Funding Guidelines

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Funding Regulations to Govern the Medical Student Council
of the Ohio State University College of Medicine

Updated April 2008

The Funding Committee of the Medical Student Council at the OSU College of Medicine

shall be comprised of the following:

i. Treasurer

ii. 4 active members, with no more than 2 from one class or represented group (e.g., MD/PhD, MD/MPH, etc.), of the Council to comprise an odd number of total members, including the Treasurer

iii. President, Vice-President and Secretary of the Council are not eligible to serve as voting members of the committee.

All decisions will be made by simple majority vote of the Committee.
Interpretation of these guidelines and all funding matters is at the discretion of the Funding Committee by majority vote.

i. In the event of a tie, the Treasurer will have the overriding vote.

The Funding Committee shall meet prior to each Student Council meeting and when called to session by the Treasurer.

Accounts

There exist two accounts at Fifth Third Bank for Student Council.

i. The first, “OSU Funds” and the second, “Recreational Funds.”

1. The OSU Funds account should be used for expenditures such as those mentioned in Section 4, 5, 7, 9, and 10.

2. The Recreational Funds account should be used for expenditures such as those mentioned in Section 6, 8 and 10.

3. The discretion for distinction between these two accounts and their proper utilization rests solely with the Treasurer.

ii. These accounts are to be maintained separately

1. No purchases of alcohol or party expenses shall be made from the OSU funds account.

2. Transfer of funds between the accounts is allowed provided that funds are transferred back by the end of the fiscal year.

a. The Student Council Fiscal Year shall be defined as May 1 to April 30.

There exists a Medical Center email account (sc.treasurer@osumc.edu) for the conduction and management of the Treasurer’s duties and responsibilities.

i. The Treasurer shall use exclusively this account in communicating with individuals regarding financial matters. Personal email communication is to be strongly discouraged and should it occur, all emails from personal communication are to be forwarded and appropriately filed in the sc.treasurer@osumc.edu account.

ii. In addition to serving as a means of communication, the account will also serve

1. as a means of maintaining continuity,

2. as a means of maintaining documentation,

3. as a means of receiving funding requests.

All matters involving the maintenance of these accounts are at the sole discretion of the Treasurer.

Requests for Student Council Funds

Formal requests for Student Council funding must be submitted using the online Funding Request Form on the Student Council website.
Requests should be submitted at least one month prior to the event for which funding is being requested.
All funding by Student Council must be pre-approved by the entire Student Council body at its monthly meetings, except in the following circumstances:

i. Emergency funding should be approved by either the Treasurer or by unanimous approval of the funding committee called into an emergency session by the Treasurer and/or President.

1. Social events are not considered emergencies.

2. In other pertinent situations where emergency Student Council funding is desired, approval must be obtained directly from the Treasurer and/or by obtaining the unanimous approval of the funding committee.

Individuals will be notified by email within one week of the Student Council meeting as to the status of their request.

Individual Reimbursement

All original receipts for previously approved Funding Requests must be submitted to the Treasurer within sixty (60) days of the conclusion of the event in question after which time Student Council is under no obligation to reimburse the individual.

i. Under no circumstances shall original receipts be returned to the submitting individual.

ii. Submitted receipts become the property of Student Council to maintain authenticity of the reimbursement process.

All reimbursement shall be made exclusively by check.

i. Student Council is not obligated to sanction any other form of reimbursement.

Conferences and Meetings attended by Medical Students

i. In circumstances where Student Council would be supporting individual students for a particular event for a potential total amount less than or equal to $3000, students shall receive

1. Up to $100 if attending only.

a. Conference must be medically-oriented.

2. Up to $500 if

a. attending and presenting research, and/or

b. participating in a relevant forum in which the student is formally, officially, and beyond doubt representing the College of Medicine.

i. Representing the College of Medicine as outlined in 4.c.ii. is an extremely narrow category of eligibility and shall be generally restricted to an elected or appointed position where the said student directly represents the College of Medicine as evaluated by the Funding Committee.

c. Conference must be medically-oriented.

ii. In circumstances where Student Council would be supporting individual students for a particular event for a potential total amount greater than $3000, the total support for that particular event shall be capped at $3000.

1. Students shall receive a weighted proportion of the $3000 such that the ratio of funding given to a student that qualifies under Section 4.c.i.2.b. to that of a student who qualifies under Section 4.c.i.2 shall be one to five(1:5).

iii. Examples of guideline implementation:

1. 40 people want to attend a conference. The projected cost would be 40 x $100 = $4000. Section 4.c.ii. shall apply. The capped amount of $3000 would then be divided among the 40 students giving each student $75.

2. 20 people want to attend a conference and 5 are presenting at the same conference. The projected cost would be (20 x $100) + (5 x $500) = $4500. Section 4.c.ii shall apply. The capped amount of $3000 shall be divided as to take into account that presenters receive 5 times the support as attendees. So, 20(x) + 5(5x) = 3000, solving for x gives $66.67 per student attending and 5x=$333.33 per student presenting.

iv. Graduate and Postgraduate Research Day-related events at OSU and activities are not eligible for Student Council funds

1. Research Day is a university-sponsored event and it has historically not been in the interest of Student Council to fund all of the medical students who participate.

v. No medical student shall be reimbursed an amount greater than $2000 per fiscal year (Section 2.a.ii.2).

Reimbursable Expenses

i. Lodging

1. Original, itemized receipts must be provided

a. Acceptance of copies is at the discretion of the Treasurer.

2. Internet access costs charged to the room are reimbursable.

ii. Travel

1. to be reimbursed for travel, you must provide the following:

a. boarding passes for airline tickets and a receipt

i. Make sure to request a stub from the airlines as some do not customarily do this but may on request.

b. original, dated gas receipts

2. An allowance of up to $50 for cabs, public transit, and the like, as determined by the Treasurer (to be part of the total funding provided by Student Council as outlined in 4.c; i.e., total amount reimbursed will not be greater than as allowed by Section 4.c.).

iii. Conference and/or Meeting fees

1. Original, itemized receipts must be provided.

2. Paper receipts are encouraged.

a. Electronic receipts will be accepted.

Non-reimbursable Expenses

i. Food

ii. Alcohol

iii. Posters for Research Day

iv. Souvenirs

v. Rental Cars

vi. All lodging incidental charges (e.g., room service, movies, etc.) with the exception of internet access costs.

vii. Expenses not mentioned in Section 4.d. or as determined excessive by the Treasurer and Funding Committee.

Student Organization Funding

All student organizations must be registered and in active status with the Ohio Union in order to be eligible for Student Council Funding.

i. Approval of a student group for funding does not require registration.

1. However, prior to reimbursement for an event, the group’s status shall be verified as per the online Ohio Union Student Organization Directory.

a. In the event that a student group is not registered as outlined in section 5.a., no funds shall be dispersed.

i. Student groups can receive reimbursement after properly registering and updating their status up until the end of the fiscal year.

ii. Eligibility of a student group for Student Council funding shall require that

1. Section 5.a.i. is adhered to;

2. the organization is medically relevant.

All student organizations are eligible for up to $300 per academic year.

i. No exceptions shall be made.

ii. These funds are to be considered operating costs for the organization.

1. Individual students within the organization are still eligible to apply for individual funding;

2. Individual students within the organization cannot use these funds (see Section 5.b.i.).