The Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Council (DSC) is pleased to announce the second round of an initiative to fund student-led projects and promote budgetary transparency within the Graduate Center CUNY. Please see the information below regarding the process and eligibility for submitting a proposal for the DSC’s Participatory Budget Initiative. The deadline to submit is November 15, 11:59 PM.
Our Goals: Why Participatory Budgeting?
The DSC aims for Participatory Budgeting (PB) to have the following outcomes:

*         Open up Spending of Student Activity Fee: Allow students a greater role in spending decisions, and inspire increased transparency throughout CUNY.

*         Develop New Community Leaders and Infrastructures: Build the skills, knowledge, and capacity of students.

*       &n bsp; Expand Civic Engagement: Engage more students in activities within the GC community.

*         Build Community Infrastructure: Inspire students to more deeply engage and invest in the GC community, while also developing a sustainable project to improve the community.

*         Make Spending More Equitable: Generate spending decisions that are fairer, so resources go where they are needed most.

Submitting Project Proposals
Proposals can be submitted online and are due no later than November 15, 2018 at 11:59 PM. Please see example of successful project proposals here from the 2018-2017 cycle. The maximum award amount for project proposal is up to $2000.

Submission Guidelines
The purpose of Participatory Budgeting is to invest in some long-term aspect of the infrastructure at the Graduate Center CUNY. We are especially looking for projects that could improve the quality of student life for members of underserved communitie s.

Eligibility for Project Representatives
Those who wish to submit projects, hereafter, “project representatives”, must meet all of the following criteria in order to submit a proposal that will be considered eligible for consideration:

*         Individuals must be matriculated students in the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters at the Graduate Center in order to submit an proposal. All current matriculated students are eligible to apply.

*         Submissions may be made on behalf of an individual or a group of individuals. If made on behalf of a group, all decision-making individuals must be listed on the proposal.

*         Project representatives may only submit or be listed on one proposal and no more.

Project Eligibility
While only those statements where eligibility is expressly stated will be considered by the review committee, strong project proposals should take into consideration each of the following points:

1.       Eligible projects should not be redundant with already existing services.

2.       The timelines of eligible pr ojects should be feasible and adhere to the budget restrictions. Projects involving changes to the building infrastructure will need the approval of administrative entities such as the Office of Facilities. Funds will likely not be made available until early January 2019 and will require spending before May 15, 2019. Please bear this in mind when developing your project timeline.

3.       Proposals are encouraged to outline realistic projects with foreseeable outcomes that will significantly improve the quality of student life of the Graduate Center CUNY.

4.       Desirable projects should have the potential to generate sustained effects outside of the spending period.

5.       Projects proposals should make an effort to demonstrate that the project is interdisciplinary (i.e., involving students and resources across multiple programs).

Voting
All students registered during the Fall 2018 semester will be eligible to vote.

Timeline

*         November 15: Deadline for Participatory Budgeting proposal ideas at 11:59 PM.

*         December 1-15: DSC Ad-hoc committee on PB will review final submissions for eligibility. Voting system is prepared. Ad-hoc committee on PB meets and reviews the submissions and liaises with requesters to address questions/concerns.

*         December 16: Voting opens (Note: Project budget and extended-form project narrative must be submitted with the proposal by this time.)

*         December 1-31: Encouraging project representatives to advertise their ideas.

*         December 31: Voting closes at 11:59 PM.

*         January 1: Winning projects announced.

*         January-May 15: Project spending and implementation.

How to Apply?
Submit a complete proposal, including a link to the proposal document, through the following link http://tinyurl.com/DSCPB18 [tinyurl.com].

Here is a link to the proposal submission document. In preparing your proposal, you may want to make a copy of this document and use as a template as you draft your proposal.

Questions?
For questions about the Participatory Budgeting process, please email dsc@cunydsc.org.

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Doctoral Students’ Council | Robert E. Gilleece Student Center | Room 5495
The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Avenue | New York, NY 10016-4309