Purpose

  • To guide WSU graduate & professional students about appealing award decisions for travel grant applications.

Responsibility

  • It is the responsibility of the student applicant to submit an appeal for their application.
  • Faculty, Travel Coordinators, or other WSU members, friends, or family are not permitted to submit an appeal on behalf of the student applicant.
  • The GPSA Travel Grant Chair or their designee from the Grants Committee is responsible for the review of appeals as well as subsequent approval or denial. The GPSA President may serve as a designee under extenuating circumstances deemed necessary by the Grants Committee, including the Travel Grant Chair. The Travel Grant Chair must work with finance@wsu.edu to ensure adjusted timelines can be met.

Process

  1. If a student disagrees with an award decision, they must respond within 48 hours of the email notification from GPSA:
    1. The student must only contact gpsa.grants@wsu.edu and
    2. Forward the email decision letter to gpsa.grants@wsu.edu,
    3. State specifically why they disagree, and
    4. Be clear about what their appeal request is i.e., reconsideration, and how they offer to help with an appeal.
  2. If a student fails to respond within the 48-hour timeframe, an appeal cannot be accommodated by GPSA due to time constraints and manpower required for the review process.
    1. If an appeal is approved, the student must follow the direction of the Travel Grant Chair or their designee for a second opportunity for application submission.
    2. This does not guarantee the student approval of their application but rather offers a chance for reconsideration of review;
    3. If the student fails to follow the directions of the approved appeal, their application will remain rejected and cannot be considered for future appeals.
    4. If their appeal is approved and an award is accepted, the student must follow the timeline as GPSA’s Travel Grant Chair instructed.
    5. If the timeline is not followed, this results in the rejection of the award.
    6. Students shall only receive one 2nd opportunity to resubmit applications unless extenuating circumstances arise (See Appendix A).

Appendix A

  • Extenuating Circumstances

  • At any point during the appeals process beginning within the 48-hour timeframe to decision and reimbursement completion, should an extenuating circumstance arise i.e., death in the family, serious injury, illness, or other unforeseen events, the student must notify grants@wsu.edu immediately (as determined realistic per the Grants Committee).
  • While primarily a subjective process, the Grants Committee shall determine adjustments necessary to help the student receive as fair a review process as possible. The Grants Committee shall work with all its members to receive a majority vote (two-thirds minimum) on how to move forward.

The Travel Grants Chair or their designee must notify si.finance@wsu.edu to ensure accommodations can be met before granting additional timeline extensions.