Student Activities

Reimbursements & Spending

How can I spend club money? 

Club funding can be utilized in a few different ways:

  • Students can spend their own money and be reimbursed (you must provide the original receipts and utilize a tax exempt form as you will not be eligible to be reimbursed for tax).
  • You can contact Student Development a minimum of 2 weeks in advance of your event to charge the expense. All orders should be prepared in advance of contacting Student Development.

 

Reimbursements

Our Finance team reimburses students through ACH payment, otherwise known as Direct Deposit.

The process to submit for reimbursement is as follows:

  1. Complete the Expense & Payment Request Form in Google Sheets (Make a copy) or Excel and save as a PDF. 
    1. Use the instructions on the first tab to help you complete the form.
    2. Reimbursements may be sent back for adjustments if instructions are not followed correctly.
  2. Compile all the relevant accompanying documentation for submission (as PDFs). 
    1. Receipts
    2. List of Event Attendees (If not present on Club Macaulay Event Page)
  3. Submit PDFs of all of these documents to our online Student Reimbursement Form.
    1. Note: all documents must be submitted in PDF format. Otherwise, these will be sent back to submitter to adjust and resend in PDF format.
  4. If you have any questions or concerns, email us at Student.Clubs@mhc.cuny.edu for support. 
  5. Further instructions for how to securely submit your banking information (Account & Routing Number) will be directly emailed to the contact person you put in the Request Form. Do not ever provide any banking information in the form or over email. 

Please note that students cannot get reimbursed for items not in your club’s approved budget (Scholars Council and Student Development approval). Any funding spent prior to budget approval is at the risk of the spender and is not guaranteed reimbursement.

After the payment is completed, your banking information gets deleted, so it does not live within any of our databases.

 

NOTE: The Student Development team recommends that all purchases are made using our purchase request form. If you are unable to submit a purchase request form, please contact the Student Development team for guidance on how to effectively manage your club budgets and finance processes.  

If you do not provide an attendance list for your event, you will not be reimbursed.

Reimbursement Minimum per event: $10.  

Reimbursement Maximum per event: $250. 

 

REIMBURSEMENT DEADLINES

After your event, you will have 10 business days to submit your response to our reimbursement form. Please note, late submissions (more than 2 weeks) cannot be reimbursed.  

Reimbursements are due at the end of each semester for any spending within that semester. Your reimbursement will not be honored if your reimbursement is not submitted by the deadline. Consult the Important Dates and Deadlines for the most up-to-date information.

All reimbursements must be complete and correct by the deadline. Incorrect reimbursements will not be processed.

Spending Restrictions

You can only spend club funding on the areas approved for in your budget request. In addition, there are the following additional spending restrictions:

Branded Gear & Swag

Clubs may spend up to $8 for branded gear/swag per item per person (not including shipping costs).

Please note that branded gear/swag does not include costumes for your club. Branded gear/swag refers to any promotional item with your club’s logo and information on it, i.e. t-shirt. Student Organizations must provide a list criteria for how students are selected to receive items and students selected to receive them, when applicable.

See here for information about pricing from one of our recommended vendors.

Equipment

If your club wants to purchase equipment for members:

  • No more than 50% of your allocated budget can go towards these items.
  • All equipment must return to the Macaulay Building for use by the wider Macaulay community.
  • Members receiving the equipment will need to fill out a Club Equipment Loan Agreement promising the return of the equipment to the building.
  • Equipment items are approved based on the group’s mission and need.

Students who do not return loaned equipment will be penalized, as well as the organization.

Subscriptions

  • Students are able to purchase subscription based programs for their club’s functions and needs. However, the following items need to be addressed:
    • Approvals for Subscriptions to programs are reviewed each year with the Club’s Budget Allocation. Just because a club was approved for a subscription-based program one year, does not mean that the program is guaranteed to be approved the next.
    • Reoccurring Subscriptions cannot be purchased/subscribed to (Annual Subscriptions). Students can only pay for subscriptions that observe the current academic year & budget period.
    • Subscriptions need to be purchased on a personal student debit/credit card and be reimbursed. Student Development cannot pay for a subscription via the payment request form. Students may submit for reimbursement if the subscription was approved.
    • Subscription based-expenses can be conditionally approved by Student Development, but the clubs are responsible for submitting a Justification for the program for approval to Student Development before purchasing.

Additional Restrictions

  • Reimbursement Minimum per event: $10.  
  • Reimbursement Maximum per event: $250.
  • Club Funding may not be used to purchase gift cards.
  • The cost of prizes cannot exceed $5 per item.
  • We are unable to fund individual expenses for non-Macaulay students with a group’s allocated budget.
  • Unfortunately, we cannot provide funding for Speaker Fees or honoraria.
    There are extensive resources within Macaulay and CUNY that clubs can utilize for free. You can also reach out to the Student Development team at student.clubs@mhc.cuny.edu for some suggestions for how you can get a speaker for free.​

 

Reimbursement Process (INACTIVE)

This process below is currently suspended until further notice.

Please submit the following items to process a reimbursement.

  • Student Club Payment Request
  • Original Receipts (excluding tax)
  • Event Flyer/Advertisement
  • Sign in sheets

A Student Club Payment Request must be filled out for any reimbursements to be processed.

Original Receipts must be provided, and should include the date of purchase, itemization, as well as name and address of the vendor. Tax is ineligible to be reimbursed. Please utilize the Tax Exempt Form when making any purchases. You must pick up a physical copy of the tax exempt form by contacting the Student Development office.

Event Flyer & Advertisements should include basic information about the event including the date, time, and location.

Sign in sheets should be utilized at every event and all participants must sign in using their name.

Where do my reimbursements go?

All of your documentation must be submitted together, in an envelope, to the Student Development office:

  • You can leave your reimbursement at the front desk of the Macaulay building, ATT: Student Development.
  • You can mail your reimbursement to Macaulay Honors College, ATT: Student Development, 35 W 67th Street, New York, NY 10023

This mailing process above is currently suspended. Please email all documentation to student.clubs@mhc.cuny.edu and see detailed instructions here.