The philosophy of the GBSSA is to encourage its members to improve themselves, their schools, their students, and their industry. The objectives of the
Collaborative Grant Program include the following:

To promote excellence in graduate business student services;
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To provide financial support for research or development opportunities that are not eligible for other sources of funding or for which funding is difficult to obtain;

To build the GBSSA’s reputation as an organization which promotes collaboration between member schools to improve student services delivery; to reduce expenses associated with delivery of quality services; and to improve the overall experience of graduate business students.
1.
Staff persons from two or more unique GBSSA member schools may apply as a team.
2.
Applicant teams may not have received this grant in the current or any prior membership year.
3.
Distribution of approved funding must occur within the current GBSSA membership year.
4.
Applicant teams may submit multiple grant requests within the current membership year.
5.
Members of the GBSSA Board of Directors are ineligible to participate on any applicant team.
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Professional consultation fees

Survey or marketing tools

Publications or electronic access to publications used for research

Electronic data files

Calling cards for long distance or International telephone calls related to the project
1.
Tuition, fees, books, materials, etc. which pertain to grant applicants who are enrolled in an active, degree-seeking program.
2.
Any type of transportation or lodging expenses.
3.
Membership fees for alumni associations.
4.
Compensation to any team member (except for documented and validated expense reimbursements).
5.
Any transaction(s) which would be prohibited by any applicant team member’s institution of employment.
The GBSSA Board of Directors wants to stimulate collaborative projects amongst its membership.
Therefore, a formal funding capacity will not be pre-set.
However, the current financial status of the GBSSA will always be a consideration as application packages are reviewed. In addition, the GBSSA Board of Directors may choose not to fund any grant requests in a given membership year.

Each team will submit a proposal to the GBSSA Board of
Directors which includes the following:
1.
An introductory letter which includes the name of each team member and their home institution;
2.
A Statement of Purpose which outlines the project’s goals; the benefit to the industry of graduate student services; the reason(s) why GBSSA should sponsor the project; and how the end result will be shared among GBSSA member schools;
3.
A Supervisor’s Statement from each team member;
4.
A document that identifies each expense and the recipient of each funded item;
5.
A project timeline. NOTE: Although the approved funding must be expensed within the membership year in which it was awarded, the team may continue work on the project until the end of the next immediate membership year;
6.
Any additional documentation that supports the funding of the grant request.
All application packages will be sent via e-mail to board@gbssa.org
or via fax to (612) 626-7785, ATTN:
GBSSA.
1.
Application materials must be submitted at least 60 days in advance of any applicable funding due dates.
2.
GBSSA Board of Directors will review all application packages for completeness; timeliness of the request; and the applicability of the project to the
Program Objectives.
3.
A majority vote cast by the Board members will determine if a grant is awarded or declined.
4.
The Board may request a revision of content and/or expenses from the application team prior to voting on the request.
5.
Board members from the same institution as any applicant team member will not have a vote in the selection process.
6.
The decision of the Board is final.
1.
Payments for approved funding will be submitted to the vendors or agencies by the GBSSA on behalf of the team (preferred method).
2.
Reimbursements of approved funding to individuals or schools when prepayment is made will be distributed when both a copy of the paid invoice and proof of payment have been received and verified.
3.
Award recipients are responsible for any Internal
Revenue Service considerations and reporting.
Each team receiving a Collaborative Grant will provide a project status update to the GBSSA Board of Directors by December 31 and August 31 of each year during the project’s active status. At the conclusion of the project’s timeline, a final project summary including a summary of actual expenses must be presented to the
Board of Directors by September 30 of the year in which the project concludes. Unused funding will revert back to the GBSSA. Any intellectual property generated from this collaborative grant is retained by the GBSSA and its membership.
The effective date for the Collaborative Grant Program is January 1, 2010. Requests for funding opportunities which occur prior to the effective date will not be considered.

GBSSA Member School: Any business school of a higher education institution which has paid membership dues for the current membership year.
GBSSA Membership Year: The GBSSA membership year runs from September 1 through August 31.
GBSSA Board of Directors: Chair, Co-Chair, Business
Manager, Communications Chair, Membership Chair,
Technology Chair, and Conference Chair.
Supervisor's Statement: This is a document written on official letterhead from the immediate supervisor of each team member which confirms that none of the requested services or items are currently paid or budgeted; that the proposed expenses associated with the project do not violate any purchasing policies at the institution; and that the supervisor endorses this collaborative project. Please ensure that the name and job title of the supervisor is legible.