Responsibilities of Mini-Grant Recipients

Presentation of Findings

Faculty and staff who receive a mini-grant will be expected to explain how they will share the findings of their mini-grant project. In the past, all recipients were required to complete a poster funded by the Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL). Recipients may choose one of the following ways to share their funded project findings:

  • Poster to be shared at the Teaching & Learning Ceremony (April 2023)*
  • One-page reflection report that will be shared publicly on the ITL website, and provide guidance for other faculty/staff looking to engage in similar work or with a similar teaching/learning tool
  • How-To-Guide that will be shared publicly on the ITL website, and provide guidance for other faculty/staff looking to engage in similar work or with a similar teaching/learning tool
  • Creation of a website or Google Site that highlights project findings
  • Leading a workshop in collaboration with ITL on projects and findings
  • Draft of an article (may also be submitted for publication) that can be shared publicly through ITL website

Recipients may also propose other methods for sharing their project findings. Presentation methods will be reviewed as a part of the application process.

* There is a concurrent best practices poster competition at the Appreciation Ceremony; mini-grant aware posters would be illegible for the competition cash prize.

Mini-Grant Purchasing and Reimbursement Procedures

Generally, purchases related to the mini-grant are made by the grant recipient through their department and then reimbursement is requested through the Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL).  If other arrangements are needed, please call to consult with our office. Items purchased with a mini-grant are purchased through university funds and belong to the university should a recipient leave the university.

Steps for Reimbursement

  1. Make the purchase for the awarded item(s) through your department’s usual purchasing procedures. Purchases should be made through eCube or with a university pCard; if this is not possible please contact ITL for instructions, as purchases made with personal funds are more difficult to reimburse.
  2. Purchases should be made through the same FOAP to which you would like the funds transferred. Please make purchases through the university general fund (111000) unless previously approved through ITL.
  3. Send an itemized list of expenses, receipt of purchase, and the FOAP to which you would like the funds deposited to Hillary Fuhrman at hlfuhrman@ysu.edu.
  4. ITL will initiate transfer within one week.
  5. If you are making several purchases in a short time span, you may save and submit several purchases for reimbursement at once. However, please submit requests within one month of purchase.
  6. Please make all grant purchases and submit requests for reimbursement to ITL by May 15, 2022. Purchases and reimbursement requests must be approved by ITL if they are past this date in order to be guaranteed reimbursement.
  7. Save copies of all receipts for your expenses in your own department and in your own records.

Additional Purchasing Guidance

Please follow all current university COVID-19 protocols related to events, travel, and catering.

Student employees: If the funds are used to employ students, then you must budget for fringes as well as salaries. Be sure to contact the Division of Student Success or the Office of Graduate Studies and guarantee, in advance and before hiring a student, that you will follow all the appropriate guidelines for student employment (graduate or undergraduate). ITL cannot complete the papers for student employee(s) of your project. As the mini-grant recipient, you must abide by the guidelines for hiring a student, and complete all the necessary paperwork before, during, and after the student is employed. Copies of these papers will be maintained by you and your department/program in case of any current or future audit.  Student employment guidelines are available on the Student Success website.

Incentives: The University is tightening guidelines regarding providing student incentives. Projects requesting student incentives with a monetary value (e.g. gift cards) will be asked to substitute alternative incentives such as promotional items to provide for smoother project management. If part of your grant request includes student incentives but,note that incentives are subject to the Business Related and Entertainment (BRE) Expense Guidelines and approval must be secured through the Controller’s Office. An exception form will need to be completed and approved, and that appropriate procedures for the distribution of incentives must be followed. BRE guidelines and forms are available on the YSU Procurement Forms webpage.

Travel: If your approved grant includes travel for faculty, staff, or students to a classroom or industry that supports teaching and learning, be sure to follow appropriate procedures including completing a travel request in Concur. Also, you must complete all the necessary paperwork, obtain approval for travel reimbursement, save all receipts, complete the travel expense report for appropriate reimbursement, and submit these travel requests in a timely manner (in advance of the trip) for insurance purposes.  Guidelines for student travel will need to be abided by, so be sure to check these guidelines in advance of the trip, abide by these guidelines, and then complete the necessary paperwork. When submitting travel requests please indicate that travel is funded through the Institute for Teaching and Learning Mini-Grant Award (however, in Concur it is considered non-grant travel). Visit  YSU Procurement Forms for more information.

Catering: If your approval grant includes catering, please note that when ordering through Chartwells you must go through eCube. Chartwells is now one of the choices in the punch-out menu. Please refer to eCube Training Guidelines/Information and click on Chartwells/Catertrax Ordering. Visit YSU Procurement for more information.

Contract Management: If your award is paying for a guest speaker to come to campus, you must follow proper contract guidelines. Typically a requisition needs to be entered into eCube. The speaker or business they represent must be entered as a vendor, and then depending on where the money is sent for payment, specific forms may need to be filled out. Visit YSU Procurement for more information.