Frequently Asked Questions
When should I request funds?
Most requests must be complete and submitted to the UPAC office a minimum of 40 academic days prior to the event. Budget proposals may be submitted at any time during the school year until UPAC successfully allocates all of its funds for the school year. However, it is best to stop by the office to sign out a form as early as possible to give your group adequate time to prepare materials. Requests for operational funds must be submitted to the UPAC office before the completion of the fall semester!
Also remember, when applying for funding for a program, you must go through the program planning process in 125C-HUB-Robeson Center before you can sign out a UPAC form. The program planning process is a requirement by Penn State University, and must be completed for ALL programs being conducted by student organizations.
Please allow at least 7 academic days to complete this process.
What is an SCT contact?
An SCT contact is a member of UPAC who helps student groups to prepare and present their budgets to the voting members of the committee. Each requestor is assigned a contact when he or she signs out the request form, and he or she is responsible for getting in touch with his or her SCT contact. If you have lost your sheet with your Student Contact information, please contact The Student Contact Team Sub-Chair, Jonathan Tornetta at jmt5262@psu.edu.
This process is really complicated! Where can I go to get more help?
Don't worry, there are several places that you can look for help if you are struggling to find information, and the process gets much easier once you have gone through it once. Student Contacts' host open office hours at our Tuesday evening meetings in 330 HUB from 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Your assigned Student Contact will also have an assigned office hour, and can answer most questions over e-mail. If you are on a tight deadline and your request is due in a couple of days, e-mail Mark Donovan at mrd5107@psu.edu or Jonathan Tornetta at jmt5262@psu.edu or simply stop by the UPAC office and ask any student member to help you out with your budget! We also offer information sessions through our Student Relations Team. Invitations will be sent out over the President and Treasurers' list-servs, but feel free to e-mail Rodrigo Maia at rbm5060@psu.edu for more dates and times. We are always willing to set up individual meetings as well.
I am the Treasurer of my organization, and am graduating at the end of the year. How can I prepare the new leadership team so that they know all about the UPAC process?
Make sure that the new leaders know to watch for our information sessions and to check their e-mail for invitations. Above all else, make sure they know the name UPAC and what we do on campus. If you elect your leadership team early, have them go through a request with you. It's always a good idea to take notes when going through the process and to keep a transition binder. Keep in mind, we do change small things about the process from year-to-year, so make sure that they ALWAYS stop by the UPAC office to get this new information and sign out a budget!!! We are more than willing to set up meetings with you to help you with transition binders, or to talk with anyone who has not gone through the UPAC process before.
Do you have a question which should be added to this list? If so, contact the UPAC office or the Student Relations Team Sub Chair, Rodrigo Maia at rbm5060@psu.edu.