Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: How much funding do you have to distribute?
The Sustainability Projects Fund receives $2.25 from every student at UBC each year, giving us just around $100,000 each year.
Q: Will we fund travel? Can I go to a conference?
The Sustainability Projects Fund Committee will consider funding travel related to your projects, whether that is to a conference or other event related to work that you do towards improving sustainability on the UBC campus. However, we’ll need a very strong rationale as to why this travel is integral to your project. We don’t want to use student money allocated towards sustainability to fund a plane flight.
Q: Will we fund student wages?
We are unable to fund student wages for proposals. An honorarium requested as part of the AMS Sustainability Fund are not a replacement for employment. Here are our policies on honoraria:
- Typical project honorarium requests should be less than $1000 per project. Requests over $1000 per project are considered under exceptional circumstances. Be prepared to provide strong justification as to why your project should receive an honorarium above $1000
- Projects that require significant and sustained effort will be given priority for an honorarium
Q: When can I submit my proposal?
We evaluate proposals on a monthly basis for any amount. For a large proposal (i.e. over $5000), you will need to submit a letter of intent one month in advance before submitting a full proposal. Presentations may also be required at committee if we do not have enough basis to make a decision. We encourage large projects to directly contact [email protected] for details and an easier application experience. You must submit your proposal or letter of intent 7 days before our next meeting for it to be considered, otherwise it will be reviewed the following month.
Q: What is the minimum/maximum amount I can apply for?
While there is theoretically no minimum or maximum amount, we generally receive applications above $500 and under $10,000. We have approved grants above $10,000 before however, so do not limit the ambitions of your project. We love daring and innovative applications.
Q: How do we decide on funding for projects?
The AMS Sustainability Projects Fund Committee meets once a month and reviews all proposals before the meeting using an evaluation form similar to this one . All decisions of the committee are made on a consensus basis. To minimize conflicts of interest, the AMS Sustainability Projects fund committee fully declare any connections they have to any project and all meetings are open to the public. To see when the next meeting is, visit our calendar.
Q: I’ve been accepted, what’s next?
We should have contacted you within a week of the last committee meeting. If not, do not hesitate to contact [email protected] immediately. You are required to come in and sign an acceptance letter, then receive instructions for reimbursement. After this, go forth with your project and begin preparing the final report for the SPF blog!
Q: What are our reimbursement procedures?
For all invoices we can remit payment only to the primary or secondary applicant on each project. For reimbursements, original receipts must be itemized e.g. generalized credit card or debit transactions are not acceptable.
Q: What if no receipt was available/we lost it?
There is a procedure for missing receipts and you may be able to claim the reimbursement. However all attempts to recover or procure another receipt from the vendor must be made before the missing receipt form is used.