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Basic Account Codes
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| 920700 |
Honoraria |
| 925000 |
Travel |
| 927000 |
Rentals |
| 928000 |
Communications |
| 928170 |
Printing |
| 928380 |
Advertising |
| 930200 |
Off-Campus Food |
| 931100 |
Office Supplies |
| 932300 |
Other Supplies* |
| 951760 |
Contracted Services |
General Operating Expenses
Graduate Student Travel
Organizational Events
Other Forms and Information
GPSG is funded by your Student Activity Fees. As a result, these funds are
used to fund student activities that will benefit graduate students and the
greater university community as well.
For Addition Information:
***MAKE COPIES OF ALL
FORMS AND RECEIPTS AND KEEP THEM FOR YOUR RECORDS.***
Occasionally, materials do get lost in transit.
Unfortunately, we are unable to reimburse any costs for which we do not have
copies of the appropriate forms and receipts. These copies are for your
own protection.
General Operating Expenses
This money can only be accessed by graduate student organizations holding a
valid charter GPSG for the current fiscal year. If a group misses the
deadline to charter/re-charter, then after that group has re-chartered, the group
may apply to receive an operating fund. That request will be reviewed by
the Finance Committee on a case by case basis.
There are multiple ways that a group can use/spend this money.
- Basic Office Supplies
such as
- printing
- postage
- office supplies
- advertising
- promotional items
- Organization-Building Events which are small events
specifically designed
- for recruitment
- to build interest in the group
- to increase member involvement in the the graduate
organization
This money cannot be used to get extra money that a group was not
otherwise approved for. The following are unacceptable uses:
- Any single event funded from this fund may not exceed a
total of $100.
- This money cannot be used to fund travel expenses.
- This money cannot be used for academic printing (ie: theses
or dissertations)
General Guidelines and Extra Information about the Operational
Fund:
- All appropriate forms still need to be
used. For example, to use this money for a small event, an
event application must be submitted.
- Both the signature of the group's treasurer
and the signature of the GPSG treasurer must be
on all forms submitted.
- By the end of the fall semester, all groups which were
granted an operational fund must submit a budget
which shows how they plan on spending the remainder of their
operational fund. Any money which has not been accounted
for in the submitted budget will revert to GPSG on March 1st.
Graduate Student Travel
Who
can Apply for Travel Funding
GPSG sets aside a certain amount of its funding each year to help Graduate Students
travel to academic and professional conferences that benefit their education
while positively representing UNC Charlotte at these events.
Any currently enrolled graduate student of UNC Charlotte can apply to get money
to help with the cost of attending one of these conferences.
Please note that GPSG does not provide funding for classes such as study/training sessions
for professional exams or continuing education workshops.
Travel money comes from one big pot of
travel money in the GPSG's general fund and not from graduate organizations'
budgets. This means that travel money is allocated on a first-come first-serve
basis with no money set aside specifically for members of organizations.
How to Apply for Travel Funding
Make sure that if you are in graduate organization (see
here for a list) that you make sure to contact your group's treasurer.
Your treasurer will know how to correctly fill out all the forms and will ensure
that you are not missing anything. Additionally, you need your treasurer's
signature on all forms for them to be correctly completed and thereby accepted
and approved.
Our fiscal year ends the last day of June, but because of processing time of the
after-travel documents, travel which happens in June will be taken from next
year's budget.
Before You Travel
Submit all forms 4 weeks before you travel to the GPSG Treasurer
or the SAFC Business Manager. These forms are
all online.
Additionally, you need to attach the following:
- An ad or flyer for the conference, showing the name,
location, and dates of the conference.
- A list from the conference which shows the amount of its
registration fee(s). Please note this does not need to be
a receipt.
-
A print out from a service like map quest which verifies the
distance to your destination.
The Approval Process
Once you have completed your application packet and have submitted it to GPSG
Treasurer or to the SAFC Business Manager (Casey Hurst), the GPSG Finance
Committee will review your application packet to ensure that it is complete and
adheres to all guidelines and applicable deadlines. If your application is in
order and correctly filled out, the committee will approve you for a certain
amount of money. Typically, this is the amount calculated by the Standardized
Traveler Estimate Form. There are cases when these amounts may not be the same (ie:
if you've traveled earlier in the same academic year, if you are not a member of
a graduate organization and several other people from your dept have already
traveled, or if you typed the wrong numbers in the Standardized Traveler
Estimate Form).
Note: one person can receive a max of $800 per year in travel funds, and
any unchartered organization (or department without a chartered
organization) can receive a max of $1000 per year for all of their travelers.
If you are denied, or are missing information, the GPSG Treasurer will
contact you and let you know the reasons why you were denied or what you are missing so that
you can complete your application.
If you are approved, the GPSG Treasurer will also contact you and let you
know.
While You are Traveling
Keep all your receipts!!!
Anything which you do not have a receipt for will not be reimbursed.
