Undergraduate Student Travel Fund

• You must be a Mason undergraduate student, who has not graduated by the time you return from your trip. 
• You must be traveling to an off-campus event (e.g., conferences, performances, forums, exhibitions) to present your project. Conference attendance for professional development only (i.e. just attending) is not covered.
• You must apply at least 30 days before travel.
• You do not need an acceptance letter to the event in order to apply. If selected for funding, you will be required to submit your acceptance letter with your reimbursement receipts.

• Click here to apply for USTF

• You should explain their project and participation in plain language that can be understood by a well-educated audience outside their field of study. 

• You should include the abstract, proposal, or prospectus that they submitted when applying to participate in the event. 

Need assistance with your presentation or poster development?

Schedule an appointment with an OSCAR Peer Leader today! https://oscar.gmu.edu/oscar-peer-leaders

Need to print your poster for the conference?

Print at the GMU Printing Arts Lab for free! https://library.gmu.edu/research-posters
Please submit at least 3 business days in advance of your desired pick-up date.

• Complete and submit the online USTF application  
  • Application must be submitted at least 30 days before departure.                                                     
• If you are traveling internationally, you are required to purchase international travel insurance through GEO.
  • Go to the Independent Student Travel Travel Registration to register travel and purchase insurance. 
  • $75 of your requested travel budget needs to be budgeted for a travel insurance fee.
• Consider an appointment with an OSCAR Peer Leader to assist with your presentation or poster development.
• You must pay for the travel expenses up front
  • Expenses will be reimbursed you once you return.
  • Departments, programs, and colleges may also contribute to your travel expenses in addition to any USTF funds given. 
  • If any additional travel support is expected from an outside source, please note this on your application. 

All travel policies under OSCAR funds are set forth by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Travel is highly regulated, even for Mason staff. If you have ANY questions about travel related expenses, please contact us at OSCAR@gmu.edu. 

Air and Rail Travel 

Purchase the airline ticket yourself and after your conference date, you can submit the receipt for reimbursement within your USTF application. As there are specific submission receipt requirements, see example receipt guidelines before submission.

Remember to submit receipts no later than one month after travel.

Conference and Membership Fees

You can be reimbursed for the conference registration fee, but also the annual conference membership fees. 

Taxi and Rideshares

When traveling, you can be reimbursed for ride share travel that is:

1.  Travel to and from airport/train station

2.  Travel to and from airport/train station to hotel

3.  Travel to and from hotel to conference

4.  We cannot reimburse for a tip over 15%

    

Hotel

When submitting hotel receipts, the receipt must include your name, dates of stay, list the itemized charges to the room, and state the balance is $0 and is paid is full.

Car Travel 

Car travel for USTF is permitted if the cost of car travel does not exceed the alternative cost of the most economical air travel.

Example: Traveling to a conference to Houston, Texas, the most economical means is to travel by airplane. If traveling to Baltimore, the most economical means by car or train.

Group Travel

If you plan on sharing resources during group travel, please split costs as much as possible.

If you share expenses with another USTF group participant, please submit a brief description on which expenses were split and submit any receipts for your portion for reimbursement.

Poster Printing

The GMU Printing Arts Lab provides free poster printing for undergraduate students: https://library.gmu.edu/research-posters. 

Other Receipts Allowable 

1. Airline Baggage Fees
2. Airport Parking (most economical only)
3. Public Transportation expenses (business travel only)

All reimbursement receipts must be submitted after 1 month of travel.

To submit your reimbursement, follow the instructions below:

For best results, please use a desktop or laptop computer to log expenses.

1. Submit application.
2. Be approved for a USTF travel reimbursement.
3. Click View Reward and accept agreement. 

USTF Application Link

For Individual applications that did not apply as a Group application:

1. Go to Post Award button and select “Log Expense”
   • Add a line item for each expense and attach the receipts to each expense listed.
   • If you cannot access the upload button, please scroll sideways to enter the amount and to upload your receipt.
   • For best results, please use a desktop or laptop computer to log expenses.
   • Be sure to save.
   • 
2. The final step, select the “Reimbursement Request” button to submit your reimbursement.
   • 
   • You will be prompted to label your reimbursement and to confirm the submission.
   • Our office will either approve the submission or send back to you for revision.
   • Please note that our oRice must follow GMU guidelines for reimbursement, should the receipts you upload not meet the requirements, we will ask for you to revise the receipt submission. 

For Group Applications:

1. Ensure the lead applicant has added each traveler on the application as a “Collaborator”. Without this step, the group members will not receive the link to submit their receipts.
   • 
2. Each group member will need to go to Post Award section and select “Log Expense”.
3. Upload your receipts.
4. After you upload your receipts, please click on the blue expense title text to finish the reimbursement process.
   • 
     
5. To submit the reimbursement- select your submission and click on the blue link under the Expense Title section.
6. This link will take you to another section, and in order to submit your reimbursement, you will need to select on the “Request Reimbursement” button to complete the receipt submission process.
   • 
   • **Without selecting the “Request Reimbursement” button, the OSCAR team will not be able to view your reimbursement request, which means your reimbursement will not be processed.

If you have any questions, please contact OSCAR at oscar@gmu.edu.

Post Award Form:

After travel, submit a photo of you at the conference and a small paragraph about your
conference experience!

How you will get your reimbursement:

To receive faster payment once your reimbursement is submitted, please ensure your
direct deposit is set up in your Patriot Web account. If not, a check will be mailed to your
home of record listed in your Patriot Web account in 30 days. 

If you are a Foreign National:

Before your reimbursement is sent to you, it will be routed to the GMU International Tax
Office. There may be a delay of 6-8 weeks before you see your reimbursement, and on
some purchases, tax may be removed from your reimbursement, which could result in a
lower reimbursement.

• Travel funds for students at the Fairfax campus, Sci-Tech, and Mason Square are allocated by the following guidelines:
  • Local/regional travel (within 25 miles): maximum $500
  • National travel (continental U.S.): maximum $700
  • International travel (everywhere not already mentioned): maximum $900   
• Travel funds for students at the Mason Korea campus are allocated by the following guidelines:
  • Local/regional travel (within 25 miles): maximum $500
  • National travel (The Republic of South Korea): maximum $700
  • International travel (everywhere not already mentioned): maximum $900

Click here to view Reimbursement Receipt Examples