Scholarly Support Fund

All graduate employees at the University of Massachusetts Boston who are members of the Graduate Employee Organization, UAW Local 1596, at the time of application are eligible. We encourage all members to pay dues.

The GEO dues deduction form is usually completed in the pre-employment paperwork submitted by graduate assistants to the Office of Graduate Studies. If you are unsure whether or not you are a dues-paying member, fill out the GEO Membership Form here. This is a form-fillable PDF that you can email to us at geo@umb.edu. We will inform you by email once we have received your membership form. Filling it out more than once will not affect your membership status nor cause any other changes, but it will help ensure you are in our system.

You can also check your pay stub to see if you are a dues-paying member. To find your pay stub:
– Go to UMB’s website at umb.edu
– Click on the MyUMass tab and then on HR Direct
– Log in with your UMB credentials
– Click on Payroll
– Select the latest pay period
– You should see “Boston GEO Dues” listed under “After-Tax Deductions”

*Please note that if you do not have a graduate assistantship at the time of your SSF application, you cannot apply for SSF.

One grant per academic year is allowed per applicant. Applicants may receive SSF multiple times during their academic career, provided they apply in different academic years. For the purposes of SSF, an academic year starts on the first day of the Fall semester and ends on the last day of the summer break. These dates are due to the university’s pay schedule.

The application will open on the first Monday after the add/drop deadline every semester and remain open until the funds are depleted. We will accept applications for incurred expenses for which you can provide receipts within the established timeline (Section 2.4).

Other scholarly expenses: Up to $400 for academic association membership fee(s), research software license*, access to database/article(s)*, book(s) for class or research, interview transcriptions/tools or services for research analysis, technological peripheral(s) [e.g., headphones, mic, computer monitor, cables], office accessories [e.g., mouse/keyboard pad, chair with back support, and other accessories].

Attending a conference: Up to $350 for attending an in-person conference. 

Presenting in person at an academic conference: Up to $650 reimbursement for flight/bus/train tickets, lodging, and food expenses as long as you can present receipts within the established timeline.

New CategorY AS OF FALL 2026!
International Conferences: Up to $1,000 for presenting at an international conference. Only 5 people will be funded each semester, and a total of 10 in the academic year, on a first-come, first-served basis. If the conference has not happened, $650 will be awarded, and the difference can be awarded after the conference has passed and proof of attendance submitted. 

These items qualify as long as they are not provided at no cost by UMass Boston. 

You will need to provide an itemized receipt for each expense. Bank statements do not qualify as receipts. Please email us at geo@umb.edu to inquire about the eligibility of items not mentioned in the previous list

Non-eligible expenses include utility bills (e.g., internet, electricity, phone), exercise equipment, major home appliances, leisure books/software (e.g., gaming or unrelated to research or class), and cellphones.

Applications in the Fall semester cover in-person conferences attended between July 1st and December 31st, and applications in the Spring semester cover conferences attended between January 1st and June 30th. This is in line with the UMass Boston fiscal year. 

If conference days fall within both rounds of funding, please use the first day of the conference to determine which SSF round your conference falls into. SSF works through expense reimbursements as long as you provide your receipts within 14 days of acceptance of SSF funds. You should let us know if you cannot provide receipts within this time range. We may provide an extension on a per-case basis. You can prepare your application using the information in Section 2.7.

You can submit your receipts for non-conference-related expenses bought in the period SSF covers. See the complete list of eligible expenses in section 2.2.

Yes. If you are presenting at a conference, you must have your acceptance letter ready to submit with your supporting documents. Otherwise, you would get funded as a regular conference attendee ($350). 

Make sure you are a GEO member before applying (Section 1.2). If you are not sure whether you are an active dues-paying member or just want to be safe, send us a new membership form and/or check your pay stub as per instructions in Section 1.2.

Make sure you are applying for eligible expenses and conference dates (Sections 2.3-2.5).

You will find the application form at the top of the SSF page. Applications will only be accepted through this online form. Applications submitted in person or through email will not be accepted.