Basically, keep all your receipts. There are some things that you need
remember for the following two types of expenses:
Hotels: If you share a room with someone and both of you want to be
reimbursed, you will need to get the hotel to split the bill (for each day
that you are staying there). Hotels don't normally like to do this, so
make sure to tell them when you are checking in that you will need separate
receipts for each person in each room for each day. Otherwise, if you don't
do this, only one of you will get reimbursed. There is a per person per
day maximum on how much can be reimbursed for hotel costs which is mandated by
the State of NC.
Airplanes:
Keep your boarding pass and/or baggage claim ticket as well as the receipt you
got when you purchased the ticket. An e-ticket isn't typically enough -- you
need to have proof that you actually boarded the plane.
After You Travel
Submit all post-travel forms within 30 days of returning
to the GPSG Treasurer or the SAFC Business Manager.
These forms are online.
- Travel Settlement Form
- Receipts
- Travel Evaluation Form
You will be reimbursed up to the amount you were approved for before you went
on your trip, assuming that you have receipts for everything you are claiming,
that you fall under the State mandated per diems, and that you have submitted
the travel evaluation form. On the next pay cycle of the university, the
reimbursement money should be posted to your student account.
If you are getting reimbursed from your department as well as GPSG, you will
need to be in contact with the GPSG Treasurer and your department's financial
person as there is some extra information and procedures you should be aware of.
How to correctly fill out the Travel
Application Form
Most of the travel forms are straight forward, but the main travel application
form has given many people trouble, so here's a run-down on how to complete it.
The various sections are labeled exactly as they are in the form.
At the top of the form, are 2
boxes marked "organization travel" and "at-large travel." If you are not a
member of a chartered graduate organization
(see
here for a list of the current graduate organizations), you should be
marking "at-large travel" because you are considered an at-large traveler since
you have no affiliations with a group other than GPSG. If you are a member
of a chartered graduate organization, you should be marking "organization
travel" because you are part of a graduate organization. If you do not mark this
box, the assumption is that you are at-large travelers or that you are a member
of your group but have been put on suspension to be reimbursed at the at-large
student rate.
A. Personal Information
Student Organization -- You need to write down which graduate organization you
are a member of (not GPSG), so this line should only be left blank if you are an
at-large traveler.
B. Conference Info
This section asks for specifics about the conference the travel is attending and
asks you to verify these specifics by attaching an itinerary of conference to
this form.
C. Expenses
This section asks if you have received previous funding (each student has per
year travel cap of $800 for a group member or $400 for an at-large member). This
section also asks if you are receiving funding from other sources like your
department or the conference you're attending.
The expected expenses section is not the same as the Standardized Traveler
Estimate amounts. This has been a huge source of confusion. The expected
expenses section is there to determine how much money each traveler honestly
think the trip will cost him. The expected expenses section also helps the GPSG
Treasurer and the Finance Committee to determine if the metric being used to
determine the standardized travel estimate is reasonable; in other words, it
helps us decide whether the online estimate is somewhat close to real dollar
amount estimates -- to real estimates determined by the economy -- across all
departments.
D. Advisor Approval
You need your academic advisor to sign off on the trip. This signature verifies
that the conference is relevant to your academic pursuits.
E. GPSG Approval
The organizational representative -- This is your group's treasurer (or whoever
is an authorized signature for your group. Many groups have both the treasurer
and the president as authorized signatures.) If you are not a member of a
graduate organization, leave this line blank.
The GPSG treasurer (or in older versions just "treasurer") -- this is the GPSG
Treasurer.
F. SAFC Approval
This is taken care of by the SAFC Busines Manager.
Clarification on the Standardized Traveler
Estimate online form
Travel Information: The traveler states his or her affiliations and
purpose at the conference. This is important because whether or not you
are a member of a group determines the maximum amounts which you can be
allocated for the trip.
Lodging Estimate: Enter the number of days which you are attending
the conference. GPSG does not reimburse hotel costs for extra nights if you
decide to stay longer than the conference. The lodging estimate is calculated as
the number of nights (which is the number of days entered minus one) times $100.
Transportation Estimate: Enter the mileage of the distance between
UNC Charlotte and the location of the conference. This is a one-way distance.
The transportation estimate is calculated as the one-way distance times $1 for
one-way distances of 300 miles or less. If the one-way distance is between 300
miles and 1500 miles, the transportation estimate is $300. If the one-way
distance is greater than 1500 miles, the transportation estimate is $350.
GPSG Contribution: Using the total standardized estimate and the
travel information you entered, the computer will calculate the estimated GPSG
contribution. If the form was filled out correctly and all verification
documents were submitted, this is the amount that you will be approved for and
will then get after your trip, assuming that you submit enough receipts whose
total adds up to the approved amount.
Note: when the form is submitted (by hitting the submit button), it is emailed
to the GPSG Treasurer. So, please do not hit submit until you have finished
completing the form. There is also a print button. Please print this
standardized estimate form and attach it to your travel application packet.
