelers.
Programs abroad
Global health, policy and business programs with cohorts traveling together.
Approvals
Approved by whoever holds the money
The principal investigator approves award-funded travel; the program director approves program travel; the dean's office sets the policy.
- Each student or researcher has a named approver, such as their PI or program director
- Restricted destinations that always need approval, for higher-risk fieldwork
- Re-approval when a change costs more, common in long field seasons
- Approver sees the justification and the price against the cheapest in-policy option
Paying for it
Award, grant and program
Graduate travel often draws on several small sources. Code each charge to the right one, and reallocate with the change recorded if it moves.
| Money | How it is coded |
|---|---|
| School or campus | Entity |
| Department or program | Department |
| Research award or fellowship | Project |
| Departmental travel grant | Project |
A typical year
A graduate school travel year
Fall
Recruiting and conferences
- Recruiters on the road
- Fall conference season
Winter
Interviews and visit days
- Candidates booked as guest travelers
- Spring fieldwork planned and approved
Spring
Conferences and programs abroad
- Poster and paper presentations
- Program cohorts travel
Summer
Field season and placements
- Long fieldwork trips with changes along the way
- Rotations and practicums begin
Year-end
Report to sponsors
- Travel by award for sponsor reports
- Exports for the general ledger
Who does what
The school and the travel team
| Task | Your institution | silentVIP |
|---|---|---|
| Approve the trip | PI or program director | Checks options against policy |
| Fieldwork risk review | Institution's review process | Restricted destinations flagged for approval |
| Federally funded travel rules | Applies award terms | Books the options your rules allow |
| Long trips with changes | Tells us what changed | Rebooks; costlier changes go back for approval |
| Insurance, visas, medical care | Institution or traveler | Itineraries that fit entry requirements |
| Incidents while away | Institution's emergency process | Incident monitoring 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; contacts the traveler |
Before fieldwork abroad
Official sources to check
- Government travel advice for the destination: US State Department travel advisories
- US citizens can register trips with STEP
- Federally funded international flights: the Fly America Act
- Cost principles for federal awards: 2 CFR Part 200
Questions
Common questions
Can students travel on a faculty member's award?
If the award and your institution allow it, yes: the trip is coded to that award as its project, and the PI can be the named approver.
Fieldwork plans change constantly. How does that work?
Tell us what changed and we rebook. Same-cost, in-policy changes don't need re-approval; costlier ones go back to the approver.
Can visiting scholars and candidates be booked?
Yes, as guest travelers, billed to the host department and project.
Can students book themselves?
Live self-service search across airline and hotel inventory is not available today. Travelers request a trip and choose from the options our team sends.
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