This afternoon, I fly to LA for the Comparative Drama Conference, which way back in 1999, was the first professional conference I had presented at, and the journal in which I garnered my first publication. Hosted by Loyola Marymount University, the conference is being held at the Marina del Rey Hotel. It will likely be an expensive conference, but fortunately, I've got travel funds to cover it.

Problem is, I just found out today that funds for my last conference (20th Century Lit. in Lousiville) didn't get covered. There's a reason for this, but I don't like it.

Unlike at previous jobs, WVU has funds divvied up into several discrete pots of money. International travel comes from one pot of money, domestic travel comes from another, and there is this third pot that is designated for "faculty development." Faculty may apply for money from each grant source once a year. Because the Narrative conference (next week's destination) is in Ottawa this year, we'll chalk that one up to international travel. And the Comparative Drama Conference uses up my domestic travel request. The thing is, while I knew there was risk involved in applying for this third conference as faculty development, I had also been told that lots of folks did it this way, so I wasn't too concerned.

And I know that the sum total of the reimbursement I've applied for is more than most places dole out. But the fact of the matter is that I wouldn't have even gone to Louisville if I knew that the funds weren't there. I certainly won't make that mistake again.