Chair Announcement

RE: Call for Annual National Meeting Travel Award Nominations

At the April 2008 business meeting, the Region VI Advisory Committee decided to fund four awards to support travel to this year's Annual Meeting. The meeting is scheduled for November 2-5, 2008, in Washington , D.C. Each of the four travel awards will provide a research administrator in the Region VI geographic area with up to $750 for transportation, hotel, and food expenses associated with attending the meeting.

The nomination form can be accessed on the NCURA Region VI website (http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/r6ncura/TRA.aspx). Please pay particular attention to the eligibility and application criteria listed below.  In addition, general information about the NCURA Annual Meeting can be found on the NCURA website at www.ncura.edu . As this is NCURA's 50th anniversary, we anticipate that this will be very special meeting.

Please note that nominees do not have to be members of NCURA at the time of nomination, and that individuals may nominate themselves for the awards.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Nominees must be research administrators from the Region VI geographic area (AK, CA, HI, NV, OR, and WA).

2. Nominees must not have previously attended an NCURA-sponsored meeting or conference (training courses or web seminar attendance is acceptable).

3. Nominees must demonstrate both the potential benefit of the award, and the individual or institutional need for travel assistance.

4. Awardees or their home institutions must agree to cover the cost of the meeting registration fee.

How to Apply:

Nominations must be completed via the online NCURA Region VI application form ( http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/r6ncura/TRA.aspx ) and must be accompanied by at least one letter of support. The letter of support must be provided by someone at the nominee's institution, and should ideally be written by a supervisor or someone who can authorize meeting attendance. The letter should be uploaded into the online application form along with the nominee's statement of interest.

Selection Considerations:

Selection of the awardees will be determined by the Regional Awards Committee, based on perceived need and potential benefit to the nominee and the nominee's institution. The Committee's decisions will be final. Selection criteria used by the Committee include:

•  Description of the reason for or benefit of attendance

•  Candidate's contribution to his/her organization, and ability to add value to organization if able to attend the meeting

•  Relevant experience of the candidate

•  Strength and applicability of support letter(s)

•  Reasons why the applicant's institution could not support the applicant's attendance (in the absence of a travel award) at the Annual Meeting

The deadline for submission of nominations is August 1, 2008 . Awards will be announced by September 4, 2008 to permit awardees sufficient time to register for the meeting and make hotel and travel arrangements.

Bruce Morgan

Region VI Chair