Overview of Relevant VT Bodies and Fund Information - VTAstrobotics/Documentation GitHub Wiki
Prerequisites
To understand the content on this page, you should be on admin and thus have access to the private Resources folder.
Overview of Fund Information
| Name | Direct Spend | Expires | Robot Materials | Tools | Manufacturing | Outreach Supplies | Merch | Plane Tickets | Rental Cars | Lodging | Gas | Food | Registration Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EOF | β | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | β | βοΈ | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| LNF | β | βοΈ | β | β | β | β | β | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | β | β | βοΈ |
| Foundation | β | β | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ |
| EF | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| LMT | βοΈ | β | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | β | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ |
| AstroBank | βοΈ | β | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ | βοΈ |
Legend
- βοΈ Definitely yes
- β Definitely no
Notes
- If there is an β on
Direct Spend, it's via reimbursement onlyLMTcan only direct spend engineering costs (not most travel costs, see Lockheed Martin Fund (LMT))
Toolsincludes softwareManufacturingis like sending to a machine shop or paying for shop timeLMTcan be used to fundOutreach Supplies, but it depends on the item (ex. kid's engineering supplies is ok but swag isn't)
Student Engineers' Council (SEC)
The SEC is a group of VT engineering students who get an absurd amount of money donated by companies. They tell companies that they will do the hard work of finding out how to allocate funds to various design teams on campus. After all, they are students, so they would know best. Companies can donate large sums to them, getting what they wantβa large tax write-offβquickly and easily.
Interestingly, students in the SEC are almost always part of other organizations that request SEC funding themselves, which creates an obvious (but ignored) conflict of interest.
To be eligible for SEC funding, you must
- Attend their GAMs (General Assembly Meetings)
- they will send emails to you about when and where meetings will be held, normally they will be towards the beginning of semesters
- these are always an excellent example of a meeting that should've been an email; it's good practice for corporate life
- Volunteer as a club for at least 3 hours at SEC events
- the big one is Expo, but any other SEC event will fill this quota too
- Have used at least 75% of the funding awarded from the previous year
- ex. to receive funding for Spring 2024 EOF, you need to have spent 75% of Spring 2023 EOF
- the earlier you fill this requirement out the less stressed you will be when renewing your eligibility
Submit a request for funding using the links they send to you via email. Join their mailing list here. Expect one early Fall and another early Spring. Like August and January. Be careful: if you request it, they can be very picky about not approving a different item. It varies by who the Director Of Philanthropy (DOP) is. Some are chill, some aren't.
Historically, they had a funding packet, a PDF filled with all the need-to-know information about their funds. It seems, though, they have decided to remove it from their website. The 2022 packet can be accessed here, which you may choose to reference lacking alternatives. Just bear in mind that some of the information may be outdated.
Aerospace and Ocean Engineering (AOE) Department
The AOE Financial Services Coordinator (FSC), Erin, is your main point of contact with the AOE department funds, which are the Engineering, Foundation, and Lockheed funds. She is your biggest advocate! Her email address is on this document in the Resources folder.
Also, when planning for any travel, you will need to meet with her and Lisa (who handles all travel and is also really nice!) to discuss your plans, such as what fund money you will use, how much travelers will have for food, etc. These meetings are really quick (less than an hour) and serve to make sure that we are on the right track. Her contact info can also be found on this document in the Resources folder.
Punchout Vendors
These are basically the "premium" vendors that VT has deals with for faster/cheaper shipping and no sales tax. This means if you direct spend to purchase from one of these companies, you will almost certainly get the items faster and cheaper.
To be crystal clear, the university has deals that benefit us with hundreds of other vendors as well. These are just the extra special ones.