Winter 2009
The GSEF has announced the 2009 winners for project funding!
Initially, 15 applications were received. At the initial meeting, four were rejected (example factors: application on behalf of an individual; applying for more money than we have to allocate; application on behalf of an undergraduate group) and guidelines/goals for refining the decisions were set. We compiled additional details (department sizes, verification/adjustment of quotes, condition of existing lounges) and disseminated these details electronically. Then we met again and decided on the amounts indicated above for the nine projects which won funding. In several cases the final amount awarded was less than the amount originally applied for (example reasons: we spurred the applicant to get matching funds from their department; we adjusted estimates that were too high; we felt the value of their project was incommensurate with the number of benefitting grad students; we did not have enough money to fully fulfill all requests; same group requesting more than one project).
| Group | Items funded | Funded up to |
| Civil and Environmental Engineering | Graduate lounge appliances | $2330 |
| Mathematics | Painting of departmental lounge, couch, whiteboard | $1161 |
| Management Science | Seating in common area | $1000 |
| Recreation and Leisure | Professional development seminars | $1000 |
| Political Science | Printing of promotional items | $1000 |
| Architecture | Graduate speaker series | $734 |
| Science | Start-up of a knowledge transfer service | $5787 |
| Environment | Prototype for high-performance solar panels | $2843 |