GSG Conference Travel Fund
Application Procedures & Guidelines*
Updated: December 21st, 2012
*GSG reserves the right to change the policies outlined below at any time.
Purpose
The purpose of the GSG Conference Travel Program is to partially reimburse the expenses incurred by graduate students during travel to conferences that are related to the student’s major field of study. The GSG Travel Grant Program is to be considered supplemental to other sources of funding and applicants are expected to seek travel funds from their departments, advisors, or other outside sources.
Qualifications
• The applicant must be a registered graduate student of USC at the time of the conference AND
• The applicant must have paid the Student Programming Fee AND
• Category 1 ‐ The graduate student must present original research at the conference OR
• Category 2 ‐ The graduate student must attend a conference related to his/her major field of study.
Allocations
The money for this fund comes from a part of the programming fee collected from each qualified graduate student and is split between the summer, fall, and spring semesters.
Students who will be presenting original research at a conference will get priority over those who will be attending a conference.
Grant Amounts
After all the Category 1 applicants have been funded (up to the annual per student maximum), then the remaining fund allocation will be split amongst the Category 2 applicants (up to the annual student maximum). Any remaining amounts will carry forward to the next semester within the same fiscal year.
If the total requests in any category are above the fund allocation amount, then each applicant will receive a percentage of his/her request instead of the full amount (i.e. If the fund has $20K and we receive applications for $25K, then each applicant will receive 80% of the amount they qualified for). In recent application cycles, due to overwhelming demand, it has only been possible to fund Category 2 applications at roughly $200 or less per conference.
Deadlines
|
Semester |
Conference Start Date |
Conference End Date |
Submission Deadline |
Fiscal Year |
|
Spring 2012 |
1/9/12 |
5/15/12 |
8/1/12 |
2011-2012 |
|
Summer 2012 |
5/16/12 |
8/26/12 |
10/1/12 |
2012-2013 |
|
Fall 2012 |
8/27/12 |
1/13/13 |
2/4/13 |
2012-2013 |
|
Spring 2013 |
1/14/12 |
5/19/13 |
6/17/13 |
2012-2013 |
How to Apply?
1. Create a Travel Fund Profile on the GSG site.
2. Submit Application online and upload your receipts and proofs of payment. Please review the guidelines below regarding what constitutes an acceptable receipt. Note, for example, that emailed or screen shot receipts are only acceptable in certain instances and require proof of payment (such as a credit card or bank statement). Do not upload documents that have account numbers, social security numbers, addresses, etc. on them. Black out those items from any documents you upload.
3. For presenters, proof that you presented is required. This would include a letter inviting you to present or a program book with your name listed. Please upload this proof that you presented along with your receipts.
4. After the deadline, GSG will review the applications and then email you when a decision has been made. It will take GSG about 4-6 weeks after the deadline to review all applications.
5. After you receive the decision email, the applicant should log back into his or her account and print out the PDF forms.
6. Submit the following documents to the GSG Office located at 3607 Trousdale Parkway, Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) ‐ #224, Los Angeles, CA 90089‐3017. The deadline = 10 days after you receive your decision (If you do not perform this step, you will not get paid).
1. Log-in to your account to access your application.
2. Print the two PDF forms that now appear next to your application. These include an Expense Request Form, a Statement certifying your graduate student status during the time when you travelled, and a Travel Expense Report (T and E Form). These forms are required by USC to process payment.
3. Add your SSN to the Expense Request Form (in the blank box).
4. Sign and date the Certification Statement.
5. Add your SSN to the T & E Form and sign and date (at the bottom) – the advisor/supervisor signature is not needed.
6. Attach the original receipts and all uploaded documents to 8 ½ X 11 pieces of paper (if not already 8 ½ X 11 in size). Please ensure that you are including acceptable receipts as outlined in this Guidance or you will not be reimbursed. Tape the receipts by the corners only and do not staple. Do not print forms or attach receipts double-sided (only single-sided).
7. Bring these documents to the GSG office (mailing is permitted but will take longer):
USC-GSG Travel Grants
Tutor Campus Center, Room 224
3607 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089
8. Once these documents are received, we will submit them to the appropriate USC offices to process your payment. This process will take about 6-8 weeks.
9. Usually payment is processed in the form of a check. Students who have active direct deposit set up with USC may be paid using this method. Once your check is processed, you will receive a call from the GSG office asking you to pick the check up or confirming your mailing address in the event you are unable to come in person.
Advisor Approval
Please note that we require all applicants to provide the email address for a faculty advisor as part of their applications. We then contact the advisor by automated email, asking that he or she verify a few details pertaining to your application, including that the conference was relevant to your field of study and that the expenses you are seeking reimbursement for are legitimate. It only takes a few minutes for your advisor to respond to our email message.