To fill out the form as quickly and comprehensively as possible, we recommend you have the following information at hand:

• First and last name(s)
• UMB email address
• Local telephone number (no dashes or parentheses)
• Degree Sought (Master or PhD)
• Graduate Program (Open-ended)
• Have you received an SSF grant in the past? (y/n)
• Are you requesting funding for conference-related expenses? (y/n)
• If yes, list the following: 1) Name, 2) Date, & 3) Host of the conference (Open question)
• What format will you use to attend the conference? *If the conference already happened, how did you attend? (Virtual/In-person)
• If “In-person,” will/did you present your work at the conference? (y/n)
• Other expenses: I will use SSF funding for… (Select all that apply)
• Academic association membership fee(s) (e.g., ASA, ASPHA, ACS, P&W, APA, etc) 
• Research software license (Not available through UMB)
• Access to database/article(s) (Not available through UMB’s Healey library)
• Book(s) for class or research
• Interview transcriptions/tools or services for research analysis 
• Technological peripheral(s) [e.g., headphones, mic, computer monitor, cables (e.g., HDMI, USBs)]
• Office accessories (e.g., Mouse/keyboard pad, chair with back support, and other accessories)
• If requesting funds for non-conference-related expenses, list the item(s) requested and one sentence (per item) explaining why you need the items marked above for your academic development. Keep it simple! This in no way will influence your qualifications for receiving funding. (Skip if non-applicable)
• Do you have other sources of funding for any of the selected items? (no/other: ____)
• If yes, check the second checkbox and enter the name of your source. 
• Type your name and the date below to electronically sign this form (Open question)

The SSF is a first-come-first-serve award. As long as all requirements are met, funds will be awarded to applicants in the order by which GEO received your application. Timestamps are automatically generated by our website when the form is submitted. We will move from the first awardee down the line until all funds are distributed. If the remaining funds for the last awardee total less than their requested amount, then partial funding will be awarded to that awardee. After all funds have been distributed, a waiting list will be created for any applicants who have not been awarded funding or have received only partial funding. In case any applicant who has been awarded the SSF is unable to finish the process for SSF – including, but not limited to, being unable to attend their conference or being unable to prove costs or supply receipts – the award will be given to the first person on the waiting list, continuing on a first come-first serve basis. Once awardees are selected, applicants will be notified of the status of their application. All applications will be kept on file by GEO.

After you apply, you will be contacted by one of our committee members within 2-3 days after the application window closes to confirm your application submission and your GEO membership. Please be ready to confirm your membership. Then, we will let you know whether your application made it to the finalists, has been waitlisted, or did not make the cut. Hoping for the best, you should start gathering your receipts. You will hear from us soon after applications!

Once you are notified that you’ve been selected to receive SSF, you will have 14 days total after our first email acceptance notification to submit your supporting documents in a compiled PDF file, including your receipts (for non-conference related expenses), presentation acceptance letter, conference registration receipt, and others that may apply. Remember that you will only be reimbursed for incurred expenses for which you can provide receipts. 

Once GEO has all the necessary documentation, your application will be sent to the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) for processing. We will confirm the submission shortly after. You should see the reimbursement through direct deposit within two to three pay periods on your Wiser account. As per university policies, if you have a pending balance in your Wiser account, your SSF grant will be allocated towards that balance.

If an applicant cannot turn in supporting documents by the date established in the first email notification, please email us to work things out. If you fail to submit your receipts by the determined date, the funding will be awarded to the next applicant on the waiting list. We recommend verifying what round of SSF qualifies for your needs in sections 2.4 and 2.5. GEO may request additional documentation to ensure reimbursements happen fairly and on time. If you no longer need the funding, please let us know as soon as possible so other students can benefit from this round of funding.

The GEO has $100,000 in SSF funding for each academic year. These funds are split into $50,000 for Summer/Fall and $50,000 for Winter/Spring. For each round of funding, funds will be awarded to as many applicants as can be covered by the $50,000. Candidates may apply for partial funding if their expenses do not add up to the full amount. Any spare funding will be passed down to the next applicant in the line until that applicant’s requested funding amount is reached, and then the process will repeat for the next applicant. If the entire allotment of funding is not spent, funds may be rolled over from the Summer/Fall round of funding into the Winter/Spring.

If the total receipts turned in by an applicant total an amount that is less than the requested amount, the remaining funds will go to the next unfulfilled funding request.

The SSF can be used in conjunction with other sources of internal funding. However, SSF funds must be used for expenses that are not already covered by any other source of funding. For example, if you spend $500 to attend a conference, you could use SSF funds to cover your $200 conference registration and other grants to cover your $300 flight or lodging. You must not submit the same $300 flight receipt to both grants and receive more than you spent on the flight. Any combination works, but funding cannot overlap. The university controller’s office keeps track of all internal funding granted to students and will let GEO know if there are any issues with misappropriated funds.

The same rule applies, SSF will not cover any expenses already covered by other sources of funding. We hope applicants disclose all of their funding sources to ensure funds can be fairly distributed across our members. 

As of Fall 2026, SSF has been updated in the amounts of the awards, with a new category for international conferences added. It is also going to be open throughout the semester, until the funds are depleted. Applicants are expected to apply for a conference happening within a month, and within the specific period as defined in section 2.4.