SMSA Funding For Student Groups
All proposals, with the exception of Gardner Mentorship Events, are subject to approval by the SMSA Treasurer. Annual funding is for student organizations that have registered with Student Activities and Leadership (SAL): the fall deadline is always in early November, and the winter deadline is always in early February. Since Group Conference Travel (GCT) and Student Projects and Initiatives Funding (SPIF) are disbursed on a rolling basis, you are more likely to obtain funding if you apply for it well in advance of your conference travel, event, or project work.
1) Annual Funding
*Only groups registered with SAL are eligible to apply: the fall registration deadline is always in early November, and the winter registration deadline is always in early February. The SMSA annual funding deadline is always in early September.
All Stanford Medical School student groups that are registered with SAL are eligible to apply for programmatic funding from SMSA. The Annual Funding application process takes place each September to provide group funding for the fiscal year (9/1-8/31). As Annual Funding is the main SMSA source of funding for student organizations, it is highly recommended that existing student groups register with SAL by the winter deadline of an academic year to qualify for Annual Funding during the upcoming academic year.
2) Group Conference Travel (GCT)
SMSA will reimburse a student group’s conference travel costs up to $450. Only one GCT application will be funded per student group per year, and a maximum of $150 will be awarded to any one student traveling to a group conference. A student who wishes to attend multiple conferences within a given fiscal year (9/1-8/31) can receive a maximum of $300 in SMSA travel funding ($150 from GCT funding and another $150 from Individual Conference Travel (ICT) support).
3) Student Projects and Initiatives Funding (SPIF)
If you are starting a new student group or have group project funding needs that arise after the Annual Funding cycle is over, please complete a SPIF Application. Note that the SPIF budget is much smaller than the Annual Funding budget, so requests should not exceed $1000 since that is the maximum that can be granted to any new student group or project. Since SPIF awards are granted on a rolling basis throughout the year, it is possible that applications submitted late in the academic year will only be partially funded (or not funded at all if SPIF funds have all be disbursed).
