What are the requirements that need to be met in order for an event to be approved for MSG funding?

As written in our MSG constitution:

• Event must serve an educational purpose 

• Event must be open to all students/staff/faculty at UA COM-P

• Funds may only be used for UA-affiliated individuals (for example, we cannot fund an event that will also involve students from ASU or another non-UA group)

• There must be no presence of alcoholic beverages or any illegal substances at the event

• Event must NOT involve religious activities, political activities, philanthropic donations/contributions, nor commercial activities, unrelated to the stated mission of the club or the organization’s tax exempt status

• All events should align with the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix mission statement

What is the step-by-step process in order to plan an event?

Prior to club registration:

1. Reach out to guest speakers and ask them to present at or help organize an event. This should be done far in advance before the club registration form due date.

2. Confirm a date/time with these speakers.

3. Submit the above information on the Club Registration Form to ensure funding and pre-approval 

Prior to your event:

As soon as you receive confirmation from speakers:

1. Add each event to your club registration form submission.

2. Send in Room Request Form ASAP on Room Request Smartsheet 

3. Send in Funding Request Form a MINIMUM of 14 days in advance of your event, however, in practice send it in as soon as possible. 

a. In this form, you may include parking vouchers for guest speakers. Each parking voucher is $16. If you need one, it must be listed on the form submission. In addition, please take into account the cost of tax and delivery as well as tipping (no more than 20%) when submitting the estimated transaction total. 

b. Food is only allowed in lecture halls, classrooms and student areas.

4. As soon as you receive confirmation of your room:

a. Submit the IG Events Form with the event information (club, event title, date, time, room confirmation, description) so that the Communications Officer (webmaster@uacomps.org) can post the event to the calendar and send it in the weekly event email.

5. Decide what the details of your order are with an approved food vendor (a list of vendors with estimated prices is located on the funding tab of the UACOMPS.org website). Email Baylee Duffy (bayleeduffy@arizona.edu) the details of your order along with the date/time and location a MINIMUM of 3 business days before your event is planned. Baylee will then make the order online.  (**If this is not done 3 business days prior, your funding will become null and void)

a. Only one vendor per event unless explicit permission is granted by the Treasurer. 

b. Vendor must offer delivery or the IG member is responsible for picking up the order. 

c. Adjustments to orders must be given at least 24 hours notice and cannot always be guaranteed. 

d. The $35 minimum for grocery must be met or delivery/pick-ups fees will apply.  

6. On the day of your event, pick up the food from the vendor or have it delivered, if possible!

 During your event:

1. Take photos for use on the MSG website

2. Keep track of what went well and what didn’t

3. Clean up after yourselves!

After your event remember to:

1. Give Baylee an itemized receipt (with the tip amount!) and a list of attendees ASAP (within 1-2 days) and also an AGENDA (which includes an educational mission)

2. Thank your Guest Speakers with an email and/or thank you card

3. Update your IG google drive with information about the event and how it went so that future leaders can look at this!

What guidelines are used by the finance subcommittee to approve funding during the pre-approval process?

These are the guidelines that the finance subcommittee has decided to abide by:

• Events must meet all of the school’s requirements mentioned above

• An emphasis is placed on unique, hands-on events that involve collaboration between two or more groups (i.e. events like this are more likely to be pre-approved when compared to plain lunch talks)

• $150 will be the maximum amount allotted for a lunch talk or $15 per person

• $150 will be the maximum amount allotted for a simulation event - a little extra money is provided for any supplementary resources that are not available in the Sim Center (however, remember to ask them first to see if they have the supplies!)

• A maximum of 1 lunch talk and/or 1 simulation event has the potential to be approved per group. This is in addition to any events that are hosted between the time the semester starts and when the club registration form is due.

Is there a max number of events that can be funded per club?

There is NOT a set max number of events for the entire semester per club; however, our goal is to have a diverse schedule of events with lots of collaboration between groups so we will aim to approve funds to meet this objective

Can I get funds to reimburse a speaker for fees associated with their travel to the Phoenix Biomedical Campus?

If the speaker is notable, the presentation can be advertised as a school-sanctioned event which MAY allow us to provide funds for their travel. This situation is handled on a case-by-case basis, requiring approval of Dean Briney or other administrative representatives.

Can I place an order for food/items for my event with my own credit card and then have this purchase reimbursed?

This is handled on a case by case basis as reimbursements are kept to a minimum. We highly recommend using approved vendors first and foremost. Reimbursements are handled through the University’s finance department and have the possibility of being denied even if requests were originally approved by MSG. Reimbursement can take weeks to months (most likely >2mo), with funds being deposited into the student’s Bursar account. Funding requests still must be made 14 days in advance of your scheduled event.

What should I do if my speaker cancels or the event has to be changed in some way (date, time, description)?

Please inform the treasurer as soon as possible if an event is going to be changed and/or canceled. This is helpful for us to keep track of which approved funds are truly going to be used. If they are not, then we are able to re-allocate the money to make the most of our MSG budget!