Now, here's the confusing part: Once you have been approved for a
certain amount for your trip, all of the individual estimates are now ignored.
In other words, the approved amount is a lump sum which can be used however the
traveler wishes (within the per diems mandated by the State of NC). The
individual estimates do not give approved amounts within each category --
they are only used to help calculate the total approved amount.
Event Funding
This money can be accessed by graduate student organizations holding a valid
charter GPSG for the current fiscal year.
Event funds can be used for both small events and conferences. It can
be used for academic workshops and for events that build interest in your group.
Notice if your operational fund runs out and you still want to hold a small
group event, you would apply for it with the same application as you normally
would only check the box marked Event Fund.
The amount of money your group will be granted will be determined by
your estimate of how many people you expect to
attend, listed as part of an application that clearly
explains the event, its goals, and how it applies to the purpose of
the organization. Each application will be submitted to the GPSG
Treasurer and reviewed for approval by the Finance Committee.
A complete event application packet includes the following:
- Event Application
Form
- A sample advertisement for the event
- A short resume/bio for each speaker (if applicable)
- A letter of support from each cosponsor, outlining their
contributions to the event (if applicable)
- A list of all sources of additional funding, including
monetary amounts (if applicable)
- At least one member of the group should be willing to attend
the Finance Committee meeting at which their event application
is reviewed in order to defend the application and answer any
questions that the Finance Committee may have for them.
- Conference Evaluation Form (not for small events) -- to be
completed after the conference
All events will be
subject to a discrepancy review. How this review works is that the total
number of people who actually attended the event must not be less than 85%
of the original total estimated attendance or the difference between the
estimated attendance and the actual attendance must be less than 25 people, whichever
number is greater.
The penalty for significant underestimates will be equal to the total difference
between the estimated funding amount and the amount generated from the actual
attendance level.
All events receiving
funding must prominently display the logo of GPSG and/or the phrase “Sponsored
by GPSG” on all advertising and posters.
A Walk-Through Specifically for
Conferences:
Since groups no longer have individual
budgets your group will need to submit a budget proposal for your event at least
3 weeks in advance. That timeline is the bare minimum. In order to make sure
that everything works out smoothly, submit the budget proposal at least 6 weeks
in advance of the conference.
Some of things to be aware of this year:
1) The amount of money that you are allotted for an event is dependent on the
number of estimated attendees. This year our formula is $15 per estimated
attendee up to a maximum total budget of $3500. Next year and the year after
those figures will decrease.
2) All events are subject to a discrepancy review. Each group needs to have its
actual number of attendees to be not less than 25 of the estimated number of
attendees or not less than 15% of the estimated number of attendees, whichever
is greater number. Cut off for using 25 people or 15% is between 150 and 175. So
if you plan to have 200 people attend your conference, you would need to be
within 15% (which is 30 people), but if you plan to have only 100 people attend,
then you would need to be within 25 people. This is to ensure that groups do not
inflate their numbers.
3) The budget proposal packet must be approved by the Finance Committee. A
member (or members) of the group needs to be willing to come to the finance
committee to present the proposal and answer any questions that the committee
may have.
How to go about requesting a budget for your conference:
1) Fill out the event application form. This form will help calculate how much
money GPSG will allocate for your event. It also has a break down of where/how
you want to spend that money.
2) There are several additional letters, flyers, etc. that you may or may not
need to attach to the application, depending on what you plan to do at your
conference:
-
A sample advertisement for the event.
This is required for any event It can be as simple as a flyer that you hang
in your dept.
-
If you plan to have catering, you
need to include either a contract from the caterers (Chartwells), or an
estimate using the prices from their website/menu.
-
Include a short resume/bio for each
speaker if you'll have speakers.
-
If you are paying your speaker, you
will also need to include a contract form dealing with honorariums, which
must be signed before the event. This form can be found on the SAFC website
http://safc.uncc.edu
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A letter of support from each
cosponsor, outlining their contributions to the event (if applicable)
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A list of all sources of additional
funding, including monetary amounts, and how you plan to use that money (if
applicable)
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A detailed budget for all the money
you will be using. While not technically required, I would highly recommend
this. On this budget you would want to indicate where the money is coming
from and what it is being used for.
3) Once you have completed the
application packet, you would submit it to the GPSG Treasurer or the SAFC
Business Manager. And we would set a date for when the finance committee would
review the packet. By default that would be the next committee meeting, unless
there was a conflict with all of your members.
4) You present your proposal to the finance committee; they would review it, and
after their decision, I would give you a copy of your approved budget. Note: it
would a budget of the money GPSG would give your group--not the total budget if
you had funding from other sources.
5) You have your conference, and at the conference, you count the number of
people actually there.
6) After your conference, you submit the conference evaluation form, and any
receipts for which you needed to be reimbursed.
Other Forms and Information
In progress ...
If you have questions about honorariums, staples orders, Chartwells contracts,
etc., contact the SAFC Business Manager or the GPSG Treasurer directly.
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