Planning Events

Student organizations that wish to plan an event must do so more than 4 weeks ahead of time if possible. It is strongly recommended not to plan events sooner than this, as there are multiple steps that require approval from a third party. If these steps are not completed before the date of your event, you may not be allowed to have the event.

The following is the basic outline for planning an event at BUSM:

1. Come up with an idea for an event
2. Consider BU’s Sustainability guidelines and reference the Sustainability subpage in this section
3. Gather support for your event from classmates and/or faculty
4. Submit a funding request to SCOMSA if necessary
5. Meet with student affairs to discuss needs for your event.
6. Book a room via 25Live if necessary, AFTER posting the event to the Student Activity Calendar. SAO will not approve requests unless the event is posted.
7. Check the Student Activities calendar to avoid more than one event during the same time period
8. Ensure funding for food and other miscellaneous costs have been approved by SCOMSA before spending
9. Advertise the event – remember that you MUST submit any SCOMSA funded event to the Student Activity Calendar
10. Order materials through SAO (online order forms or directly contact SAO)
11. Have the event
12. Submit reimbursements for any personal expenses within 30 days of the event if needed

Submit Funding Request

All funding requests should be done at the beginning of the semester (see funding tab). The deadline for the semester budget will be set by the Budget Committee and announced to everyone.

If you need more funding or wish to host an event that was not originally a part of the semester budget, please go to the Ad Hoc Funding Request found here.

Schedule a Room

Each student group has a designated leader who is able to book rooms in 25Live. If you are having issues with 25Live please contact Latia Santos. For questions regarding AV for an approved event please contact edtech@bu.edu. Any other questions please reach out to Nichole Ciccarelli.

Please be sure to put yourself as the “requestor” and Nichole Ciccarelli as the “scheduler.”

If you have any changes to your booking privileges, please email Nichole Ciccarelli with any updates.

Advertise Your Event

You must submit your event on the student activities calendar to receive SCOMSA funding. ALL SCOMSA events must be open to the entire BUSM community.

Spending

You may spend your SCOMSA approved budget either by…

1. Direct SAO orders via Nichole Ciccarelli
2. Personal credit card purchases and submit receipts for reimbursement.

We encourage students to ask SAO to directly order items when possible rather than using their own money. Specifically, all Amazon purchases must go through SAO as a University policy prohibits Amazon reimbursements. SCOMSA policy prohibits reimbursements for food purchases. However, all travel expenses must go through the reimbursement process. Finally, consider using supplies from the SCOMSA Closet as a way to reduce spending.

Get Reimbursed

In order to get reimbursed, a funding request must first be approved by SCOMSA. Within 30 days after the event, the organization must submit the online reimbursement form, including scanned copies of all itemized receipts and a SCOMSA approval email. Please ensure that the name on the credit card receipts match the name on the reimbursement form.

You must fill out all required sections of the online reimbursement form. The form must be completed thoroughly and have all necessary items attached to prevent delays in reimbursements. When submitting itemized receipts, please limit the PDFs to one itemized receipt each.

The SCOMSA treasurer will review the reimbursement form and then submit it to Nichole Ciccarelli in the Student Affairs Office. The check will be processed and be ready within 6-8 weeks, allowing additional time for mailing.

Failure to follow these guidelines can result in your event being rejected or significantly delayed.