Mini-GSAs

Office Location:
New Commons
Suite 203

Hours:
Currently Limited, please refer to the Officer's page for Officer Office Hours, ASUCR Front Desk is open from 9am-5pm

How to Apply for a Conference Travel Grant

[Grant Home] [FAQ] [History] [Forms][Award Amounts]

Step One:

Pick up an application from the GSA office or download it from the forms page.

Step Two:

Fill out the form and return it to the GSA office (or ASUCR front desk if the GSA office is closed) or by mail or fax on the first day of the month preceding the end date of the conference.

The deadlines for the next three months and the previous month are as follows:

    Month of conference end date                          Deadline

August                                         July 1st (Tuesday)

September                                   August 1st (Friday)

October                                       September 2st (Tuesday)

November                                    October 1st (Wednesday)

This due date is strictly enforced; late applications will not be accepted. You will be notified by email during the first week of the month preceding the end date of the conference as to how much money you can expect to receive from GSA.

If your application is submitted late, your application is not eligible for appeal and you will be notified that your application has not been accepted via email within a week after submission.

Step Three:

Submit to GSA all supplemental application materials before the start of your conference.  Please do not email any part of the application.

The supplemental application materials are as follows:

For presenters:

• abstract
• proof of acceptance in the conference
• if you are not the first author, proof you are the primary presenter
• letter from advisor that states the following:
  • That the applicant is a UCR graduate student in good standing
  • That attending the event is beneficial to the applicant's professional development
  • That the research to be presented was conducted at UCR
  • Whether or not the applicant has other sources of funding and, if so, how much money the applicant can be expected to receive from those sources. (You can read more about outside funding on the mini-grant FAQ page.)

For attendees:

• letter from advisor that states the following:
  • That the applicant is a UCR graduate student in good standing
  • That attending the event is beneficial to the applicant's professional development
  • Whether or not the applicant has other sources of funding and, if so, how much money the applicant can be expected to receive from those sources. (You can read more about outside funding on the mini-grant FAQ page.)

This due date is strictly enforced; applications with late supporting documents will be declined for funding. However, you may appeal the decline. 

Step Four:

Materials due 7 working days (approximately 1 1/2 weeks) after the last day of the conference:

• A signed conference travel grant expense form
• All original receipts (including those to be reimbursed by other sources) & boarding passes
• Proof of attendance (such as conference badge or letter from conference confirming your attendance)

If you have not received an expense request form from the GSA office, you can download one from the forms page. Fill out and sign the appropriate expense request form. Within 7 working days of the end of the conference bring in all receipts for the conference. Please turn in enough original receipts to cover the award amount and copies of receipts of all other expenses. The original receipts must have your name on them, and must show that the amount due has been paid (no itinerary or statement will be accepted without proof of payment). Please turn in photocopies of the other receipts.

If you are sharing a hotel room or other covered item, have the receipt split. Hotels will do this for you. If you forget to split the receipt, you must bring in a copy of the canceled check showing that you paid the person on the receipt. If you do not split the receipt and do not have a canceled check turned in within 7 working days of the end of the conference, you will not be able to claim the expense.

You must tape individual smaller receipts that could easily get lost on a separate piece of paper (do not tape over important information). Additionally, presenters need to submit proof of presentation at the conference. You can request a letter from the conference organizers that states that you presented. This due date is strictly enforced; applications without receipts will be declined for funding. However, you may appeal this decision.

Appeals:

Applicants who are denied funding will receive a letter indicating the reason they were denied. You may appeal an award amount or appeal the decision to decline by writing a letter to the committee explaining why you feel you deserve to have your application re-evaluated. This letter must be received by the committee within 30 days of receiving your reimbursement or letter of decline. The conference travel grant committee will re-evaluate your application at the next meeting and issue a new decision. You will be notified of this decision by letter or email. If you are still unhappy, you may appeal a second time. Once again, this appeal must be submitted in writing within 30 days of notification of the committee decision concerning the first appeal. You are limited to two appeals.