Using SLF (awardee guidelines)

Review your proposal very carefully. Funds can be spent only on items included in the proposal budget. Modifications to the budgeted amounts or substitution of specific items are allowed as long as the original intent of the proposal is maintained. See Unit Proposal Change Requests below for additional details. 

All transactions must be coded to the appropriate financial accounts. Please work with your departmental contact for SLF to ensure all purchases are coded correctly. Awards for interdisciplinary proposals will be managed by the primary proposer’s department. SLF awards and financial account information can be found on the awards page.

If you are purchasing items which qualify as Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT), you are subject to the Information Technology Procurement Review (ITPR) process. For assistance, please email itpr@csuchico.edu.

If the award is for student assistant wages, please email the campus Budget Office at budgetcfs@csuchico.edu to establish a new CMS position number or if you have questions about the timing of student payroll and payroll corrections.

The expectation is that Student Learning Fees are spent in the year they are awarded to enhance student learning. To maximize student learning, please work with your departmental SLF contact as soon as possible on the steps necessary to expend the funds. Ideally, purchases should be processed as early as possible so that unspent funds can be used or rolled with as much planning as possible. (See Unspent Awards below.)

Questions regarding SLF budgets or spending criteria should be directed to slf@csuchico.edu or the University Budget Office at budgetcfs@csuchico.edu or Financial Accounting and Reporting at far@csuchico.edu.

Expenses in excess of the award will be charged to the department/college general fund accounts.

In the unlikely event of unspent proposal funding, funds may be returned to the allocation of the unit/academic colleges, Student Affairs, or the Campus Fee Advisory Committee (CFAC) for distribution to the unit's other proposals for that fiscal year. Unspent allocations at year-end will be returned for inclusion in the next round of allocations.

Each award requires an assessment that must be submitted prior to the deadline found on the timeline. A link to the assessment form (Qualtrics survey) will be sent via email to all awardees. Assessments are due to the college dean, VPSA, or CFAC no later than the last Friday in May of the award year. If your assessment report is not submitted on time, it may jeopardize future awards. Based on these assessments, each dean, the VPSA, and CFAC compile unit summary reports for the Provost to review and use in informing the following year’s allocations.

Contact slf@csuchico.edu if you have any questions about this requirement.

It is important that any request to modify awards after funding has been approved be seriously considered. The following guidelines apply:

Proposal Funding Change Requests – Approval at the Unit Level

Awardees who wish to modify their award must first notify their awarding unit, either their college office, VP of Student Affairs Office, or the Campus Fee Advisory Committee (CFAC).

These units may authorize the following types of changes: 

• Transfer of proposal savings to other awards that: 
• Go over budget 
• Need/wish to purchase additional items that fall within the original purpose of the award 
• Need/wish to substitute an item with a higher-cost item (e.g., the technology may have advanced since the proposal was first submitted) 
• Substitution of an item with a like item as long as the intent of using the item remains within the original purpose of the award 
• Substitution of an item with a lower-cost item 
• Repurposing of an award that cannot be used due to unforeseen circumstances for another proposal that the committee has already reviewed, ranked, and recommended for funding

All expenditures must be within the SLF Proposal Guidelines.

Unspent funds for a given award may not be rolled over into the following year. See guidelines for planned rollovers under Expenditure Plans and Unit Allocations.

If an award was originally made by CFAC, the awardee must contact CFAC directly at slf@csuchico.edu regarding any funding changes. An explanation of the circumstances must be provided.

CFAC expects units to maintain documentation supporting all award modifications, regardless of funding unit. 

Proposal Funding Change Requests – Approval at the Campus Fee Advisory Committee (CFAC) Level

Requests that do not fall under the conditions outlined above must be forward to CFAC at slf@csuchico.edu. The request will be reviewed by CFAC at the first available opportunity.