Associated Students of the University of Washington Bothell

Student Academic Enhancement Fund (SAEF) application

Apply for funds from the Student Academic Enhancement Fund

  • Nov 2021 update: UWB is now permitting in-person travel again and SAEF is able to allocate travel funding for local or out-of-state travel. We advise applicants to still exercise caution while traveling. SAEF will not cover the cost of extra lodging, food, medical care, or return air-fare if applicants become ill during travel. Please visit https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/status/ for more information
  • Students who are traveling on behalf of UWB are subject to UW Bothell conduct, Washington Administrative Codes, and State laws.
  • Students can still apply to attend virtual conferences.

The Student Academic Enhancement Fund (SAEF) is live!

Read all information on this page. Then, apply via Presence.

Established by the Services and Activities Fee Committee (SAF) and administered by ASUWB, SAEF provides individual awards of up to $1,500 and group awards of up to $4,500 help fund students’ educational travel.

Funding may be approved for students who:

  • have been offered the opportunity to present a research paper or project at a professional conference and who have the endorsement of a UWB faculty member in their discipline.
  • wish to enhance their current leadership role on campus by attending a skill-building conference or workshop. The student’s application must be endorsed by the student organization adviser or administration.
  • wish to attend a conference or workshop in order to create or enhance a project or service that will directly benefit UWB students. The student’s application must be endorsed by a UWB faculty or staff member familiar with the project.

Deadlines

Applications must be must be submitted at least:

  • 3 academic weeks prior to the start of local travel or virtual conference
    • local is defined as any location within a 50-mile radius of the University of Washington, Bothell. Students attending a local conference are not eligible for funds to cover airfare or lodging.
  • 7 academic weeks prior to start of domestic travel
  • 9 academic weeks prior to start of international travel

Finals week and breaks are not considered academic weeks. Please keep this in mind when applying and allocate additional time.

  • Example 1: There are breaks or finals weeks between application submission date and date of travel: if you submit an application during Week 1 of Winter Quarter, the earliest you can travel domestically is Week 8 of Winter Quarter.
  • Example 2: There are breaks or finals weeks between application submission date and date of travel: if you submit an application during Week 6 of Winter Quarter, the earliest you can travel domestically is Week 3 of Spring Quarter because Winter Quarter finals week and Spring Break week do not count towards the seven week requirement.

Award caps

Students may apply to different award caps:

  • For individual applications, there is a $1,500 award cap per event, and a $3,000 total award cap per student for the fiscal year (July 1st – June 30th).
  • For students who are applying to the same conference, there is a $4,500 (group only) award cap.
    • Every individual must submit their own application, and list the applicants that will be attending with them. Applications will be denied if this award cap is chosen and only one application is submitted.

Application requirements

  1. All applications must include a supporting letter of recommendation from a faculty or staff adviser familiar with the project. The letter of recommendation must be attached with the application before submission.
  2. All applications must provide evidence or screenshots of lodging and airfare research.
    • You must show separate research for lodging costs and airfare costs. You may not use package deals or bundles for research since these may not be purchased by the university.
    • The university will only fund the most cost-effective travel method and has certain limits on lodging costs. Keep this in mind as you research, or email asuwbtre@uw.edu for questions. For groups or pairs, we encourage you to researcg the possibility of shared lodging. This requirement has been added to enocurage students to look for cost-effective options, ultimately allowing the ASUWB team to support a larger pool of students.
  3. You may receive additional questions from the ASUWB Treasurer regarding your travel proposal. If students have any questions or concerns, they may contact the Treasurer to talk about their application (asuwbtre@uw.edu)

Virtual conferences

Students may apply for SAEF funds to attend virtual conferences. Use the same application form in Presence as for in-person conferences. The required information includes the following:

  • Name of virtual event
  • Date(s) of virtual event
  • Total cost of attendance for virtual event

Applying for virtual conferences still requires students to have a sponsorship from a UWB faculty or staff member and a submission of their letter of recommendation.

After you apply

Applications will be reviewed in the order received and awards are allocated on a first come, first serve basis.

You may be contacted for clarification and may be asked to present your proposal to ASUWB.

Limits on SAEF grants

  1. SAEF awards will not cover any food cost or food diem associated with the event. All meals are the responsibility of the SAEF recipient.
  2. SAEF awards may cover the most economical means of transportation to and from the event and lodging only. This includes taxis, Uber X or Uber Pool, Lyft, etc. SAEF awards may not be used for UCAR or other university fleet vehicles.
  3. SAEF awards may not be used to obtain academic credit. However, students may use SAEF funds to attend traditionally academic trips as long as they are not receiving credit. 
  4. SAEF awards will not be granted in conjunction with another SAF funding source. (Ex: SAEF awards cannot be granted if Club Council has already funded conference registration)
  5. ASUWB approves SAEF applications during weekly general meetings. Open public meeting information can be found on our website.
  6. For planning purposes, please note that some costs, if approved, can be paid in advance by the University, while others will be reimbursed.
  7. Please read and understand what is considered non-reimbursable costs
  8. ASUWB has the right to revoke the funding for SAEF awards.
  9. No student may receive over $3,000 annually through SAEF and $1,500 per conference.
  10. ASUWB will try to send as many students as possible. However each conference has a cap at $4,500.

Additional information

  1. Students may apply to different award caps. For an individual application, there will be a $500 award and $1,500 award– with a $2,500 cap per fiscal year (July 1st-June 30th). Students who are applying to the same conference, there will be a $4,500 award cap.
  2. The approved application amount is final, additional expenses that exceed the approved request are the responsibility of the SAEF recipient.
  3. In the case, another person is attending the conference and they are sharing the same room, their roommate must cover their portion of the costs.
  4. Students may not use SAEF funds to combine conference and personal travel.
  5. Flights arrive at the latest possible time and leave at the earliest times around the conference, most often this means SAEF recipients will arrive at their destination one day before and leave the day after.
  6. Students are required to meet with Jessica (uwbsao@uw.edu) to book through CBT for travel. To optimize funding we suggest meeting 6-8 business weeks for domestic travel and 9-12 for international before the trip.
  7. All approved costs for airfare, lodging, and conference registration will be paid by the university in advance. Other costs, such as allowable ground transportation and parking will be reimbursed. Expenses that are incurred prior to both SAEF award and meeting with Fiscal Specialist will not be reimbursed. Please read and understand what is considered non-reimbursable. Non-Reimbursable Travel Expenses.
  8. All students must abide by the University of Washington Student Conduct Code.
  9. It is required for all applicants to create and update a blog of their experience. If the requirement is not met, the student may be asked to return the awarded funds according to UW Bothell Fiscal Policy. If approved the Senator of Internal Affairs will contact you to further explain the requirements of this process.
  10. All students must abide by the University of Washington Student Conduct Code which can be found here, https://www.uwb.edu/student-affairs/studentconduct.
  11. All applicants must send photos to the ASUWB team of their experience. If the requirement is not met, the student may be asked to return the awarded funds according to UW Bothell Fiscal Policy. If approved, the Treasurer will contact you to further explainthese requirements.

Past SAEF recipient experiences

Check out the SAEF blog for inspiration, tips and tricks!

Quarterly allocation cycle

  • TBD with Resolution
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
  • Summer

Additional funding sources

Contact

If you have any further questions, please contact: