One Time Research Award (RA)

This award is designed to help students obtain funds for helping/furthering their research. Students can use this money to buy consumables or research materials - things that are not available for free to the student from the university or to fund travel for research activity. This money cannot be used for traveling to conferences.

A student must satisfy all the following criteria to be eligible for the RA.

• Must be a degree seeking graduate student with at least 12 credit hours earned.

• Must be registered for at least one credit hour every quarter (Except Summer).

• Must be a member of a properly registered and active GSA group.

• Must not have exhausted $400 in RA monies already.

Applying for and receiving the RA is a two step process. You are allowed to apply for a RA, for up to $400, only once during your graduate schooling at UC. Please ensure that you make the best use of this money.

STEP ONE

Fill out the RA application form available here and submit it with a letter of approval from your advisor. The letter must be on UC letterhead and must detail the research activity. If it is for a travel, the travel location and dates must be mentioned on the letter. Estimated item wise costs must be included in the letter and the application. If needed use a separate sheet to provide costs. Travel costs can be approximated. All this must reach the GSGA office by the research activity deadlines below :

The GSGA executive board will deliberate and get back to you on the approval decision within two weeks of the deadline. Please plan you trip / purchase around these timelines. You need not wait till a deadline to submit an application for future travel/purchase that you know will happen. Please note that all purchases / travel must be undertaken only after GSGA approval, if it is dependent on GSGA funding.

STEP TWO

This step applies only to those who applied for a travel related RA. Once you have received an approval email from the GSGA, please complete, sign and submit a Travel Authorization (TA) form. If you will be receiving funds for your trip from your department or advisor besides the GSGA, inform them that the GSGA will submit the TA form along with receipts to the UC accounts department. Be sure to use a single Travel Expense Report in this case. See Step Three below for details.

Please note that submitting a TA form does not guarantee funds. You need to follow Step Three below to receive funds after your travel.

STUDENTS ARE URGED TO UNDERTAKE/PLAN TRAVEL USING THE CHEAPEST MODE OF TRANSPORT AND PLAN THE TRIP JUDICIOUSLY TO REDUCE COSTS. FOR EXAMPLE, DRIVING TO NEW YORK CITY WILL COST MORE THAN $500 IN MILES BUT AIRFARE COULD BE LESSER. STUDENTS WILL NOT BE REIMBURSED FOR MILES IN SUCH A CASE. OBTAIN RECEIPTS FOR ALL TRANSACTIONS. UNREASONABLE CLAIMS WILL BE REJECTED. THE GSGA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DECISIONS IN THIS REGARD ARE FINAL. IF IN DOUBT, CHECK WITH THE GSGA TREASURER BEFORE UNDERTAKING THE TRAVEL.

Click here for the TA form and instructions on how to fill out one.

STEP THREE

Please follow the steps below and submit all relevant documents to the GSGA within 14 calendar days of the end of the research travel / purchase.  Late submissions will be summarily rejected. If you need more time, you must contact the GSGA before the 14 day deadline and extensions (no more than another 7 calendar days) will be provided based on merit. NO exceptions to this rule. Receipt submissions will not be honored by UC Accounts 30 days after end of travel. This includes the GSGA 14 day deadline and all students will be subjected to GSGA deadlines first.

1. Approval Email. Please submit a printout of the RA approval email received from the GSGA Treasurer.

2. Current quarter registration proof. For summer award, the previous spring quarter registration proof must be submitted if not registered for summer.

   • Class schedule OR

   • Student Bill OR

   • Quarter grade report 

   For summer travel, the previous spring quarter registration proof must be submitted if not registered for summer.

    

3. Submit Original Expense receipts. Only the expenses below will be refunded. NO EXCEPTIONS ! This applies to research travel expenses only. For other research expenses, your RA approval email will detail the reimbursement process.

   Appropriate proof of expense - as detailed in each category - must submitted. Any deviations from the requirements below will result in a delay in processing your submission. Original receipts are required and if a photocopy must be submitted, prior permission must be sought from the GSGA Treasurer. Permissions may be granted based on merit. No Receipt No Refund !  Credit or Debit card statement/transaction list MAY BE submitted to support your actual receipt but not in themselves as proof of expense. No submission time extension will be provided due to credit card statement delays.

   If expenses are shared between students, contact the GSGA treasurer to arrange for proper reimbursement procedure.

   a. Travel to conference venue city (Air/Bus/Train) : E-Ticket receipt / printout of itinerary showing travel cities, dates, applicants' name and ticket cost must be submitted. If there are multiple traveler names on the receipt/itinerary, the applicant must provide proof of payment of his/her share of the travel expense.

   b. Car Rental - Only the rental +  applicable taxes will be covered. Insurance and gas options will not be refunded. The car rental agreement copy with dates of travel, name of applicant and itemized charges must be submitted.

   c. Gas Receipts - Gas receipts will be reimbursed only if submitted along with a car rental. Receipt dates must match the rental dates.

   d. Conference venue local travel: Cab / Shuttle / Bus / Train expenses for traveling once from destination airport to venue/hotel and once back to the airport will be refunded. Please provide original receipts of travel, even if paid with cash.

   e. Miles of travel : Miles of travel can be claimed if air travel or car rental is not claimed. Claims must be reasonable and cannot be costlier than air travel. Travel from Cincinnati must use UC as origin address. 50.5 cents per mile is the current IRS/UC rate for reimbursement. Please fill out the mileage log form available here. Submit TWO COPIES of the completed log. If you are claiming only miles for all your trip, you must submit some other receipt from your travel to prove that you did actually travel. Gas receipts or any other destination city receipts are acceptable. These proof receipts will not be reimbursed.

   f. Lodging:  Hotel / Motel room rental charges + applicable taxes will be covered. A proper hotel receipt showing the applicants' name and itemized charges must be submitted. The applicant MUST be the payer in order to be reimbursed. If there are multiple names on the receipt, individual proof of payment, like a credit card receipt, for the applicants' share of the lodging cost must be submitted.

4. TER(A113) Envelope. Signed and dated UC Travel Expense Report (TER) envelope. Click here for more details on how to obtain and fill out a TER. ONLY ONE TER(A113) PER TRIP. IF YOU HAVE MULTIPLE SOURCES OF FUNDING, THE FORM MUST COME TO GSGA AFTER ALL OTHER SOURCES HAVE APPROVED AND ENTERED ACCOUNT DETAILS INTO THE TER.

    

General Rules

1. If you did not pay for your expenses and are trying to reimburse your advisor (or some other UC source) from the GSGA, you DO NOT need to fill out a TER envelope. Contact the GSGA Treasurer to arrange for this transfer. All other document requirements apply.

2. Make copies of all your submission materials, even the TER, and keep it for your records.

3. If everything in your submission is fine, you should be receiving your reimbursement check via mail to the address or UC mail location provided on the TER in 3 weeks.

4. If a student has graduated, he/she is ineligible for the One-Time RA.

5. If the GSGA treasurer emails you about some problem with your submission, it is your responsibility to fix the issue completely within 7 days of receipt of such an email. The UC Accounts department will not honor TER submissions 30 days after the end of travel.