FSEM Budget Guidelines

Funding Sources

FSEM faculty have three sources of funds for your First-Year Seminar: Destinations Budget, Advising/Mentoring, and Activities. All of these funds are accessed via reimbursement (Concur) or a Qualtrics form (see Advising/Mentoring & Activities Funds). Faculty may use a DU purchasing card for all FSEM purchases. All new FSEM faculty will receive a $1,500.00 new course development fee.

What are some examples of allowable purchases for FSEM materials?

Note: New faculty ($250); returning faculty ($100); by request only.

Allowable purchases:

  • Class meals, snacks, refreshments

  • Cultural, entertainment, sporting events

  • Museum entrance fees

  • Books for the course (for your own research developing the course)

  • Consumable materials for lab experiences

Disallowed purchases:

  • Tablets/e-readers

  • Anything with direct cash value (gift cards, etc.)

  • Alcohol

Destinations/Fall Activities Budget ($25/student)

Each FSEM instructor has a budget (FSEM instructor, orientation leader, and students) to spend on Destinations day. Funds may be used for activities, meals, transportation, etc.

$25 per person in FSEM class, including OL and instructor if used for Destinations. These funds are only available for the Destinations trip or Fall Quarter activities. $500 maximum allowed..

Destinations & Public Transportation

Public transportation – free, with the RTD Eco Pass (now on the myRide app) - is now the standard method of movement for Destinations.

The advantage of using public transportation is that it gives students an opportunity to learn how to use the public transportation options. You can contact DU’s Transportation Center to develop a travel game plan using public transportation, or go to http://www.rtd-denver.com/ and click on “Trip Planner” to determine locations and times of transportation. All first-year students will receive RTD passes before the Destinations trip. FSEM instructors can have their DU ID/RTD passes updated at the Transportation Center. Many of the pre-arranged options will use RTD.

Winter & Spring: Advising/Mentoring & Activities Funds

Apply for additional FSEM group activity funds and advising payments using this Qualtrics form. If you have signed up to be an official advisor (versus sending students to the Office of Academic Advising), you will receive $500, and you can also request activities funds that you will need to submit to Concur. Examples for activities funds include pizza, cupcakes, etc. If you are not the official advisor for your FSEM students, you can still be compensated for time spent mentoring and advising your students.For example, if you have a pizza party, you can request $150 for your time.

 Budget Communication

You will receive direct communication about updates to the budget, deadlines, and other important information from the FSEM listserv “newsletter.” Direct questions about budgets should be send to Grace.Warner@du.edu and please cc: me, Rachael.Liberman@du.edu.