The Graduate and Professional Student Senate (Senate) is a major source of funding for graduate and professional student organizations. The amount of direct monetary support is dependent on the current Senate budget. In general, Senate supports events, activities, and student groups that are inclusive of all graduate and professional students.
Your group should apply for funding! Please find the Funding Guidelines, Funding Application, and Reimbursement Procedures attached below. Make sure to read and understand the Guidelines before applying for funding. Failure to obey the guidelines can result in a loss of funding awarded by the Senate.
FAQ
+ Who do we fund?
- Events/organizations that bring together students from a variety of graduate and professional schools
- Events/organizations that affect graduate and professional relations with administration and the media
- Events/organizations that build relationships with the local and/or global community outside of Yale
+ How much do we fund?
Generally, we aim to fund $3.50 per Yale graduate/professional student event attendee. This allows us to fairly distribute money received from schools to their constituents. The cap that the Senate Funding Committee can award is $1250. If your event requires more than $1250 from Senate, your event must first be reviewed by the Funding Committee before it is brought before the general senate assembly.
+ What else is the Senate Funding Committee looking for?
- Strong advertising: This will help ensure the success of the event and make sure our limited funds are well spent.
- Shop around: Your application is much more convincing if you can show the Funding Committee that you have looked for the best price on food/flyers/location. You can often work out deals with caterers and venues. Detailed budgets are also extremely helpful.
- Get funding from other sources: It is critical that you apply for funding from other sources. Here are some potential funding sources:
- The McDougal Center (for groups and events including graduate students)
- The Yale College Council (for groups and events including undergraduate students)
- The Office of International Students and Scholars (for multicultural groups and events)
- Academic/administrative departments, offices, and programs applicable to your group or event
- Alumni of your group
- Businesses that have an interest in your group or event, or would like to advertise at your event
- Outside organizations, universities, clubs, etc. who have an interest in your group or event, or whose members are invited to participate in your group or event
+How do I apply?
- NOTICE: As of the 2019-2020 Academic Year, the GPSS funding comittee no longer holds preliminary funding hearings. Instead, the committee will operate on an appeal system, where they will make funding decisions which may be appealed by the requester of funds. Please refer to this page regularly to ensure your group is operating with up-to-date information and request forms, which are subject to change.* The Funding Committee will resume hearings following the first Senate meeting annually and operate thru May. Please submit your funding request as early as reasonably possible, as the current funding committee meets monthly. If the funding request is for an activity that is less than 2 weeks before your proposed event, your right to appeal a funding decision may be waived.
+How do I receive my funding?
The GPSS treasurer will be notified of all approved funding as well as any stipulations to these amounts (i.e. $200 for food, $50 for flyers).He/she will reimburse your applicable receipts/invoices up to the amount of GPSS funding allowance by mailing you a check.
Note that all reimbursement request forms must be received within 30 days of the proposed event. Late requests will not be accepted. All reimbursement checks must be cashed within 60 days after the check has been issued. All checks will be canceled after 60 days and late checks will not be reissued.