I. Scope of Funding Rules and Procedures

I. SCOPE OF FUNDING RULES AND PROCEDURES

Thisdocumentdescribesthegeneral rules,policies,procedures,andrequirementssetforthbytheGraduate ProfessionalStudentOrganization(GPSA)AssemblyOperationsCommittee(AOC)regardingreviewand approvalofGraduateStudentOrganization(GSO)requestsforeventfunding. Requestsforfunding regarding individual graduate studenttravelrelatedexpensesareoutsidethescopeofthisdocument. Failuretomeet all requirements of this documentwillresultinareductionordenialoffunds.

II. SUBMITTING A FUNDING REQUEST

1. Funding Cycles – A funding cycle is a period of time in which the AOC conducts an Assembly Operations Meeting (AOM), reviews GSO applications, and recommends funding to the GPSA Assembly. There are ten (10) funding cycles each fiscal school year; one (1) funding cycle is conducted each month during the months of July through April the following year. There are no funding cycles during the May and June summer months, with no exception.
2. GSO Qualifications – All GSOs seeking funds from GPSA must be registered as a Graduate Student Organization with Orgsyncand with the ASU Student Organization Research Center at the time of submitting an application. Only registered GSOs may apply for GPSA funds.
3. Event Allocation Limits – GSOs may submit an application for up to $2000 per event.
4. Applying Multiple Times – A GSO may submit multiple applications asking for up to $2000 per event. A GSO that applies and receives money early in the year (or even multiple times throughout the year) will not be disadvantaged on this basis alone when reapplying for future events.
5. Series Applications – If a GSO hosts many small events that are a similar in nature (e.g., monthly meeting, bi-weekly speaker events, etc) the GSO may submit one application to cover all of the events, up to three (3) months in advance.
6. Re-Applying for Funding – If a GSO misses a funding cycle deadline or does not receive a full award the first time, it may apply again in the next funding cycle (assuming the event date does not pass before the GSO has a chance to reapply).

