Beyond the Classroom Grants

For AY 2025-2026, CLCS will support twenty Beyond the Classroom speakers with honoraria capped at $250.

Instructors imagining a more ambitious program or a workshop may instead apply for an Academic Programming Grant.

Applicant Eligibility: Any instructor in the Department of English at the University of Maryland may apply. Priority will be given to projects and/or speakers that support the English studies curriculum.

Speaker Eligibility: Please note that funds are not available for “visits” by individuals within the University of Maryland System. We cannot compensate employees on payroll in the UMS.

Application and deadline: Submit your request here. For best consideration for the fall semester, submit your request by 28 August 2025. For best consideration for the spring semester, submit your request by 2 February 2026.

Administer Your Grant:

• Once funding is granted, awardees need to submit a completed and signed honorarium letter and W9 form to the Business Office. Business office forms are linked here. Information about generating a contract and an overview of the payment process is available from the Business Office via this link. A template honorarium letter is available linked here. Instructions to supply to speakers for how they may create an account as a vendor are available here. Please note: Simplify the processing and ask the speaker to provide their LEGAL NAME, the one they'll use to complete federal forms, from the outset--the contract letter MUST match exactly the name they'll use, to include a middle name if that's how they sign themselves. Please also note: honoraria payments cannot be processed until the event has occurred; they typically take 4-6 weeks from that date to wend their way through the system.
• Submit your event to the Department’s calendar here, and note that it’s a “Beyond the Classroom” supported event.