Professional Development Micro-Grants
USHRAB is now offering micro-grants up to $1,000 to fund archival professional development and networking opportunities for individuals who work with records and historical documents in Utah, including but not limited to archivists, records keepers, and cultural heritage workers. This is a need-based award intended for volunteers, paraprofessionals, students, and early- or mid-career professionals at institutions that cannot fund such opportunities. These funds can be used to pay fees for formal training courses, professional organization conference registration fees, and other development opportunities. Applicants must reside in Utah, and the professional development opportunity must occur within the current state fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) and has not yet been attended by the applicant. Please submit applications or questions to ushrab@utah.gov.
Examples of qualified opportunities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Courses offered by the Society of American Archivists (offered year round)
- Utah Collections Preservation Workshops and Webinars
- The Annual Meeting of the National Council on Public History
- The Utah Library Association/MPLA Joint Conference
- The Annual Conference of the American Institute for Conservation
- Conference of Intermountain Archivists Annual Conference
- CIMA Fall Caucus In-Person Viewing at the Division of Archives and Records Service
- Utah Museums Association Conference
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To Apply
Applicants must write an essay (max 500 words) describing their career or experience related to archives/records, the professional development opportunity they wish to attend (including website links), the funding amount requested and why they are in need of these funds. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please submit your application no later than 2 weeks before the date of the event. Earlier is always better.
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Funding Disbursement
Recipients must agree that the funds will be used for the purposes stated in their essay and that they will write a 500 word reflection essay on how the professional development experience will impact their work moving forward before checks will be issued. Cumulative awards greater than $600 in a year may result in award recipients incurring state/federal tax obligations. Please reach out to ushrab@utah.gov to learn more.
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Travels Costs
If the professional development opportunity requires travel, applicants may include travel costs in their funding request if they reside more than 75 miles from the location of the opportunity (i.e. if they live more than 75 miles from the location hosting a conference). Please estimate mileage with the IRS rate of $.70/mile.
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Who can apply
Preference for USHRAB Scholarships will be given to students, paraprofessionals, and/or candidates from underserved communities, in alignment with the strategic vision of the USHRAB. If scholarship applicants do not fall within these groups a good faith effort will be made to award funding to the most deserving candidates.