Undergraduate Student Travel Fund now available!

OSCAR is supporting a new Students as Scholars Undergraduate Student Travel Fund to help undergraduates who are traveling to present the results of their scholarship at a regional or national event (conference, performance, etc).

The application has three parts:

1. The student must fill out an Undergraduate Student Travel Fund application online. UPDATED: LINK NOW AVAILABLE.
2. The student must fill out a Mason Travel Authorization form (travel.gmu.edu) and submit it to OSCAR. You may do this either as a pdf to oscar@gmu.edu, or drop a paper copy off at the Center for Teaching Excellence (second floor of the Johnson Center, Room 241). Please include USTF in the subject of your email.  Please note that you have to click on the "First Time User" link and follow the directions if you haven't used this system before.  If you have questions, please contact us or your faculty mentor to help you fill out this form.
3. Proof of registration or acceptance into event (may be presented after the application is submitted but must be to OSCAR before any travel funding is paid). Again, you may either submit this electronically or in person at the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Details:

• Deadlines for application: October 28, 2011; February 24, 2012; and April 27, 2012. Students must apply at least one month before the travel is schedule.  No support can be given to travel that has already occurred. 
• Students must be traveling to present the results of undergraduate scholarship (travel to attend conferences or other events, or to conduct research, is not covered), and are required to submit proof of the presentation.
• Students who are presenting the results of scholarship created as a part of the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, or in an RS (Research and Scholarship intensive) designated class, have preference in funding, but any student involved in undergraduate research or creative activities may apply.
• Student travel funds can be used to support the following expenses, within reasonable (and state-allowable) limits:
• Conference registration fees
• Airfare or train fare
• Car or van rental
• Taxi fares
• Hotel expenses
• Perdiem (although this is a low priority) 
• Most travel expenses will be reimbursed to the student, so students must be able to pay for the majority of the travel expenses. Airfare, train fare, and some registration fees are the exception to this, and may be paid in advance if the application is accepted.
• Departments, programs, and colleges may also contribute to the student travel expenses.
• Student travel funding may be limited to no more than $400 per student.  Please make every effort to reduce expenses (shared hotels rooms and transportation, for example) so that a larger number of students can be funded.

Upon return, the student should do the following:

• Re-enter travel.gmu.edu to finalize the Travel Reimbursement form, and return it to OSCAR in paper form. Make sure to edit your expenses to match the exact amounts on the receipts.
• Include with the travel reimbursement form all receipts for hotel, taxi, registration, baggage fees, etc (and make sure that the receipts match the amounts on the travel reimbursement form.
• Send a picture of yourself at your event, preferably at the poster or presentation, or at a sign for the event (this doesn't need to be high quality - a cell phone picture would be fine) to OSCAR@gmu.edu. 

Travel funding is very tricky.  If you have any questions about what is allowable, or have other questions, please (PLEASE!) contact us at oscar@gmu.edu.  It's much easier to solve problems before they occur.