Jump to Navigation ▼

Dependent Care Travel Grant Program

Forms

For Tenure Track and Tenured Faculty

(Click here for printable pdf pdf)

Northwestern University offers tenure track and tenured faculty a taxable grant for qualified short-term dependent care expenses incurred when traveling to attend professional meetings, conferences, workshops and professional development opportunities. The grant will be funded at a level intended to provide full compensation for approved incremental expenses, up to a maximum of $500 post-tax per academic year.

Awards may be used for either child or adult dependent care, for:

  • Extra dependent care at home while the recipient is traveling.
  • On-site dependent care at conference or meeting.
  • Cost of transporting dependent and/or caregiver to conference or meeting location.
Grant Amount and Method of Payment

Tenure track and tenured faculty are eligible to receive $500 (post-tax) in funding per academic year. Grants will be administered as either a reimbursement or a grant in advance, and will be paid as additional compensation, considered taxable income, and included in the monthly paycheck. In order to achieve a post-tax grant of approximately $500, the grant, regardless of the individual's tax bracket, will be equal to $675 pre-tax. If expenses are less than $500 for a single travel event, more than one request may be submitted for the academic year, until the maximum post-tax amount is reached. The formula used to calculate a full grant reimbursement will also be applied to expense amounts less than $500, (i.e., expense x 1.35 = pre-tax grant amount).

Reimbursement Request

To receive reimbursement:

  • Complete the Dependent Care Travel Grant Reimbursement Form (PDF).
  • Attach receipts for services listed. Please note that required documentation for reimbursement includes either the social security number or federal tax identification number of the person who provides care.
  • Submit form and receipts within 14 days of return (via campus mail, US mail or by hand delivery) to:

Daphne Fair-Leary
Dependent Care Travel Grant Program
Office of the Provost
633 Clark St., Room 1-112
Evanston campus 1119 (or Evanston, IL 60208)

Reimbursements will be paid by no later than the second pay period after submission.

Grant in Advance

To receive a grant in advance for dependent care expenses that will be incurred while traveling, a Grant in Advance Form should be submitted to the Office of the Provost at least 30 days prior to the travel and must include:

  • Completed Dependent Care Travel Grant in Advance Form (PDF), including a detailed list of anticipated expenses associated with the request, to include, as applicable:
    • Description of planned care including the provider's name, relationship to the applicant, location of care.
    • Hourly cost and number of expected hours of use.
    • Other (cost of preserving child care space at home, caregiver transportation, etc.)
  • Receipts must be submitted with the Dependent Care Travel Grant in Advance Verification Form (PDF) within 14 days of return and, if the costs incurred are less than the grant in advance, repayment will be required. Please note that required documentation for reimbursement includes either the social security number or federal tax identification number of the person who provides care.
  • Submit form and receipts (via campus mail, US mail or by hand delivery) to:

Daphne Fair-Leary
Dependent Care Travel Grant Program
Office of the Provost
633 Clark St., Room 1-112
Evanston campus 1119 (or Evanston, IL 60208)

Grants in advance will be paid through the regular payroll system and considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service (see Grant Amount and Method of Payment above).

Examples

Examples of situations in which grant funding could be used to cover incremental dependent care costs are described below. These examples are meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive. If you have questions about whether a particular situation is covered under the terms of the policy, please contact the Office of the Provost for clarification.

Example 1: In order to present her work at a conference, the faculty member must travel and stay overnight. No home care for her children is available, so they will travel with her. The faculty member could apply to the DCTG program to cover the airfare for her children as well as the cost of on-site day-care available at the conference.

Example 2: The faculty member will travel overnight to a conference and could arrange with the daytime nanny that she stay overnight with the children at home. The faculty member could apply to the DCTG program to cover the incremental cost of the nanny staying overnight with his children.

Example 3: The faculty member, who ordinarily provides care for her father in her home, plans to attend the annual conference of a professional association in her field. The faculty member could apply to the DCTG program to hire a care-giver to stay with her father during her planned absence.

Back to top.