FAQs
General
Please take advantage of our many orgs to find students with similar backgrounds & interests! Visit Our Organizations for contact info.
Only students enrolled in exclusively online degree programs are eligible for a student activity fee waiver, which is in-line with the Binghamton University policy. To apply for a waiver, please complete the Student Activity Fee Waiver Form and submit to the Treasurer at treasurer@gsobinghamton.org.
Individual Funding
Yes! The Graduate Student Conference, Travel, and Research Fund (GSCTRF) is designed to help graduate students with conferences, research & related travel expenses. See here for details and application.
Yes, you may still apply for GSCTRF if you are receiving other funding. However, we require that you clearly state anticipated outside funding on your application form.
Please submit your application within 30 days and include the anticipated amount of outside funding, whether or not you have received the funding yet.
No, the GSO and the Graduate School each offer funds to help with travel. If your expenses exceed what one fund will cover, you are welcome to apply for both.
For the 2025-26 year, the GSCTRF can reimburse up to 60% of expenses, after all other funding, with a yearly maximum of:
● $400 for Master’s students
● $600 for PhD students
Your application should go through its initial GSO process within a week. After that, you will hear from us and your reimbursement will move forward to the BU Foundation. This may take up to 2 weeks. If you chose to pick up your check in-person, they will contact you when it is ready.
All of our checks are printed by the BU Foundation in Old O’Connor. If you chose to pick up your check in-person, they will contact you when it is ready.
Org Funding
Departmental orgs are allotted funding based on the number of graduate students in the department. Full time equivalent (FTE) numbers are provided by the Office of Institutional Research.
SCMA orgs and Interest Group budget requests are sent to the GVPMA and then voted together on by the SCMA.
You can access the GSO tax exempt form using your org’s GSO email. You can also reach out to office@gsobinghamton.org for a copy of the form.
Yes, you can pay a vendor via voucher submission, as long as they allow billing after service and accept payments by check. Please submit a separate voucher for the vendor payment. You will need to enter their name, address, email & invoice number and include a copy of the bill. (Payee’s signature is not required for vendors.)
No, you do not need to submit a Food Policy Portal request as long as the total cost is under $300. Be advised, you may NOT ask the vendor to break up the invoices to keep it under the limit.
No, using and “approved vendor” does not guarantee approval. BUDS may still choose to cater the event themselves. The “approved vendor” list just makes submissions easier, since they already have the insurance & certificates on file for those vendors.
Your application should go through its initial GSO process within a week. After that, you will hear from us and your reimbursement will move forward to the BU Foundation. This may take up to 2 weeks. If you chose to pick up your check in-person, they will contact you when it is ready.
All of our checks are printed by the BU Foundation in Old O’Connor. If you chose to pick up your check in-person, they will contact you when it is ready.
Other funding questions? Please contact our Treasurer at treasurer@gsobinghamton.org