Graduate Student Funding Guidebook
2015 - 2017
Masters of Arts in Sociological Practices
Sociology Department
College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences
California State University, San Marcos
Updates 5/2015
Dear Graduate student,
Thank you for your interest in the graduate funding program in the Sociology department at
California State University, San Marcos. This guidebook contains very crucial information that
will help guide you choose the course to assist in, fill out the correct forms, and the timeline
required to process your paperwork.
Please follow these steps carefully to ensure that all the paperwork is filled out correctly. This
process takes a great amount of time so make sure you are checking your email and following all
the deadlines outlined in this guideline.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Sociology Department at 760750-4117 or Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibanez (mibanez@csusm.edu).
Best of Luck,
Sociology Department
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Procedures and Policies
A. Decide the type of funding preferred
 There are four different types of funding available this academic year (2015-2016)
for each graduate student, please read carefully and make your choice:
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Graduate Assistant (GA) Teaching – an apprenticeship for teaching;
fall/spring teaching schedule for tenure-track/tenured faculty; contact the
faculty member. For this type of funding please visit the graduate funding
page and look at the available schedule of classes for the semester you are
planning to teach in. Note: not all the classes will be available to assist in
so make sure you check the document out before making your decision.
Once you pick the course, contact the faculty member to get approval as it
is required to get the funding.
Graduate Assistant (GA) Thesis Research – supports YOUR costs for
research (e.g., printer, computer, cartridges, flashdrive, digital recorder,
software). You must decide on the material you need for your own thesis,
you must be a graduating senior to get this type of funding. You need to
have declared your thesis chair to pick this funding as well.
Graduate Student Travel – supports conference travel and registration to
present research related to your thesis; thesis work must be nearly
complete. For this type of funding, you will need to fill-out the preapproval paperwork with the department 30-45 days before the dates of
the travel.
Graduate Assistant (GA) Faculty Research Support – working with a
professor on his or her research activity to be determined between an
agreement with student and faculty. You must gain approval from the
faculty prior to making your decision. To help guide you, check the
webpage for each faculty on the sociology department website.
B. Fill out the online form
 Once you have decided on the type of funding above, you will need to go the
Graduate Funding Request form online
(http://www.csusm.edu/sociology/graduatestudies/graduatefundingform.html).
You must fill out the section completely that pertains to the funding you are
requesting. If the section is not filled out completely, it WILL delay the
acceptance and the paperwork.
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 Please note that we have $5000 to share across categories, not everyone will be
granted funds, and the funds may not cover the total amount requested.
C. Wait...
 Once the online form is submitted online, you will wait until contacted by Dr.
Marisol Clark-Ibanez to let you know the decision regarding the funding
requested.
 The process of matching is tedious depending on how many students are applying
so please be patient!!
 Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibanez will let you know the decision and the amount you have
been granted as soon as the decision has been made
D. Once accepted…
 Once accepted, you will need to fill out forms to get the funding:
 Graduate Assistant (GA) Teaching - you will need to fill out the
department application and bring it to the sociology department as soon as
you can. Once we have processed your paperwork and gotten approval
from other divisions in the university. We will contact you to come sign
the paperwork. You have about one week to come sign the paperwork
from the day of the email. You will also need to go to HR with two forms
of IDs (Social Security and CA Identification card) to check-in for payroll
purposes (you will not get paid until you sign-in with HR).
 Graduate Assistant Thesis Research - you will need to fill out the
department application and bring it to the sociology department as soon as
you can. Once we have processed your paperwork and gotten approval
from other divisions in the university. We will contact you to come sign
the paperwork. You have about one week to come sign the paperwork
from the day of the email. You will also need to go to HR with two forms
of IDs (Social Security and CA Identification card) to check-in for payroll
purposes (you will not get paid until you sign-in with HR).
 Graduate Student Travel – you will need to fill out the department
application and bring it to the sociology department as soon as you can.
Once we have processed your paperwork and gotten approval from other
divisions in the university. We will contact you to come sign the
paperwork. You have about one week to come sign the paperwork from
the day of the email. You will also need to go to HR with two forms of
IDs (Social Security and CA Identification card) to check-in for payroll
purposes (you will not get paid until you sign-in with HR). ALSO, you
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will need to fill out the travel request form online completely
(http://www.csusm.edu/sociology/facultyresources/travel/travelform.html)
45 days before the dates of the trip. Please follow the procedures (steps 1,
4, 5, 6 & 7 before the trip) on the travel homepage
(http://www.csusm.edu/sociology/facultyresources/travel/index.html).
You will also need to sign extra forms and bring them by the office, please
visit this page (http://www.csusm.edu/aa/travel/travel_student.html) and
complete everything except step 1 and 2. All the amounts requested on the
form are estimates so do the best you can. The department will contact you
to come in and sign the form in order to process it with the Dean and the
Provost. You will have a week to come in and sign the paperwork or it
may not get approved. During your trip, you will need to collect all the
receipts that you need to get reimbursed for. The university will not
reimburse you for alcohol or any meals higher than $55/day (for trips
longer than 24 hours). After your trip, please bring the receipts to the
department office as soon as possible as it takes about 30 days to process
the paperwork. You will be contacted to come and sign the claim form
before it is processed. You have one week from the day of the email to
come and sign the paperwork. If you have any questions regarding what
forms need to be filled out, please contact the department office (760)7504117.
Graduate Assistant (GA) Faculty Research Support- you will need to
fill out the department application and bring it to the sociology department
as soon as you can. Once we have processed your paperwork and gotten
approval from other divisions in the university. We will contact you to
come sign the paperwork. You have about one week to come sign the
paperwork from the day of the email. You also might need to go to HR
with two forms of IDs (Social Security and CA Identification card) to
check-in for payroll purposes (you will not get paid until you sign-in with
HR).
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I know which email will be used to send me updates and communication
regarding the funding?
 We will use the email that you have provided in the initial funding request form.
So please provide us with the email that you check very frequently.
2. What is HR sign-in?
 It is a process through Human Resources office which requires all new employees
to fill out employment forms for payroll, IRS, and emergency contacts prior to the
first day of employment. So make sure you check in before the start date on your
offer letter. For more information, please visit the HR webpage
(http://www.csusm.edu/hr/recruitment/signinprocess.html)
3. What is mileage claim on the travel request?
 If you are driving to your destination or claiming any rental car charges, you must
take the online course and be certified before the trip. You will need to send a
copy of the certificate to the department office. Otherwise you will not be
reimbursed.
4. The online form is not working, what do I do?
 If the online form is not working, try another internet browser. If the issue
continues, please contact the department office at 760-750-4117 or
mjordan@csusm.edu
5. When will I get paid for the position?
 You will receive an email from Toni Shaffer or Monica Jordan to let you know
when the paychecks will be expected to come out. You will also receive an email
from Monica Jordan to let you know when the checks have been picked up by the
designated person in the department. You may stop by the office to pick them up,
make sure you bring an ID.
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