III. FUNDING REQUEST REQUIREMENTS

1. Principled Requirements – The following principles govern the types of events that are in line with the Spirit and Mission of GPSA:
2. Open to All Graduate Students: All graduate students must be allowed to participate in GPSA funded events. GPSA funds derive from the graduate student fees for the benefit of the graduate student population. Exclusion of any individual or group is not permitted. The GSO event must be open and marketed to the graduate student population at large, even if only a small portion of the graduate student population ultimately ends up attending the event.
3. Graduate Student Benefit: Events should primarily benefit the ASU Graduate Student Community. Non-graduate students, such as undergrads, faculty members, and community members, while valued members of our community, are out of scope of our GPSA funding objectives, and so benefits to those people are not considered in application review. The audience that will primarily benefit is determined by the facts and circumstances, and decided at the discretion of the AOC.
4. Reputation and Goodwill: TheGSOshouldstrivetohosteventswhichenhancethereputationofASUandgenerategoodwilloverall.TheAOCwillconsidertheextenttowhichtheeventenhancesthepresence,reputation,andgoodwillofASUwhendevelopingitsrecommendation. However, GSOrequestsshallnotbedeniedfundingonthisbasisalone.
5. Application Requirements – The requirements in this section were designed by the AOC to ensure: (1) compliance with the spirit and mission of GPSA, and (2) efficiency in the funding review process by the AOC. Applicationsarereviewedforcompletenessandconformancetotherequirements below. Thus, no GSO will receive GPSA funds UNLESS it submits a:
6. Detailed Event Description: GSO’s must provide a thorough explanation for what event they plan on hosting and why they need the specific funds. GSOs will provide this description in the designated place in the online application.
7. Summary of Matching Funds: This requirement does not apply to requests under $250 per event. GSOs seeking funds for events over $250 must first seek funding outside of GPSA before applying for GPSA funding to ensure the use of GPSA funds are allocated effectively and in line with the GPSA mission. The GSO must submit written proof (e.g., an email or letter) of its attempt to seek funding for the specific event the GSO is currently applying. GSOs cannot submit the same written proof for future applications, even if the event is similar.
8. Budget: A detailed and thorough budget is a major factor in successfully requesting GPSA funds. (See the recommended template, small budget example, and large budget example). To the extent practical, all budgets must include an itemized and detailed budget each expense related to the event(s) including:
9. The name of the vendor for each requested item;
10. The name of each item with brief description;
11. The quantity of each item;
12. The initial cost per item;
13. Applicable taxes for each item;
14. Whether the item will be paid with GPSA funds;
15. The total cost of each line item
16. The total cost of the entire event
17. The total amount requested from GPSA
18. Competitive Bid: If a line item in a budget is greater than $350, the GSO must submit documents proving the GSO has utilized cost savings in their search for the item. At least one competitive bid must be obtained by the GSO for each line item over $350.For example, if the GSO is requesting 30 pizzas from Pizza Hut, and the total cost for that line item is over $350, the GSO must submit documentation showing that it is more cost effective to buy from Pizza Hut than it would be to buy the pizzas from Dominos. Documental proof may include a menu, invoice, past receipts etc. This requirement does not apply to: Line items less than $350, Honoraria, or Service Providers (e.g., DJs, Bands, masseuse, etc).
19. Marketing Strategy: GSOs must include a detailed explanation of how they plan to reach out to the graduate student population at large. Examples include emailing, social media, website posts, flyers, etc.
20. Prohibited Requested Items – The following items cannot be funded by GPSA:
21. Capital goods: For example, table cloths, business cards, equipment, name cards, website domain names or anything that is for the personal benefit of one individual or group).
22. Compensation and Gifts: Salaries, wages, or gift of any kind, except Honoraria (up to $1000 per organization, per semester) and Nominal Cultural Gifts (up to $50 per event).
23. Fees: Membership, subscription, or other fees except fees related to labor services for events.
24. Performances: Dance, musical, or otherwise paid performances up to $1000 per event.
25. Travel Expenditures: Including food, fuel, lodging, airfare, per diem, and related expenses.
26. Alcohol, Postage, and Flowers: Strictly prohibited by the University.
27. Dues and Penalties: Any type of ticket, fine, judgement, or damages.
28. Donations: For charity or otherwise.
29. Insurance or Vehicle Rental: No insurance coverage or vehicle rental of any kind whatsoever.
30. Clothing: Clothing of any kind in excess of $250 per event. Any clothing purchased with GPSA funds cannot be allocated for specific individual or group. All graduates must have a fair chance to receive the clothing. No GSO may request more than $500 for clothing per semester.
31. Give-a-Ways: Pens, USBs, and any other nominal giveaways in excess of $50 per event.
32. Printing and Flyers: Leaflets, Flyers, Posters, or any other advertising medium in excess of $50 per event.
33. Prohibited Events – The following events will be denied outright:
34. Events that Discriminate: Either on the basis of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other extralegal factor.
35. Political Events: That support state referenda or any candidate for elected office.
36. Harmful Events: That pose a substantial risk of serious injury or death.
37. Events Contrary to ASU Policies: Events that violation of any ASU policy.
38. Events that Ticket or Request a Fee: Graduates already pay a fee that is partially collected by GPSA and put into the GSO allocations pot. Graduates may not be charged another fee to attend GSO events UNLESS:
39. No Profit: The reason the GSO needs to charge a fee is so it can pay for the expenses of putting on the event, not make a profit. The GSO must show that it could not put on the event without charging a reasonable fee;
40. Equal Fee Rate: All graduate students are charged the same rate. [Note: this does not preclude a GSO from increasing rates overtime for the event (to encourage early purchases), so long as that increased rate is charged equally to all graduates]; and
41. Equal Opportunity to Attend: All graduate students have an equal chance at securing a spot in attending the event, even if there is limited space. No favoritism or reserved spots for members or individuals from a particular college or organization is allowed.
42. Events that Subsidize University Administrative Services: All Colleges and Schools at Arizona State University have their own separate budgets to host their own events, irrespective of whether those events will ultimately benefit graduate students. Colleges, Schools, or any other administrative/department division of the University cannot go through GSOs to fund their events. Whether an administrative division of the University is acting through a GSO will be determined by the circumstances of the request and decided at the discretion of the AOC.
43. Events that have Already Occurred Prior to GPSA Assembly Approval: GSOs cannot host an event and then ask GPSA for reimbursement after the fact. Per university regulations, all funds allocated by GPSA must be for future events.
44. Sponsoring GPSA Assembly Members – All GSOs are required to thoroughly discuss and review their application with a Sponsoring GPSA Assembly Member at least five (5) business days before submitting an application to ensure the requirements of these funding rules and procedures have been met. TheGSOreaches out toaSponsorfromtheirdepartmentordegreeprogram. TheAssembly membermust unequivocally accept to be the sponsor for your GSO. Failure to obtain a Sponsor to review your application is grounds for denial of your application. Due to conflict of interests, a current AOC Member should not be a Sponsoring GPSA Assembly Member for any GSO. (Find a Sponsor here).
45. Acceptable Format for Application Documents – All documents must be submitted in PDF format. Jpegs, xlsx, docx, and any documents submitted in a different format will not be considered.
46. Document Submissions – All accompanying application documents must be uploaded to a google drive account and be made publicly available so that the Chair may retrieve it. The GSO must copy the link of the public document and paste it into the designated area in the application.
47. Location of the Application – The GSO application is located here.
48. Application Due Date – Applications for funding are due on the 1st of each funding cycle month by 11:59pm MST. Failure to meet this deadline, even by one minute, disqualifies the GSO for funding in that cycle.
49. Earliest GSOs Can Apply: All GSOs may apply for funding up to three (3) funding cyclesbefore the month on which the event is planned to be held.
50. Example 1: Your GSO is planning a social event to be held March 31st. The earliest your GSO may apply is for the December Funding Cycle.
51. Example 2: Your GSO is planning a social event to be held on August 10th. The earliest you can apply is the July funding cycle. GPSA does not accept applications during the May and June months.
52. Latest GSOs Can Apply: All GSOs must at least apply for funding themonth before the month in which the event takes place.Thus, GSOs cannot apply for funding in the same month they plan to host their event.
53. Example 1: Your GSO is planning a social event to be held on December 1st. It is now September 3rd and you missed the September funding cycle deadline. The earliest you can apply is the October funding cycle; the latest you can apply is the November funding cycle.
54. Example 2: Your GSO is planning a social event to be held on January 2nd. It is now December 5th and you missed the December funding cycle. Because the event will be held in January, your GSO cannot apply for the January funding cycle. Your only option is to move the event to the next month (i.e., February) and apply for the January funding cycle.

