Awarded Grants Instructions

• Remember, grants may cover conference registration, transportation, and lodging, but NOT food, entertainment, or purchases made on department P-cards. Please note that all expected purchases are subject to approval by the Student Government (SG) Finance Office.
• No PCard purchases – you must pay for the expense to receive reimbursement, NO EXCEPTIONS!
• Under NO circumstances will departments be reimbursed for processing students’ travel, NOR will a department TAR be accepted in lieu of a TAR submitted through Docutraq to SG Finance.
• It is illegal to “double dip” with receipts between Student Government and any other association (i.e. you can’t get reimbursed twice for the same expense). Travel is often audited and, if this is violated, your entire department may be ineligible for travel grants for the next two years. However, you can receive support from multiple sources, as long as these are not other Student Government-funded organizations and as long as the amount of support does not exceed the total cost of travel.

• Have the confirmation email you received after submitting your initial application available.
• Have this page available at all times, and follow the instructions exactly.
• Know your confirmed dates of travel. It is important that the dates submitted here match the dates submitted on your receipts for reimbursement. If the dates have changed from the initial application, but are still for the same conference, it is not necessary to notify GSC as long as your TAR is correct.
• Please set aside 30-60 minutes to complete your TAR application in its entirety. If you are idle on the website for longer than 5 minutes, you will automatically be logged out and may have to start over again.

1. Go to Docutraq and click ‘Access Docutraq’. You MAY be prompted to log in with your Gatorlink username and password.
   *Please set aside 30-60 minutes to complete your TAR application in its entirety. If you are idle on the website for longer than 5 minutes, you will automatically be logged out and may have to start over again.
2. View detailed Docutraq instructions here.

Upon submission, the TAR form will be automatically emailed to the GSC President and Treasurer. Within 7 days of creating the TAR, the GSC President and Treasurer will review the TAR form online and approve it, as long as the instructions were followed properly. Please be advised that grants may be denied or cancelled after being submitted as a TAR for many reasons. This does NOT mean that you are no longer eligible for the grant from GSC. It simply means that the TAR must be corrected and resubmitted for the next step in approval to occur.

Next, within 7-10 days of approval by GSC President/Treasurer the SG Finance Office will review the TAR form online and again they will process it if the instructions were followed properly. The status of the TAR during this approval process will automatically be sent to you via a series of emails:

1. Screen for fund availability
2. Business Manager Approval
3. Treasurer Approval
4. Request submitted to UF Purchasing
5. P.O. # inputted into SG accounting system

Not all applicants have received each email so if you wondering about your status, you can review your TAR status on Docutraq by returning to Docutraq, searching for your TAR, and clicking on your TAR for more details.

You may begin making purchases only AFTER receiving an email that states: “Current Status: Approved.” The only exceptions are the purchase of airline tickets, conference registration, or hotel rooms ONLY IF THE EARLY PURCHASE RESULTED IN A DISCOUNTED RATE. Discounted rates are assumed for airfare, but you must show proof of discount rates by showing a table of registration prices by date from the conference, or a printout from the conference or hotel website showing early booking discounts by a certain date for rooms. You have between the date of the approval and the last date of travel to make purchases.

Keep in mind that you will need to keep original itemized receipts that indicate the method of payment (e.g., personal credit card, check, cash). If your receipts do not show the form of payment made, you will need to provide a copy of your credit card statement or check.

Remember, SG Finance will not reimburse purchases made from department Pcards.

Receipts must show that charges have been paid in full. Please note that “early checkout” receipts provided by many hotels do not include an indication of a $0.00 balance and therefore cannot be used.

DO NOT highlight or write on original receipts except as described below. DO NOT submit a receipt in which the date of purchase was made prior to the date you received approval (unless it is for airline travel, conference registration, or hotel registration.)

When you return: You will have 30 calendar days from the last date of travel to bring original receipts to the SG Finance Office, which is located on the third floor of the Reitz Union. Go to the third floor, go through right-most glass doors to the “Student Activities and Involvement” area, then stay right.

It is required that you submit receipts in person (in case they are lost in the mail or there are issues with the receipts). However, if you have no choice but to mail the receipts, first contact Tabitha Hill at SG Finance to get approval. If approved, make a copy for your records, then place them in a single envelope and write on the front: Graduate Student Council Travel Grant – Applicant Last Name, First Name (for example, “Graduate Student Council Travel Grant – Doe, John”). Place that envelope inside another envelope and mail it to this address:

Attn: SG Finance
PO Box 118514
3000 J. Wayne Reitz Union, Room 3015
Gainesville, FL 32611

You must submit a NEW TAR within 24 hours of your denial, following the directions above for TAR submissions and making the appropriate changes as specified in the denial message of your prior TAR. Previously submitted TARs cannot be edited, and any attempt to make changes will not be recorded. If your second TAR submission is denied, please repeat the process. Remember, if your TAR is denied we cannot guarantee that second TAR submission/correction will be fully approved in time and therefore you may lose your award.

Failure to submit a new TAR will result in the loss of your award, and will count as your allowable GSC award for the fiscal year.

International travel is much more restricted. You must submit a TAR 60 days in advance of your travel, and registration with the UF International Center is encouraged.

Contact the GSC treasurer.