Student Organizations
In order to encourage multicultural events or programs, the Carlos Alvarez College of Business Student Success Center has established a grant funding program for the college’s registered student organizations (RSO). Business RSOs have the opportunity to be awarded one of three $500 grants each academic year.
Funding requests must align with the Alvarez College of Business’ Global and Intercultural Fluency pillar to “focus on ways that we can be open to, learn from and have successful interactions with people who come from different generations, countries, companies or regions.”
Funding requests must meet two of the following criteria.
- Criteria #1 – Educational in Scope: Social justice education, cultural education, identity exploration and/or incorporated into classroom education
- Criteria #2 – Fosters Leadership Development: Event planning, critical thinking, and/or problem solving (for participants) and professional networking, employment seeking skills, exposure to career options, etc.
- Criteria #3 – Fosters Community Development: Relationship building [within & across racial/ethnic communities], heritage and awareness observations, participation in campus-wide events (Best Fest, Homecoming, Roadrunner Days, etc.)
Final decisions are made by a committee composed of Alvarez staff and/or faculty. See the "RSO Application Process" tab for more information.
Step 1: Are you eligible?You must be a UTSA Business Registered Student Organization. To find out if you are an eligible organization, click on the "Registered Student Organizations" tab. Not listed? If you feel that your organization should be on the list, ask your faculty/staff liaison to submit a website update request and include the URL to your organization's RowdyLink page. |
Step 2: Complete the Online ApplicationThe application is modeled after a business plan to give your organization experience with one. This is a competitive process, so use complete sentences and answer thoroughly. Only the top five applications will be selected to present their business plan. |
Step 3: PresentationThe top applicants will be selected to present their event and business plan to the committee. Your presentation will be judged on - Appropriate attire – presenters are asked to wear business professional attire that would be appropriate for a workplace. - Organization – is the presentation organized logically with a clear start, middle and end? Did you present a clear purpose and subject, pertinent examples, facts, and/or statistics to support your conclusion/ideas with evidence? - Delivery – did you hold the attention of the entire audience and maintain eye contact? Did you speak with fluctuation in volume and inflection to maintain the audience's interest and emphasize your key points? Did you stay within the time limit? Did you not read off the presentation? Was the audience engaged? - Multimedia – did you include a multimedia element, ex: PowerPoint, Google slides, Adobe Creative Cloud, video, audio, etc.? Did you include supporting information in the presentation? Was the presentation format clear and easy to understand? Was the presentation visually appealing, and without errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation? - Content – does the presentation align with the Alvarez experiential learning pillar, Global and Intercultural Fluency, which “focuses on ways that we can be open to, learn from and have successful interactions with people who come from different generations, countries, companies or regions”? Is the alignment with the pillar clear? Has the presentation demonstrated the benefits of their event to a community? Have they conveyed why they should be selected for the grant? - Q&A - could you answer all questions and either elaborate or explain as needed? Were your answers focused on the topic? Did you demonstrate knowledge of the topic |
Step 4: Add event to RowdyLinkUTSA requires the use of RowdyLink so all event information is centrally located. The "Event Categories" should include the two tags below at a minimum |
Step 5: Submit invoice for paymentEmail request for payment along with invoice or estimate from a vendor to Danielle.Gawronski@utsa.edu. |
Step 6: Reflect and ReportWithin 14 days of your event, you must turn in your post-event evaluation information in a Word document to Danielle.Gawronski@utsa.edu. This should include the items below - Receipt of payment (Can be a separate attachment) |
For more information on Registered Student Organization Grants:
Please email the Alvarez Student Success Center at AlvarezSSC@utsa.edu
1. Who is eligible for this grant?
You must be a UTSA Business Registered Student Organization. To find out if you are an eligible organization, click on the "Registered Student Organizations" tab.
If you feel that your organization should be on the list, ask your faculty/staff liaison to submit a website update request and include the URL to your organization's RowdyLink page.
2. How many times can a student organization receive this grant?
A student organization can only be awarded a grant once each academic year (fall semester through summer semester, not a calendar year).
3. What can the funds be used for?
Examples of uses for funds include
- Equipment rental, tables, chairs, tablecloths, etc.
- Food and beverage
- Hospitality
- Lodging at the state rate
- Printing through UPS on campus
- Space rental
- Speaker honorarium
4. What CAN’T the funds be used for?
- Awards (e.g., prizes, gift cards, cash, trophies, plaques, etc.)
- Events where alcohol is available or allowed
- Fundraising events
- Reimbursement for funds spent prior to the grant award
- Supplies (e.g. pens, paper, plates, decorations, etc.)
- Travel/transportation
5. How do we receive the funds?
All requests for payment must have an invoice submitted, the organization will not receive any physical form of money. Once you have been selected to receive funds, email your request for payment along with an invoice, or estimate from the vendor, to Danielle.Gawronski@utsa.edu.
Once you complete the process above, the Alvarez Student Success Center can make the payment.
6. What if I paid out of pocket using my own funds, can I get reimbursed?
The grant is not a reimbursement, so do not pay for anything out of pocket that you want to be covered by the grant.
7. Can the grant be used to fund an event series?
The grant is typically not used to fund a series, but special circumstances can be considered.
Please note: Funds cannot be used for a series of student organization meetings, only an event series would be considered. Email Danielle.Gawronski@utsa.edu to inquire further.
8. Can the grant be used for a fundraiser?
The grant cannot support fundraisers of any kind that include raising money or collecting goods.
9. What if the entire grant is not used?
All funds must be used for the proposed event. If the full amount is not spent, it is not transferrable to other events.
10. What makes for a successful presentation?
The goal of the presentation is to relay the benefits of your event and why your organization should be selected for the grant.
Successful presentations include a marketing plan, updated budget/budget explanation, the past success of the event or why this new event is important, and demonstrate how the event and student organization align with the mission of UTSA and the Alvarez College of Business.
Presentations also require one multimedia element to be integrated (e.g., PowerPoint slides, Google slides, video, audio, etc.). Include supporting information in the presentation and make sure that the presentation is appealing, error-free and easy to understand.
Does your organization have meetings, events or activities that you'd like to promote through the college's event calendar and social media pages? Submit this form to share with the college's communications and marketing team.
