Purpose

Professional Advancement Grants (PAG) are provided to graduate and professional students at Iowa State by the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) to help defray expenses related to conference travel.

Amount of Support

The maximum amount of a PAG award for the 2025-2026 fiscal year is $250. 

Receiving PAG Funds

  1. An applicant who has never received a PAG before has priority, and will receive a decision as long as there are funds available.
  2. After approval of the first-time applicant on the first-come, first-served policy, remaining funds will be allocated to returning PAG applicants on a first-come, first-served policy.
  3. A student will NEVER receive PAG funds upfront, they will only be disbursed as a reimbursement for actual expenses occurred.
  4. The Graduate College manages the PAG account, and verifies all withdrawal requests.

Travel Reimbursement

  1. A student MAY file for their PAG by themselves now through Workday. The associated worktag is PG102496 ("program" line of the expense report). Instructions for Workday can be found here
  2. Dispersal of funds will conform to ISU policies.
  3. Reimbursements must be completed within 1 month from the last date of travel.
  4. Reimbursements will only be approved for actual expenses incurred.
  5. All lodging receipts and all receipts for items $75 or greater must be retained in the traveler's academic department. The Graduate College will not be responsible for the retention of traveler's receipts.
     

You can submit your receipts, travel business purpose, and worktag PG102496 for up to $250 plus any other worktag that might be covering additional expenses to finance_delivery@iastate.edu. 

If for some reason you are having challenges with accessing this via Workday please contact finance_delivery@iastate.edu.

Travel Cancellation

  1. If a student is funded to attend a conference and does not attend, the student must notify the Senate Information Officer in writing (gpsssio@iastate.edu) to cancel their PAG for that conference no later than 2 weeks after the conference.
  2. Students who do not follow the procedure to cancel will not be allowed to apply for an additional PAG within the same fiscal year.
  3. Funds awarded for travel to one conference cannot be transferred to another.


Please email gpsssio@iastate.edu and gpssexec@iastate.edu if you have questions or concerns not addressed in the FAQ section, or have specific questions about your application.