Funding Opportunities

Cathedral of Learning in the fall

SEC has funding available for MSW students wishing to attend conferences, lectures, or other events that would benefit students’ professional development. Interested students must follow the instructions below. Please email MSWSEC@pitt.edu with any questions that come up while completing these steps.

Procedures for Requesting Travel Funding

The following will provide instructions for receiving your Travel Grant Reimbursement of up to $350. Reimbursements are processed by the Student Organization Resource Center (SORC) office of the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to requesting reimbursement, you must complete the following steps in order to receive approval by the SEC prior to the event or conference:

  1. Submit the Request for Funding (RFF) Google form. Fill out the form using as much detail as possible; if the exact amount of expenses incurred is unknown, please provide an estimate. The RFF must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the event or conference. The maximum award amount is $350 per academic year.
  2. Your Google form will be automatically sent to the Pitt SEC e-mail.
  3. The SEC will review the funding request at their next meeting (every 2 weeks), and the applicant will be contacted by our Business Manager with a final decision on their request. Please send a gentle e-mail reminder if you haven’t heard back within 2 business days of submitting your request that it was received.

All of the following steps must be completed within 14 business days of your return from your trip:

1)    If you have not received a reimbursement from the SORC office before, or you have changed your address since your last reimbursement, you must go to the SORC office in person and complete their W-9 Form. It only takes a minute, as they only need your current contact information and a signature. The SORC office is located in the William Pitt Union (WPU) building on the 8th floor and is open from 8:30am-5:30pm Monday through Thursday, and 8:30am-5:00pm on Fridays.

2)    Use the instructions for the Online Reimbursement Form from the SORC website. Here is the link to the Online Reimbursement Form.

3)    You must attach all applicable receipts to this form in PDF format. Your reimbursement request will be denied without proper documentation. All receipts paid with a credit or debit card must include the last four digits of the card in order to get approval from the SORC office. The reimbursement will cover any charges related to your travel, such as lodging, meals, airfare, gas and mileage, train or bus tickets, public transportation, ride sharing services, conference fees, and others. Please note that the SEC Travel Grants are reimbursements and you cannot be granted money before your trip; you must spend your own money and then receive the refund on up to $350.

4)    Your form will then be sent to the SEC for approval. If they approve, the SORC office will then have to give their own approval before processing. You should expect your answer within 5 business days. The reimbursement check will then be processed and should be mailed to you within 30 business days. If the SEC and/or SORC disapproves the request, they will attach a reason to your denial notification, and you must fix any errors and re-submit the Online Reimbursement Form in order to receive your reimbursement (you do not need to resubmit the W-9 Form).

5)    Direct any questions or concerns during this process to the SEC’s Business Manager at MSWSEC@pitt.edu