Dear Doctoral and MFA Students,

I want to begin by acknowledging what a stressful time this is for so many members of our community. We are writing now in response to questions we have received seeking to understand how conference and research travel will be affected by the University’s new measures to ensure financial sustainability, in addition to questions about recent travel guidance for the international community.

Funding for Essential Conference and Research Travel
The Graduate School recognizes the important role of conferences and research travel for early-career scholars. We therefore will continue to provide funding for PhD and MFA student travel when it is essential for your progress toward degree completion and there is no viable virtual alternative. This support is subject to existing policies and should be considered together with the travel guidance for the international community. Essential travel is supported as follows, while non-essential travel is not eligible for funding from the Graduate School:

• Conference travel: This travel is deemed essential when the student is presenting at a conference and a viable virtual alternative is not available. The travel will be funded as usual in these cases.
• Research travel: If the travel is essential for advancing students’ scholarship (e.g. field data collection, archival visits), and a virtual alternative is not available, funding for this travel will continue. If a student can substitute virtual collaboration for the travel, the travel will be deemed non-essential and therefore ineligible for funding.
• Travel already (partially) paid for: If the travel is not essential and there are significant unpaid expenses beyond what has already been purchased, the travel is considered non-essential and additional funding would not be provided. If the travel is essential and/or has already been fully paid for (without the possibility of a refund), then it should proceed as planned.
• Internal award programs: We currently anticipate that many internal award programs, including the Graduate School’s Joukowsky Summer Research Awards and Research Mobility Fellowships, will continue to fund travel that is essential for student research for summer 2025 and fall 2025. However, this approach could change if there are changes in broader circumstances.

International Travel Guidance
For international students planning international travel, including U.S. visa holders and permanent residents, we would direct you to the information included in the message from Executive Vice President Russell Carey with Travel Guidance. Please also know that Brown is continually monitoring the evolving federal policy landscape and will release updates when they are available. Highlighted here are some of the important resources that were included in prior messages:

• OISSS Guidance on What to Bring When Traveling
• Office of Global Engagement FAQs: In light of some of the questions we have received, we would highlight the following section in particular:

Additional resources and contacts for PhD and MFA students include:

• A graduate student assistance fund for international students which provides up to $500 for visa-related administrative fees and/or legal fees.
• Home Away from Home Series Spring 2025 (Register for Self Care and Community Connections on April 1)

Please note that in the event of a student facing difficulty returning to campus, the Graduate School works individually with the student, graduate program, OISSS, and other units to identify the best options (e.g., adjusting appointments, preponing any available fellowships, shifting to scholarship appointments, or exploring inactive status where no other options exist) while following applicable Federal and State laws and regulations as well as the graduate student union contract (please see Article XII, sections 5 and 6 of the contract).

Students and programs can reach out to the Graduate School at graduate_school@brown.edu with any questions.
 
Thank you for your efforts as the Brown community navigates these challenges.

Sincerely,