Awards

• Must be a member of an underrepresented group.
• Must maintain full-time enrollment upon enrollment in a degree program
• Must remain in academic good standing (see Graduate Catalog for description of academic good standing) 

Note: Permanent residents, students admitted on probation and LSU Online Students are not eligible. 

Note: Students who are placed on academic probation may not hold a GSTA without approved petition. 

Note: Citizens from the following countries are not considered under-represented on the LSU campus and therefore are ineligible for this award: China, Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Iran, Nepal, and Nigeria. (This is subject to change.)

Note: Tuition Award recipients will become ineligible to retain the award if they are awarded a graduate assistantship or other award that includes a tuition exemption.

Note: For GSTA's the Associate Dean can approve one semester deferral of the GSTA award for a student entering in the Fall who defers admission to Spring; or for a student entering in the Spring who defers to Summer. However, deferral of the GSTA cannot occur from Spring to Fall dues to budgetary restrictions. Additionally, requests for deferrals of GSTA for a second semester will not be entertained. 

• Two-year award
• Covers tuition and non-resident fee, if applicable
  • (Recipient is responsible for all other fees.)
• Awards are made on a first-come basis.

• The deadline for nominations from the departments to be received by the Graduate School is generally in early Spring.
• Departments can access the most updated deadlines our InfoReady Award Portal.
• Award nomination must be submitted via our InfoReady Award Portal.

Email questions to gradawards@lsu.edu.

• In-State: $100.00
• Out-of-State: $200.00
• International: $450.00

Travel awards are contingent upon the availability of funds and the number of types of applications received.

As of May 1, 2021, LSU has resumed business travel. Please reference the Current Travel Policy for more information. Please note that in-state and international travel currently hold different policies. 

• Be presenting work completed while enrolled at LSU.
• Be listed as first author of the abstract.
  • Consideration will be given to students who have been invited to exhibit or perform their artistic work.
• Be enrolled full time during the semester of travel as well as the Fall/Spring semester immediately preceding travel. The student is required to be enrolled full-time and maintain full-time enrollment during the semester of travel. In addition, since all research for the presentation must have been conducted while enrolled at LSU, the student is also required to have been enrolled full-time for at least one regular semester (Fall or Spring) of graduate study at LSU immediately preceding travel. Summer enrollment is not required, but if travel is being requested for conferences during the summer, the student must have been enrolled full-time in the previous Spring semester and either the Summer or upcoming Fall semester.

• Be in good academic standing.
• Book airfares through the state travel agency, Christopherson Business Travel (CBT).

Students are eligible to receive the following number of Graduate Student Travel Awards:

• Master’s Degree students – one award during the student’s academic career.
• Doctoral Students – three awards for the student’s academic career.
• Students who transition from Master’s to Doctoral programs can receive no more than three awards during their academic career.
  • This includes students involved in dual-enrollment and other related programs.

For more information on appeals for application denial, please refer to the "Appeals Process" section.

The Graduate School will begin accepting applications 90 days before the scheduled travel departure date, and not less than 30 days before departure.  

Students are responsible for adhering to all set deadlines and submitting the following:

• A completed application form via InfoReady. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 pm (Central Standard Time) on the deadline date.

Attach the following documents to your application:  

1. An Abstract

Depending on the type of presentation, submit either an abstract for a work being presented or an artistic abstract.  

• Abstract for work being presented. The abstract must include the following:
  • Title of Abstract
  • A list of authors in order of contribution
    Note: Suppose a student’s poster/presentation is in a discipline that requires authors to be listed in alphabetical order rather than in order of contribution. In that case, the student must include a list of authors in order of contribution.
  • Abstract must be Maximum 1 page in length and submitted as a PDF file.   
     
    or
• Artistic work abstract submission. The abstract must include the following:
  • A paragraph listing the name of work/exhibit
  • Date and location of the venue
  • A description of student’s participation (i.e., conducting created musical piece, performing in an ensemble, etc.)
  • Maximum 1 page in length and in PDF file format

 2. Proof of Acceptance

Attach proof of acceptance to present at the conference. This attachment may be in the form of a letter or e-mail from conference organizers and/or a copy of the conference program schedule listing the presenter, poster/presentation title, time, etc.  

If proof of presentation and abstract criteria is met, the application is then forwarded for further evaluation.

Note: All attached documents must be in English and self-contained in PDF format. No external links or sources will be referenced.

Each application is scored based on whether they meet additional criteria. Each application is scored by all six voting committee members (5 GSA members & Graduate School Associate Dean) for an average score. After all committee members have submitted their evaluation scores, a cutoff score is produced based on the number of applications and the available funds.

Further evaluation criteria for award selection would include:

• Conference or event type
• Student conference or event involvement
• LSU student involvement
• Number of previously received awards
• Short response evaluation

• If you have submitted by the 15th of the month, a response can be expected within 30 days*
  • Ex: If the application was submitted between September 16 and October 15 expect a response by November 15.
  • The GSA Committee will inform students of their decision via email.

*Please take holidays and university closures into consideration.

For further information on denials, please refer to the "Appeals Process" section.

• Spend Authorization – after award has been received but prior to travel:
  • A Spend Authorization must be submitted and approved before departure
  • Attach the award approval email notification and the AS350 to the Spend Authorization.
• Expense Report – after returning from travel and in order to get reimbursed students must:
  • Complete and submit an Expense Report in Workday.
  • Attach the award approval email notification, AS350 and supplemental documentation to the Expense Report.
  • Students are responsible for providing all required documents to their departmental office promptly upon return from the trip.
  • Departments must then submit travel reimbursement requests to the Travel Office in Accounting Services within the 30 day deadline from date of student return.

GSA travel awards expire thirty days after the scheduled return date.

• Students may file an appeal to gsatravelaward@lsu.edu within 14 days from day of receiving denial notification.
• Student must submit the following documents:
  • Reason for which the student believes that the decision made was incorrect.
  • Original denial email from GSA Travel Award.
  • Supplemental documentation to contest GSA committee decision.
• Documentation will be reviewed by a 3rd party within the LSU Graduate School.
• Appeals will be reviewed but only granted if designated funds have not been exhausted.

For GSA Travel award questions regarding pre-award eligibility, evaluation criteria, application processing, Spend Authorization and Expense Reports, email gsatravelaward@lsu.edu.