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Conference Awards

Travel Requirements

  • There are no restrictions on domestic travel at this time. Study, co-op and other student travel abroad has re-opened for fall 2021 for select locations and programs, via petition.
  • For more information, please visit https://www.uc.edu/publichealth/campus-safety.html.  

Step-by-Step Instructions 

*Only if travelling:

Before the conference Student fills in the Travel Authorization. Once filled in TA is automatically emailed to the GSG Treasurer.

AFTER the conference: 

Prepare your receipts. If you travelled, your Travel Authorization Form needs to be attached to your receipts as ONE PDF in order for the system to process the application.

This means that the Student needs to prepare ONE PDF for the receipts consisting of:

  1. Travel Authorization
  2. Receipts

Application

  1. Student fills in the application and confirms the submission (still at this point the Student can edit the application)
  2. Student receives confirmation and links for emails to Student’s Department and GSA representative.
  3. Student’s Department and Student’s GSA approve the application. Student cannot edit the application anymore.
  4. After gathering all signatures, the completed application is automatically sent to the GSG Treasurer for approval
  5. GSG Treasurer approves the application and Student receives confirmation Email

Only for CEAS or CECH students

  • CEAS and CECH students email the approved application to their Departments

Reimbursement

  • Please be patient. It takes from 5 to 20 days to get your reimbursement. 

Travel Authorization Form 

  • All students who are staying at least one night for travel outside of UC are required to complete and submit the Travel Authorization Form. 
  • When submitting your documentation for the awards, you must have travel authorization and reciepts as one singular PDF. If you do not submit as one form, your reimbursement process will be delayed. 

The GSG Conference Award is provided to financially assist deserving graduate students present their research at a conference or attend a conference or workshop to develop their professional skills.

A graduate student can receive maximum $600 in conference related awards from the GSG per fiscal year (July 1st to June 30th).

There are four types of Conference Travel Awards:

  • Presenter
  • Non-Presenter
  • Remote Presenter
  • Remote Non-Presenter.

All conference applications are hosted on Jotform. You must register as a member of the GSG on CampusLink to be eligible for reimbursement.

For in-person conferences, a student must have submitted a University required pre-travel authorization form two weeks before the conference. The pre-travel documentation is located via this link. 

Please review elgibility/ineligibility requirements. Conference registration and/or abstract submission fees can be reimbursed. However, the total amount reimbursed must not include any membership dues or non-essential services. The receipt must show the applicant’s name and itemized charges.

Please note that auditions, job talks, career fairs, and interviews are ineligible for awards. 

Reimbursement

The Award money is distributed as a reimbursement following the receipt of the application materials - POST-CONFERENCE. Awards are not guarenteed, and are subject to GSG budget limitations.

When submitting your documentation for the awards, you must have travel authorization and reciepts as one singular PDF. If you do not submit as one form, your reimbursement process will be delayed. 

After the GSG has processed your documents, your travel award will be reimbursed to you through direct deposit or a check mailed to your submitted address.

Presenters

The Presenter award is for students who wish to present their research at a conference/workshop (poster/paper/oral presentation).  A student can receive up to a maximum of $600 per conference/workshop. 

Non Presenter

The Non-Presenter award is for students who wish to attend a conference or research-related workshop or research-related seminar, etc. A student can receive up to a maximum of $200 per conference/workshop/seminar. 

Remote Conferences (Presenter and Non Presenter)

The pre-travel authorization form is NOT required for remote conferences. GSG is currently supporting Remote Conferences for both presenters and non-presenters. 

  • Must be a degree seeking graduate student with at least 12 graduate credit hours earned.
  • Must be registered for at least one credit hour during the semester of travel. For travel during Summer semester (if a graduate student is not registered for Summer), at least one credit hour of the prior Spring semester registration is mandatory).
  • Must be a member of a properly registered and active GSA group.
  • Must be a registered member of the GSG on CampusLink 
  • *Remote Presenter: Must be presenting original research in the form of papers/posters or chairing a panel/session at a conference.
  • *Non-Remote Presenter: Must obtain a letter of support from the student’s department chair or research advisor.
  • Graduate students whose conference travel is supported by departmental and/or an advisor’s external grants (including but not limited to federal, state and local government or industry grants awarded externally to UC), or who are traveling to a conference as an employee of such grants are no longer eligible for GSG conference travel awards strictly due to the GSG policies.
  • Auditions, job talks, career fairs, and interviews are ineligible.
  • Once all authorizations are confirmed, awards generally take about 2 weeks to process.
  • Awards generally take about 2 weeks to process.
  • If a student has graduated, he/she is eligible for reimbursement only if the conference is within two weeks of their graduation date.
  • The GSG requires that all students applying for GSG travel awards must also apply to their department/advisor for funding whenever possible.
  • The GSG conference travel award application is only considered for funding when no/partial funding could be secured from department and/or advisor.
  • If the GSG treasurer emails you about some problem with your application, it is your responsibility to fix the issue(s) completely within 7 calendar days of receiving the email.
  • The GSG does not reimburse Transportation Baggage fees and Aircraft seat allotment charges. No exceptions.

CEAS and CECH Conference Awards

The GSG treasurer does not process conference travel awards for CEAS and CECH students. This is handled instead by those respective colleges.

For Conference awards for CEAS students please contact Barbara Carter at carterbj@ucmail.uc.edu

For Conference awards for CECH students please contact the appropriate person in the below list:

  • School of Education: Amanda Grant - TEACHER-DYER 615V; 513-556-6614
  • School of Human Services: Amanda Carlisle - TEACHER-DYER 436; 513-556-3335
  • School of Criminal Justice: Erin Cochran - TEACHERS-DYER 650J; 513-556-8599
  • School of Information Technology: Jenna Goedde - TEACHER-DYER 250D; 513-556-5084
  • Appropriate proof of expense (as detailed in each category) must be submitted. Any deviations from the requirements below will result in a delay of processing. A credit card or debit card statement MAY BE submitted to support a receipt but cannot be submitted as the sole proof of expense. 
  • GSG does not reimburse food expenses.
  • If your receipts are not in US dollar (USD $), you must provide the value in USD on your application. You may use this website to find exchange rates for conversion: http://www.xe.com/
  • For expenses shared between students, each applicant must list their share on the Application and submit copies of the receipt and provide proof of payment (check, Venmo, PayPal, etc.) of their share.

Only the expenses listed below will be reimbursed. NO EXCEPTIONS! 

Conference fees: Conference registration and/or abstract submission fees can be reimbursed. However, the total amount reimbursed must not include any membership dues or non-essential services. The receipt must show the applicant’s name and itemized charges.

  • Your semester tuition bill
  • A student must be registered for at least one credit hour during the semester they presented. For presenters who presented during Summer semester (if a graduate student is not registered for Summer), at least one credit hour of the prior Spring semester registration is mandatory).
  • Please log into the Catalyst website. 
  • Click on the My Finances tab (under Student Homepage)
  • Click on View Term Bill in Account Summary
  • Select the term (the term of your travel) and click continue
    • Save the term bill
    • Note: If you presented your research during any of the semester breaks, the prior semester’s registration proof must be submitted.
  • You must submit a copy of your email confirmation of acceptance.
  • Please make sure that your name and the conference name are on the document and are explicitly highlighted.

Provide a screenshot of the conference with the time and date stamp on the screen. Activity on credit card statements does not suffice for proof of attendence to the conference.

  • At the end of the application you will be required to submit email addresses for your required reviewers.
  • All email addresses MUST be in the <6+2@ucmail.uc.edu> format not <first.last@uc.edu>