Expenditure of Funds
Your RFG funds may be used toward the costs of bringing guest speakers to campus, graduate student assistance, or refreshments for your meetings. RFG funds are intended to support the core activities of your RFG and hence are not intended to be used for co-sponsorship of departmentally-run programming initiatives. (IHC cosponsorships are available for that purpose; visit https://www.ihc.ucsb.edu/cosponsorship/ for details). You are welcome to use your RFG funds to cosponsor events that are central to the mission of your RFG.
Accounting
The IHC Business Officer is the IHC source for all things financial. The IHC normally handles the entire accounting of the expenses for the RFG, which means all receipts go to her for payment. She keeps an accounting of all funds contributed from other campus departments for each RFG event, along with the IHC’s contribution, and processes invoices accordingly. RFG leaders are encouraged to submit a working budget to the Business Officer at the beginning of the academic year.
Catering and entertainment reimbursements
The Program and Events Coordinator or Administrative Coordinator can advise you on catering options and university rules regarding food service. The actual catering arrangements are the event presenter’s responsibility, as is clean up after the event. The IHC has a kitchen which is available for use, with the assumption that the presenter assumes responsibility for clean up.
The campus catering policy states that on-campus providers (UCen Catering, Special Events Catering) have right of first refusal for any catering on campus that uses department funds. If on-campus providers are unable to cater the event, the group must select a caterer from the University’s list of approved caterers. Details on the catering policy are found here:
http://www.ehs.ucsb.edu/riskmanagement/catering
UCSB accounting makes a distinction between catering arrangements where an off-campus provider brings food to the campus, and situations in which food is purchased off-campus by faculty or staff and brought to campus; the latter is NOT considered catering, and is not covered by the campus catering policy discussed above.
If RFG conveners would like to be reimbursed for food they have purchased and brought to campus, or if they would like to be reimbursed for a meal in a restaurant, they should submit the following to the IHC Business Officer:
- original itemized receipts
- a flyer or printout of a webpage describing the public event
RFG funds may not be used to purchase alcohol. Note that as a consequence of budget constraints, a maximum of 40% of your total RFG funds for the year may be used toward expenses for refreshments and meals. For an event that is internal to the RFG’s membership such as a works in progress session or a reading of new work in the field, we ask that you spend no more than $40 on refreshments. If your RFG’s refreshment costs reach this maximum, further expenses will not be reimbursed.
Graduate Student Assistance
Some RFGs choose to hire a graduate student to help with the RFG’s administrative labor. If you would like to hire a student, please email the IHC Business Officer in advance so the appropriate hiring paperwork can be processed. Include in your email:
- the student’s name and home department
- whether or not the student is currently employed as a TA or RA, and the percentage of time the student is employed.
- the nature of the work to be done (this can simply be “administrative work”)
- the pay rate
- the number of hours you plan to have the student work
- the start and end dates of his or her employment
Honoraria
To process an honorarium check, the IHC Business Officer will need four weeks’ notice unless the RFG is willing to pay a rush fee to Accounting for expedited processing. Please complete an honorarium form and return to the IHC Business Officer. The Business Officer will need a copy of a letter of agreement between the RFG and the speaker; this can be an email. The letter should state the amount of the honorarium, the date of the event, and the form of compensation or reimbursement offered to the speaker (honorarium, travel, hotel etc.). Honoraria for foreign visitors are very time-consuming to process, so the IHC will only process honoraria over $1000 for foreign nationals. The best way to compensate foreign travelers is through travel reimbursements.
Hotel reimbursements
Some area hotels have discounted rates for UCSB; be sure to ask for any discounts when you reserve rooms for your guests. Some hotels have the ability to bill the IHC directly; if you would like to explore this option, please contact the IHC Business Officer. In order to receive reimbursement for a hotel expense, please submit an itemized hotel receipt (also known as a folio) to the IHC Business Officer.
Travel reimbursements
RFGs should book their own travel and hotel accommodations for visitors. The IHC can reimburse your visitors for their travel expenses; please complete the Domestic Travel Expense Worksheet. Visitors should fill in their personal data at the top of the worksheet. They do not need to complete the account number or vendor ID. They should be sure to complete the address section clearly as this address will be used for mailing their reimbursements, and sign the form in the space indicated.
Visitors must provide original, itemized receipts for each expense; this includes hotel bills, rental vehicle agreements, or gas receipts for a rental vehicle. For airplanes, trains or buses, they must provide proof of travel in the form of a boarding pass or ticket stub. Private car mileage may be reimbursed at the rate of 58 cents per mile. To claim mileage, visitors should be sure to include number of miles driven round trip and their license plate numbers. Visitors must check the box marked “Check here to confirm your liability insurance” to indicate that they have liability insurance; otherwise payment will be delayed. If visitors receive reimbursement for mileage, they cannot request reimbursement for gas as well.
If the traveler is a nonresident alien who is not a UC employee, please submit a copy of the visitor’s visa or passport, and a “Declaration of Immigration Status” form, which may be found here. For questions regarding travel reimbursements, please contact the IHC Business Officer.