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Home » Faculty and Staff » Faculty and Program Funding » Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshops » Running Your Workshop

Running Your Workshop

Rackham offers Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop (RIW) grants to sponsor an ongoing program of interdisciplinary workshops, which is overseen by Associate Dean Catherine Sanok. This program has two goals. First, it is designed to encourage interdisciplinary research by supporting workshops for graduate students, faculty, postdocs, and staff who share intellectual interests but do not necessarily have an easily available forum in common because they have different academic affiliations. Second, RIWs are designed to advance graduate student research by providing opportunities for them to develop and present research in an interdisciplinary forum.

Graduate students interested in forming such groups may apply for grant funding to support workshop activities and to compensate coordinators. A maximum grant award of $5,000 may be requested if the application is submitted by August 1, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) for the upcoming academic year. Workshops will receive grant funds at the end of the year after successful submission and approval of the year-end report. Funding is for one year only, but continuing workshops may apply for renewal. Funding not used by the end of the academic year cannot roll over to the next academic year. Please note: The RIW program no longer has a second application cycle for winter semester workshops. Groups, however, may still apply for grant funding for one semester only and must submit applications by the August 1 deadline.

Advertise Your Events and Build Participation

RIW organizers must identify a minimum of six committed members when they apply for funding. They should also advertise the RIW and its events in order to ensure that all interested Rackham students are aware of the workshop. In addition to targeted email invitations, RIW organizers are required to post all events to the RIW calendar within Sessions; they are strongly encouraged to advertise them also in the Rackham graduate student newsletter.

Record Participation

RIW organizers must record participation (including uniqname and the program affiliation of each attendee) for each event. Sessions has the capability of tracking both registration and attendance for events, and RIW organizers should use these capabilities to record participation.

Tracking Expenses

RIW Organizers are responsible for tracking ongoing expenses. Resources and support for tracking expenses will be made available to coordinators during the academic year.

Meeting Space

Rackham currently does not have space specifically designated for RIW activities. Workshops are, however, eligible to reserve Rackham rooms per Rackham’s approved scheduling and cost guidelines.

If your workshop is registered with the Central Student Government and you have a shortcode that begins with a 9, your workshop is eligible for the Student Organization rate. If your workshop is not registered with the Central Student Government, you will pay the university room rental rate. See the Room Scheduling section of our website for information about costs and scheduling.

RIWs are encouraged to host events in whichever format (hybrid, virtual, in-person, etc.) makes the most sense for the nature of their work and that best serves the purpose of their meetings.

Accessibility

RIW organizers are responsible for making their events accessible. Questions or concerns about accommodations and requests for specific accessibility needs for events in the Rackham Building may be directed to the Rackham Facilities Office: [email protected] or 734.764.8572.

Resources

RIWs may find it helpful to consult the graduate student engagement librarian, Marna Clowney-Robinson ([email protected]), who can connect them to library resources or help them arrange workshops with library staff regarding research, academic publishing, and topic-specific content.

Access to Grant Funds

Successful applications will first receive approval of grant funds from the associate dean after submitting their application, but grant funds are not dispersed until the end of the year and only after successful submission and approval of the year-end grant report,which is due by June 1 in order to receive funding. An RIW that fails to submit the year-end grant report by the end of the fiscal year (June 30) will not be reimbursed. Grant funds are drawn from the General Funds account, so a General Fund short code associated with a new Project Grant specific to the workshop is required. Once the year-end grant report is submitted and approved by the associate dean, the RIW will receive an email stating the year-end report was approved and funds will be disbursed to the short code provided after 10 days. Any follow-up regarding disbursement of grant funds should be with the finance administrator, who will contact Rackham if necessary.

The year-end grant report must be submitted through the RIW System by June 1. Funding is for one academic year or one semester only, but ongoing workshops may apply to continue. (See Year-End Report and Renewal Applications.)

Student Stipend Payment

The student organizer stipend is also dispersed at the end of the period of funding. The staff members providing administrative assistance are responsible for the payment process.

Through the use of a Financial Aid Item Type in the M-Pathways Financial Aid/Student Financials system, payments may be made to RIW coordinators as a stipend. These payments are not subject to taxes, except in the case of international students. RIW funding cannot be used to pay any taxes assessed. If further assistance is needed in making payment, please contact Rackham Finance and Fellowships.

Contact

Questions should be directed to 734.764.4400 or via email at [email protected].

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