Professional Development Fund

This year's Academic Salary Policy provided for continuance of the Professional Development Fund, to be used to reimburse expenses incurred by eligible academic staff for professional development.

Each eligible staff member is allowed up to $750 annually. Eligible staff who do not use the full $750 in a given fiscal year may carry forward all, or any unused amount derived over two consecutive years, for a cumulative maximum of $1500. The $750 allocation is prorated in the first year of hire according to the start-date within the University Fiscal Year.

The Program is operated on the University’s Fiscal Year which is 01 May to 30 April. All reports must be processed through Workday Expenses. Please see the Financial Services Knowledge Base Quick Links Reference List for more information.

The deadline to submit an expense report for the current fiscal year is 15 April.

Eligibility

Eligible staff members hold one of the following active appointments during the relevant reference period at one of the following ranks:

• Tenure-track or tenured Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professors; or
• Tenure-track or tenured Assistant Librarians, Associate Librarians or Full Librarians; or
• Ranked Contract Academic Staff (CAS) Faculty Lecturer, Senior Faculty Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor, if campus-based and full-time salaried

Staff appointed as Assistant Professor (Special Category) are ineligible for the Program.

Eligible Expenses

Professional development fund expenses must contribute to a staff member’s professional development. Examples of eligible expenses include:

• Membership in scholarly societies
• Membership in professional order or association, if required for the position held
• Computer hardware and software in support of professional development or academic duties*
• Registration for scholarly meetings, conferences, and seminars
• Subscriptions to scholarly journals and purchases of scholarly books
• Reimbursement related to publication fees, notably related to open access (e.g., article processing charges APCs, etc.)
• Reimbursement of travel and/or accommodation for meetings, professional conferences or seminars
• Supplement to the Academic Laptop Program*

*Eligible faculty members will need to buy their computer equipment in the McGill MarketPlace (MMP). Computer accessories (ie. keyboard, mouse, webcam) may be purchased from other retail locations. If an eligible faculty member's PDF balance is not sufficient to cover the cost, they will need to use another fund (credit cards cannot be used). As usual, the PDF does not accommodate financial transfers between funds. If an eligible faculty member wishes to place an order in MMP, they should reach out to their respective Faculty contact (see below), to obtain the FOAPAL. Electronic equipment that is purchased in part or in full through the PDF Program is subject to the McGill University IT Asset Management Regulation and must be returned to the University upon the staff member’s departure.

Note that all expenses must also be compliant with the Financial Services Travel and other expenses policy

Exclusions

The Professional Development Fund does not support the purchase of:

• Printers/scanners
• Office supplies (including printer ink)
• Office furniture
• Networking devices (including, but not limited to, ethernet switches and cables, wireless adaptors, routers, modems, range extenders, and powerline adaptors) 

Request for Reimbursement

The program is administered directly by the Faculties and Library & Archives. Please consult your Faculty contact for further instructions. Faculty contacts responsible for administrating the pdf funds may continue to reach out to pdf [at] mcgill.ca for further guidance.