If your application is still “pending advisor approval” in the system after the application deadline, please follow-up by email with your advisor to ensure he or she approves your application. We cannot review your application without advisor approval and we expect students to follow-up with advisors as needed.
If an advisor needs the email message from GSG resent, please email the GSG Vice President at gsgvicepresident@gmail.com.
Annual Student Maximum
Each student is limited to $500 per fiscal year in reimbursement from GSG. A fiscal year consists of Summer, Fall and Spring semesters in sequence.
As noted above, the annual student maximum is $500 for Category 1 (presenters) or Category 2 (attendees) applications. In recent semesters, however, there have not been sufficient funds to fully fund all applications. As a result, awards for Category 2 applicants have generally been approximately $200 or less.
What Does Not Qualify for Reimbursement?
1. Any Non‐Conference Related Expenses
2. Mileage Instead of Using a Public Carrier (i.e. If it would be cheaper to fly to the conference than to take the mileage allotment, then the mileage limit would be capped at what the flight would have cost – For example: It costs $350 to fly to New York City from Los Angeles. New York City is approximately 2800 miles. At 55 cents a mile that would be $1540. The max that you can apply for would be $350.)
3. Fuel for Personal Vehicles (submit this expense as $0.55/mile reimbursement)
4. Transportation During a Conference (i.e. Buses taken downtown for the evening entertainment, shuttle between the hotel and the conference, etc.)
5. Room Incidentals (i.e. Telephone Calls, Movie Charges, Safe Rental, etc.)
6. Any Expenses that were covered by other Sources (i.e. departments, grants, etc.)
7. Any Expense without an Original Receipt
8. Alcohol Purchases
9. Expenses for other people
Shared Expenses and Use of other People’s Credit Cards
If you split a room with other conference attendees, you must pay for your portion of the room (i.e. with cash or credit card) and obtain your own itemized receipt. If another person pays and you reimburse him or her directly, we cannot reimburse you for this expense.
Likewise, all expenses submitted must use a credit card in your name. Do not use a parent’s or spouse’s credit card for your expenses. We will not reimburse expenses to individuals other than the applicant.
What Constitutes a Receipt?
The following are considered original receipts [please note that copies of original receipts will NOT be accepted] – We reserve the right to reject any receipt that we feel is not satisfactory:
• Cash register receipt/tape (not adding machine tape)
• If paying by credit card, you need the cash register receipt and the credit card receipt
• Itemized hotel bill with the credit card payment terms (balance need not show zero)
• Letter receipt stating “paid” (e.g. letter confirming receipt of payment for registration)
• Original invoice showing method of payment and balance due as zero
• Airline ticket receipt and original boarding pass
• Itinerary (showing travel dates and dollar amount paid) and original boarding pass
• Mapquest or Google map printout showing distance from your home to the conference for personal mileage.
The following are NOT considered original receipts:
• An email
• A screen printout
• A credit card statement
• An online banking statement
EXCEPTIONS – the following combinations of copies, printouts and original documents will be considered original receipts for the following expenses:
Airfare Purchased Online
• Screen printout of online order PLUS original boarding passes OR
• Email confirmation PLUS proof of payment** as defined below OR
• Screen printout PLUS proof of payment** as defined below OR
Lodging Booked and Paid for Online (E.g. Priceline, Hotwire, etc.)
• Screen printout showing the daily rate and dates of stay PLUS proof of payment** as defined below
Conference Registration Paid for Online
• Screen printout of online order PLUS proof of payment** as defined below OR
• Email confirmation PLUS proof of payment** as defined below
**Proof of Payment can be any of the following
• Copy of personal credit card statement (black out the account numbers and address)
• Copy of online banking statement (black out the account numbers and address)
Eligible Expenses and Reimbursement Limits
|
Type of Expense |
Maximum Limit |
|
Conference registration |
$200 |
|
Airfare |
$500 |
|
Train |
$500 |
|
Bus |
$500 |
|
Rental Car Payment |
$35 per day for 4 days |
|
Rental Car Fuel* |
$200 |
|
Parking |
$10 per day for 4 days |
|
Lodging |
$100 per night for 4 nights |
|
Food |
$15 per day for 4 days |
|
Personal Car Mileage* |
$0.55/mile |
For personal mileage driven to a conference, please submit the expenses as $0.55/mile. If you rent a car, please submit receipts for rental car fuel and rental car payment.
For Further Information:
Please see the FAQs on the GSG website (http://gsg.usc.edu/finance/conference-travel-grants/travel-grants-faq.html) or email gsgvicepresident@gmail.com.