Group Grant Awards

Group Grant Award is awarded to:

• Graduate Student Associations (GSAs) for academic events and activities that advance the research interests of members of the GSA or the wider graduate student community
• Non-GSA organizations (promoting similar interests as listed above) who collaborate with a GSA.

Events like conferences, symposia, workshops, colloquia, inviting a speaker, concert series, art exhibitions, and poster competitions, among others, can be funded using Group Grant Awards. 

Note that group travel to conferences, the purchase of products/subscriptions, and non-academic (fun/social) events cannot be funded through Group Grant Awards. Please consider the Group Budget awards for social events, and Conference Travel Awards for academic travel.

To be funded by Group or Community Grant Awards, an event should be:

• Free for the entire UC community
• Meant to benefit mainly graduate students
• For the furtherance of academic interests all the applicant GSA’s members
• Democratically approved by a majority of the GSA’s members

Events will be funded based on the merit of their applications. Funding decisions will be taken by a review committee chaired by the GSG Vice President. Applicants are strongly encouraged to seek other sources of funding for the event – not only is GSG often unable to fully fund events, but the review committee also considers events with multiple sources of funding more favorably.

Applicants are not allowed to use funds for a single event from more than one cycle. For e.g.: If an event is in October, an applicant cannot apply for August and September cycle to cumulatively use two cycle funds for that event.

To enable an equitable availability of funding, Group Grant Awards are done in cycles, with application deadlines spread throughout the year. The current set of deadlines are mentioned in the Awards Page.

If Approved, applicants must:

• Use GSG logo in all advertising for an approved event.
• Provide follow-up photos and post-award documentation within 14 Calander days following the conclusion of the event.
• Submit an evaluation form to capture impact of the Award.

• A GSA meeting should be held prior to the application, where the event and the budget are approved. Apply at least one application cycle prior to the event – the event should occur only after the decision notification date. Expenses prior to this date will not be reimbursed.
• Complete the Group Grant Application (PDF), and obtain the required signatures. Typed applications are preferred.
• Get a letter, on the UC letterhead, from the GSA’s Faculty Advisor supporting the event.
• Compile the documents as a single PDF file. Please title the file as follows: Application_cycle_Name_GSAName_ShortGrantTitle.
• Email your PDF, before the deadline, to the GSG Vice President. 
• The review committee might reach out and ask for additional clarification or documentation.

Applications will be judged for the academic merit (as relevant to the GSA) of the event, the letter of support, the presentation of a clear budget, efficient utilization of funds, the impact of the event on the GSA and wider community, and multiple funding sources. The GSG Vice President will reach out by the decision notification date for each cycle with the committee’s decision. 

Here are some general notes on using the funds:

• The approval email will indicate which of the requested expenses have been approved for funding. You will be reimbursed for only these expenses. Any changes must be pre-approved in writing by the GSG Vice President.
• If you are making a purchase through any university affiliated institution, please contact the GSG Treasurer before placing yout order to confirm if GSG can pre-pay for the purchase directly.
• Note that the GSG does not reimburse sales tax on transactions (such as Kroger, restaurants, catering etc.). While shopping, present a tax waiver form to the customer representative. Please note that online vendors (such as Amazon, Staples etc.) do accept the sales tax certificate for not charging tax on transactions.
• If you have a speaker/guest at an event whose honorarium is being paid by the GSG, the speaker/guest must complete a Limited Services Engagement form and create an “invoice” for their services. This invoice will serve as a receipt and must be included with the claims form.
• Please submit a filled in evaluation form to capture impact of the award.

Consider publicizing the event through the GSG Events page and social media handles (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook group).

For reimbursement, each individual who paid for any item should submit the following:

• An online A114 envelope.
• A Group & Community Grant Claims form.
• The Group & Community Grant Award approval email.
• All original itemized receipts, including the method of payment (cash, credit, check).
• A list of attendees in the format of [First name, Last name, and ucmail]. List of attendees is not needed if a flyer was used to promote a large advertised event. In this case, a flyer must be submitted.
• Credit card/debit card transaction highlighting your name on the account with the last four digits of the card used for the transaction to be reimbursed. You’re encouraged to black out the parts which you do not want to share on the statement.
• Use a A113 (Travel) envelope to reimburse travel-related expenses for the speaker.
• If you have a speaker/guest at an event whose honorarium is being paid by the GSG, the speaker/guest must complete a Limited Services Engagement form and create an “invoice” for their services. This invoice will serve as a receipt and must be included with the claims form.
• A filled in evaluation form
• Pictures for GSG Social Media

These documents must be emailed as a single PDF within 14 Calander days of event to the GSG Vice President.

For any questions regarding award compliance, or reimbursement, or any other questions regarding Group Grant Awards, contact GSG Vice President.