GSAB accepts funding proposals that support an individual student’s educational experience. Funding guidelines outlining what can be or cannot be funded are set by each academic program’s student representatives.

Examples include:

• Conference registration and travel expenses (airfare, lodging, ground transportation)*

• Registration fees for webinars and workshops

• Events to build community within the program (ex: treats for the first day of class or food for thesis presentations)

*GSAB cannot fund international in person conference or event registration/travel until the University lifts its restriction on sponsored international travel due to COVID

Exclusions:

GSAB cannot fund required expenses associated with courses including, but not limited to, tuition, student fees, licensures, exam fees, textbooks or assessments, or parking permits (on campus or at a fieldwork site).  

GSAB cannot fund travel related to for-credit study abroad courses registered with the Office of Global Studies or travel for classes.

GSAB cannot reimburse for the cost of alcohol at an event. 

GSAB cannot reimburse for the purchase of gift cards. Gift cards can only be funded for participant incentives for approved research projects and must be purchased by the staff in SPREE after receiving GSAB approval for the use of funds. Gift cards will be limited to no more than $50 per participant. 

If your request has special circumstances, please explain the circumstances in writing to gsab@stkate.edu so we can establish if reimbursement or payment is possible. There are limitations and special requirements for some request types (ex: payment to an international bank account) and we will want to properly review requests before any commitment to payment is made. 

Any services to be paid with GSAB funding requests (e.g., hiring an interpreter, videographer, etc.) will need to be approved by GSAB in advance using the Funding Request Form. 

Payments for services must be paid through St. Kate's Accounts Payable Department. Upon approval, the student is responsible for obtaining any documentation required for payment such as an invoice and a W-9 or W-8BEN from the service provider and submitting it to GSAB via email. GSAB will then submit it to Accounts Payable. 

Blank W9 Form

Reimbursement requests for services not paid through Accounts Payable will be denied.

All expenses must have an itemized receipt that shows the following: 

• vendor name

• items purchased (description of what is being purchased)

• cost (for each item)

• total amount paid (including taxes and fees)

• payment method (ex: VISA 1234)

Incomplete receipts or screenshots of partial receipts will not be accepted.  If your receipt is an email, it is best to provided GSAB with the entire email. 

Invoices will not be accepted for reimbursement as they do not show evidence of payment. Any payment for services should follow the process outlined in the section above.

If you are requesting funding before making the purchase, please send GSAB the receipt as soon as the purchase is made. 

In order for your request to be considered, you will need to submit the GSAB Funding Request Form. This is the only form that will be reviewed for requests.  Any itemized receipts for purchases already made should be sent via email to gsab@stkate.edu. 

If you are requesting pre-approval (meaning you haven't made the purchase yet), please know that you will need to provide an itemized receipt before reimbursement can take place. 

All requests must be approved by the representatives from the requester's academic program. They will be reviewed based on the funding guidelines on file for that year and the funds currently available. Only the academic program representatives can approve or deny funding requests.  If the program does not have current funding guidelines or academic program representatives participating in GSAB, funds will be frozen until these requirements are met. 

Once a request is received via email, it is sent on to the academic program representatives for review.  Timing for communication back to the requester and processing of reimbursement paperwork is contingent on the how complete the request is upon receipt and and how long it takes the representatives to review and discuss the request.  As GSAB is not active during J Term or summer, it may take longer to review and process requests during this time. 

If your request is approved and all of your documentation has been submitted, GSAB will work to process your reimbursement.

If your request is approved and documentation is missing, GSAB will follow up via email for the additional documentation. The reimbursement cannot be processed until all itemized receipts have been submitted to GSAB. 

Please note that it can take several weeks to process a reimbursement. The process requires multiple signatures before it can be sent to the Business Office. Failure to provide proper documentation can also slow down this process. 

Reimbursement is provided via direct deposit (if you have this information on file with the University) or paper check mailed to the address provided.