V-Fund

Application Dates:

Introduction

In 1997, after nearly 30 years of service at Case Western Reserve University, Assistant Dean Edward Verhosek retired. Dean Verhosek had an tenure marked by devotion to the rights and concerns of graduate students. When he retired, the GSS struck a committee to oversee the choice of a retirement gift for Dean Verhosek and we met with him to find out what he would like as a remembrance from the students he had helped for so many years.

True to his altruistic form, he suggested that the gift he would appreciate most was a fund named in his honor to assist graduate students financially with expenses encountered in the latter part of their studies. He drafted "Thoughts on the ‘V' Fund for Graduate Students" to give us a start on how to make the grants-to-students a reality.

In addition to honoring Dean Verhosek, the V Fund also provides a vehicle for graduate students to be helped by graduate students, and thus provide a salient means for GSS to provide a meaningful service to the graduate student body by providing funds for incidental costs incurred in thesis research that are otherwise usually left to be paid out of pocket by the graduate student.

In December 1999, by overwhelming majority, the Graduate Student Senateapproved the second amentment to their bylaws in order to establish thecommittee that is responsible for the administration of th e V-Fund. Shortlyafter the GSS Executive committee designated the funds and theCWRU Board of Trustees established an endowment from those funds fordisbursement through the V-Fund.

Eligibility Criteria

• - Applicant must be enrolled in the School of Graduate Studies as full or part-time, degree-seeking students.
• - Applicant must have completed at least 12 credit hours of graduate level course.
• - Applicant must be a presenter at a conference to be eligible to receive up to $200 (lifetime) for incidentals. Application must include a copy of the conference confirmation of acceptance for presentation (oral/poster).
• - Applicant can also request up to $50 for thesis/dissertation binding.

Restrictions

• - One grant application per student (per semester) with a lifetime maximum of $250 to any student.
• - No grants will be awarded to pay for tuition, fees, fines or professional society memberships.
• - No grants will be awarded for attending a conference without giving an oral or poster presentation.

Application (click here to download)

• - Except in unusual circumstances of immediate need, all grants are approved on a reimbursement basis.
• - Application deadlines will be Dec 1, April 1 and Sept 1 of each academic year for the fall, spring and summer semesters, respectively.
• - Application will consist of one-page form confirming eligibility by the appropriate deadline for the semester. Original receipts should be submitted for reimbursement within 60 days of the event/conference.
• - The student will request the amount of money needed for the event, according to the guidelines and maximum grant award allowed.
• - V-Fund applications should be turned in or sent by campus mail to: Attention: Linda LaPinta; Graduate Studies, Nord Hall 6th floor.
• - All applications must be received by the date noted above to be eligible for consideration.

Awards

• - The Organizations and Allocations committee will verify applicant's eligibility for the V-fund.
• - Shortly after the submission deadline, the Organizations and Allocations committee will distribute awards to eligible applicants until the allotted money is used.
• - Applicants may apply once per semester so long as eligibility criteria are met.
• - Any grant money not used in the allotted semester will be rolled over to the next semester to be used to fund more eligible applicants. If at the end of the year there is still grant money left, it will be roll over to the V-fund endowment.