PURPOSE

1. The purpose of this policy is to define and establish procedures for payments made to sponsored program participants in the form of support.



DEFINITIONS

2. Participant support is defined as payments made to participants in sponsored programs as incentives, to pay for miscellaneous expenses, tuition/fees, and for other grant related reasons.
3. Subsistence payments are payments made to support educational or training expenses, including tuition, living costs and other incidental expenses, which will enhance the individual's level of competence in a particular area. Subsistence payments are payments for which no services are rendered or required.



POLICY

4. Federal Requirements. The cost of scholarships, fellowships, and other programs of student aid for federal grants are allowable only when the purpose of the sponsored agreement is to provide training to selected participants and the costs are approved by the sponsoring agency.
5. Coordination with Financial Aid. Subsistence and scholarship payments for students enrolled at Texas State must be coordinated with the financial aid office, to assure compliance with federal and state regulations.
6. Tuition/fees is not paid directly to the student, but is paid directly by the grant to the university. The tuition is credited to their account in the Student Account System (SARS). Students enrolling late can still be paid in this manner.
7. Payments for services cannot be paid under this policy. Refer to UPPS 03.04.01 for consulting services and payroll policies for employee payments.



PROCEDURE

8. Subsistence Payments to Participants.

a. Compete Form AP-2 Participant/Subsistence Payments each time a payment is to be made to a participant. If payments will be made one time per month, the forms must be complete monthly.
b. Submit this form to Sponsored Programs for approval, within 7 working days prior to when the check is to be issued.
c. If the payments meet the terms of the award, Sponsored Programs will approve the form and forward a copy to Financial Aid, retain a copy for the office file and send the original to Accounts Payable for payment.
d. If the payment does not meet the terms of the award, Sponsored Programs will contact the Principal Investigator. It will be the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to obtain written approval from the funding source for the payment and to provide this documentation to Sponsored Programs.


9. Tuition and Fee Payments to Participants

Payments for tuition and fees must be requested through the cashier's office for Tuition Adjustments. Reimbursements cannot be made from Accounts Payable for this type of payment. If a student has already paid their tuition personally, they will be reimbursed through the tuition adjustment process.


a. Establish the account - send a memo to the Cashiers' Office, Attn: Tuition Adjustment, to request that they establish the process. The memo needs to contain the program name, account number.
b. Request payment - prepare a memo to the Cashiers' Office, Attn: Tuition Adjustment, giving the program name and account number, the name and social security number of each participant for whom tuition is to be paid.
c. Submit the memo to Sponsored Programs for approval.
d. If the payment meets the terms of the award, Sponsored Programs will approve the form and forward a copy to Financial Aid, retain a copy for the office file and send the original to the Cashiers' Office for payment.
e. If the payment does not meet the terms of the award, Sponsored Programs will contact the Principal Investigator. It will be the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to obtain written approval from the funding source for the payment and to provide a copy of this documentation to Sponsored Programs.


10. Participant support can impact the amount of financial aid awarded to students. For questions regarding possible impacts, contact the Financial Aid Department.

CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

This PPS has been approved by the reviewer listed below and represents Texas State's Division of Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

Review Cycle: ______________________ Review Date: ____________
Reviewer: __________________________Date: __________________
Approved: _________________________ Date: __________________

Gene Bourgeois
Provost and Vice President
 for Academic Affairs

Texas State University-San Marcos
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Last Updated:  03/18/2008
Send comments and questions to: tg12@txstate.edu