IV. REIMBURSEMENT

The GSO will engage with the GPSA Office Specialist (contact here)located in the GPSA Business Office to receive reimbursement. Failure to follow the process as detailed below will result in denial of reimbursement. The requirements listed in the section are not exhaustive and ASU may place additional requirements on top of GPSA processes.Therefore,working closely with the Office Specialist is essential for proper reimbursement.

1. Location of the Business Office – The GPSA Business Office and Office Specialist is located in the Graduate Student Center at the Tempe Campus.
2. Reimbursable Expenses – OnlythosefundslistedintheGSOeventFundingBillforthecurrentcycleaspassedbytheAssembly can bereimbursed.
3. Acknowledging GPSA in Advertisements – AnyandalladvertisingproducedandconductedbytheGSOinconnectionwiththefundedeventincluding,butnotlimitedto,flyers,brochures,pamphlets,websites,circularsandthelikeshallacknowledgethesupportofGPSAGSOeventfunds.AdvertisedeventswhichdonotacknowledgethesupportofGPSAwillnotreceivereimbursement.
4. Traceable Costs and Itemized Receipts – Onlythosecostsidentifiableonandtraceabletoan originalitemizedreceiptmaybereimbursed. Such receipts must be submitted to the Office Specialist.
5. Reimbursement Materials – ThefollowingformsmustbeprovidedbytheGSOtotheOfficeSpecialist.Failuretoprovidetherequiredmaterialswillresultin denialofreimbursement.
6. RequestforFunds(RFF)Form: TheGSOshallsubmitacompletedRFFnaminganOfficerormemberoftheGSOasthepersonwhowillreceivethereimbursement. Thenamedindividual willpersonallyrequestandreceivethefundsfrom GPSA.WithoutanamedindividualtheGSOwillnotreceivereimbursement.TheGSOshouldexercise duecareinselectingtheindividual.
7. Business Meal Form: TheGSOshallsubmitacompletedbusinessmealformforallfoodandbeveragepurchasesagainstwhichGPSAeventfundsareallocated. Thisform willincludealistofalleventattendees. TheGSO shouldbepreparedtorecordattendanceifprovidingfoodatafundedevent.
8. Service Provider Documents: Generally,anyguestspeaker,performer,orserviceproviderreceivingGPSAfundsaspaymentforserviceswillrequiretheGSOtocompleteattheminimumthesedocuments:
9. Indemnification Form: TheGSOshallsubmitacompletedindemnificationformforeachserviceproviderreceivingGPSAfundsemployedinconnectionwiththefundedeventandsignedbythesame.
10. Independent Contractor Checklist: TheGSOshallsubmitanindependentcontractorchecklistforeachserviceproviderreceivingGPSAfundsnotaffiliatedwithASUcontractedservices.
11. Departmental Professional Service Order (DPSO) Form: TheGSOshallsubmitacompletedDPSOformforallserviceprovidersreceivingGPSAfundshiredinconnectionwiththefundedevent.
12. Substitute W-9: TheGSOshallsubmitasubstituteW-9formasrequiredbytheIRSandforallvendorsnotintheUniversityPurchasingSystem.
13. Location of Reimbursement Documents – The GPSA Office Specialist has all the required documents in the GPSA Business Office.
14. Reimbursement Material Submission Deadline – SubmissionofcompletedreimbursementmaterialsmustbereceivedbytheGPSABusinessOfficenotlaterthanthecloseofbusiness(5:00PM MST)onthefifth (5th) businessdayafterthescheduledevent. The AOC reverses the right to deny reimbursement after the fifth business day.

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