FAQ

Generally the best thing that you can do to write a really good application is read our policies. Sometimes individual items on an application are denied because those items violate either GAC or University policy; by being familiar with the policies, you can avoid that and make better-informed decisions about how to write your budget and plan your event/travel. I have noticed that the following three things are generally the reasons that an application would be completely denied. 

Hearing

Believe it or not, the most common reason for the GAC denying an application is RSO leadership no-showing their hearing. We are generally not logistically able to give more than a week's notice for hearings, and our policy only requires that notice go out 72 hours in advance. Hearing notices go to the two leadership contacts who you list on your application, so make sure those two people know that they should be checking their email regularly. Only one leadership member needs to attend the hearing. 

72 hours is relatively short notice, and if all of your leadership members have some sort of prior obligation, all you need to do is email grants@asm.wisc.edu at any point prior to the hearing and let them know your situation. We are usually able to move you earlier or later in the evening depending on your needs. If you are unable to attend your designated hearing date at all, we can reschedule you for the next one. 

Dates

Your application WILL be rejected if it is not submitted by the six-week deadline. Submitting your application 42 FULL CALENDAR DAYS prior to your event/departure date requires that there are 42 full days between application submission and event/departure date. This is different than submitting on the 42nd day prior to event/departure date. In order to be in compliance with the six-week policy, you must submit on the 43rd day prior to event/departure date. 

The application software will not allow you to submit an application if the date is not within the six-week deadline. It is, then, common for students to complete the application with the incorrect dates listed in their overview. Unfortunately, this will not work to get you the grant funding. It WILL be discovered during hearings and even if it weren't, it would be discovered by me when I begin purchasing. Something like that may be grounds for revocation of ASM grant application privileges through the next academic year. So don't do that. Just complete your application on time and double-check that the dates you list in your overview are correct. 

ASM is a department of UW Madison which is a state actor. This is why there are a lot of policies around how we go about dispensing funds. We are an arm of the government, and governments have to be really careful about how their money is used. This is why we cannot just be Venmoing speakers (and also why we have to do everything else in a way that seems convoluted). 

For payment to speakers, we have a supplier payment system. Speakers must register with us as suppliers and are then able to set up their preferred payment information. The first thing that we need from them is a W9 tax form to make sure that we, as a state actor, are able to legally pay them. The second thing we need is a UW speaker contract signed by the speaker and University purchasing services. This ensures that everyone is legally on the same page about how much funding we are granting the speaker and why. 

When completing the honoraria portion of your application, the obvious first thing that you should do with regard to honoraria is make sure that your allocation is in line with the allocation guidelines based on attendance (this is laid out in the Event Grant Policy).

Another thing I want to get across here is that the main cause for problems and delays with payments is incomplete or incorrect W9s and contracts. You can help avoid this by (a) instructing your speakers/entertainers to double check that they have completed all required fields and (b) requesting and submitting these documents as early as possible. 

If you aren't sure whether to use the speaker contract or the entertainment contract, just ask yourself whether their services will be closer to a lecture or a performance. If it will be closer to a lecture, you should use the speaker contract, but if it will be closer to a performance, you should use the entertainment contract. 

W9

Speaker Contract

Entertainment Contract 

This question is a little bit clickbait because I am going to spend a while trying to convince you not to request ASM funding for flights. Our maximum travel grant allocation is $5,000, and I expect you will want to use those funds such that they go the furthest with the fewest number of roadblocks. This requires some strategy; I would generally advise against prioritizing using your allocation to purchase flights.

Purchasing flights with University funds requires that you utilize Fox World Travel, UW's contracted travel agency. Doing so is 1) logistically inefficient/frustrating and 2) (in my personal experience) always more expensive, sometimes by a margin of hundreds of dollars. 

Additionally, flights get more expensive the closer that you get to the travel date. If your application hits us at the wrong time of year, you might not be approved until two weeks before your travel date. In that case, you would have to hold off purchasing flights which will likely already be more expensive. You can save yourself this genuine nightmare by prioritizing using ASM funds for lodging or registration. 

If you have read all of that and still decided to request ASM funding for flights, here is how you would do that. 

ASM cannot directly pay for flights. You must either pay through your RSO account or you must have each attending student pay individually. In either case, payment will happen via reimbursement. Further, all flights must be booked via Fox World Travel, UW's contracted travel agency. There are a couple of ways to do this. 

1) If you are a student employee, you can click here, hit the "Concur Login" button, and choose flights yourself (there will be a $6 agent fee for each booking). If you choose this route, you need not use the Flight Request form. Simply submit the email Travel Itinerary Receipt you receive to one of the reimbursement forms. 

2) If you are not a student employee (or you would simply prefer to receive a 3rd party booking request from me) you should use the Flight request form below. I will take the information that you give me to make 3rd party booking request on behalf of each attending student. You will then receive emails for each booking prompting you to pick out your preferred flight option (there will be a $31.50 agent fee for each booking). 

Follow the instructions laid out on this website. Completing driver authorization requirements prior to your grant hearing can help ensure smooth expensing. 

In order to double-check whether you are an authorized driver, enter your Fleet Portal and select "Vehicle Use Agreement" under the "New Fleet Driver" tile. The resulting screen should list your VUA Status as "approved."