The School of Engineering provides funding and other resources (staff and faculty time, space on campus for meetings and events) to engineering-hosted student co-curricular groups.  

Budget Requests

Each student group is required to fill out a formal application to be considered for funding. Each year, every student organization must complete the Proposal for Support for Student Organizations (the budget form will open in August and is due on or before September 13, for the coming academic year.)

Budget requests will be reviewed based on planned activities, and their impact for the Brown Engineering community, comprehensiveness and detail of budget, proportion of dollars requested to total membership, and levels of participation in funded activities. Priority will be given to activities that have the most impact for the engineering undergraduate or graduate community. Activities with an audience primarily of non-engineering students, or events fully off campus may not be able to be funded.

 As a rule, Engineering funding requests for student groups:

• Should focus on student activities that support engineering students within our Brown University community
• Preference is given to activities that support diverse engineering populations, are the most inclusive, and have broader impact to the students in the School of Engineering
• Engineering funds cannot be used to fund items such as alcohol, group t-shirts, gifts, speaker honorarium, or consulting fees
• Funds awarded must be used for the designated purpose 
• Groups with activities that directly relate to engineering, and have primarily engineering members are eligible 

Questions on proposals should be directed to Celinda Kofron, Director, Educational Initiatives, celinda_kofron@brown.edu

Timeline

All applications will be reviewed at one of the first faculty meetings of the fall by the Dean of Engineering, Associate Dean of Engineering, and the Engineering Executive Committee to review the activities the group has conducted, their impact, and how much funding the School of Engineering will provide.

Multiple Funding Sources

School of Engineering funding is not designed to cover all of your funding needs alone, please also plan to apply to the Undergraduate Finance Board OR the Graduate Student Council as well as relevant departments (Physics, CS, Applied Math, Chemistry) for funding. 

Spending funds and Reimbursement

Engineering co-curricular group spending (for engineering funds only):
1. The funding received from Engineering is given to student groups as an allocation and you contact the administrative assistant to your faculty advisor for reimbursements each time you make a purchase. 

2. Groups typically make purchases on their credit cards and if you submit right away you can receive the reimbursement check before the credit card is due. (For students who are on university payroll for a job, they can get their reimbursement sent to them electronically if they have their paychecks delivered this way.)

3. You will need to provide the administrative assistant for your advisor an original receipt - as soon as possible after the purchase (within a few days). If you are unsure what your group balance is you may contact Tina Trahan in our finance office to confirm what funds remain. Your funding from Engineering does not roll over, but any funds you receive from fundraising or grants should roll over. 

4. Any purchases from Amazon must go through the administrative assistant for your advisor. 

5. If a group overspends beyond the allocated budget, the amount will be deducted from their next year's allocation. 

NOTE:
There are several categories such as alcohol, or gift cards, which cannot be purchased with University funds. Additionally, School of Engineering funds cannot be spent for marketing (t-shirts, posters, web services, advertising), consultants, speakers fees, or professional services. For groups that want to spend money on marketing, it is possible to use other sources of funds (such as UFB, Grad Council, or gift funds). Please speak to your advisor before making any purchases of which you are unsure. More information on University financial policies can be found at the Student Activities Office. Finally, your expenditures during the year should align with your budget request. For example, you may not redirect funds that were allocated to a study break to buy a computer.