Yes, SEF supports travel and activities outside of the classroom that will directly benefit students enrolled in the course. In the past, faculty recipients of SEF have used their funds to support things like travel to a local conference and printing posters for research symposiums.
Limited funding for conference travel and reimbursement is available for non-CLAS students. Funding is provided to applicants who are able to clearly express the need and benefit of such funds.
You can apply each semester, but keep in mind that students are only able to receive $1,200 in compensation, $2,500 in reimbursement, or a total of $3,500 in both categories for the entire academic year (fall-spring-summer).
During the spring 2018 application cycle, over $54,000 in funds were requested. Of that requested amount, Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL) and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) were able to fund $28,000 in project support.
Yes, you can change your budget up until the SEF orientation date. After that date, you are unable to make changes to your budget.
No, we do not fund the same project through different OSEEL programs unless you can clearly demonstrate the need for additional funding or are working on two separate projects.
No, if you did not use all of your travel and/or project funds or spent it on things that were not in your approved budget, your Bursars Account will be charged with the difference. Applies to students.
Funds are disbursed as an academic award through the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office. If you are signed up for direct deposit through the Office of the Bursar, the funds will be disbursed through the bank account on file. If you do not have direct deposit setup, the funds will go to the address you have on file with the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office. Visit go.niu.edu/DirectDeposit for more information and to sign up for direct deposit. Information on disbursement dates are included in your SEF award letter and during the SEF orientation.
*Note that if you have direct deposit as an NIU student employee, you will still need to sign up for direct deposit through the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office. The two processes are separate.
No. Any changes made to the budget after the resubmission date has passed will not be valid. Any purchases made by the student or department that were not originally approved will be charged to your account at the end of the program.
SEF will only fund projects as long as you are an undergraduate student. Funds will not be able to carry over past your graduation date, even if you are continuing to work on the same project.
Items for SEF projects must be purchased two weeks before the last Friday of the semester that funds are awarded.