John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine
SPENDING GUIDELINES: The John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine will abide by the UTMB Institutional Handbook of Operating Procedures (IHOP) as well as endowment compliance and reporting procedures prescribed by the UTMB and the UT System.
These guidelines will be followed by all groups under the purview of the McGovern Academy: Osler Scholars, Osler Student Scholars, Osler Student Societies (OSS) the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS), and other student groups and are based on institutional/endowment
compliance. Exceptions to these guidelines may be implemented for official McGovern Academy functions.
1. Gifts:
- Any gift purchased to be given as a door prize, to a contestant winner(s), as incentives or to faculty or students shall not exceed $50.00 in value.
- Raffles are prohibited pursuant to the Texas Charitable Raffle Enabling Act.
- Items ordered on-line must be shipped to the McGovern Academy office and will be kept secure until time of presentation.
- Gift cards:
- The purchase of gift cards/certificates is prohibited. In accordance with the Internal Revenue Code, gift cards/certificates are equivalent to cash. Failure to comply with the intent of the Internal Revenue Code could result in UTMB incurring
substantial tax and penalty assessments in the event of an IRS audit. As per Provost Administration, the Office of Institutional Compliance and UTMB’s Legal Affairs, the purchase of gift cards is not an endowment appropriate expense.
Similarly, UTMB is prohibited from donating funds to another governmental or private entity.
- All gift cards/certificates must be donated from a source external to the UTMB.
- Any donated gift cards that have not been distributed will be kept in the McGovern Academy offices to ensure proper security and to protect from theft and loss.
- Prizes, gifts and awards in the form of cash or gift certificates, regardless of dollar value, are taxable.
2. Meetings/socials:
- The maximum limits for meals are: ≤$20.00/person for breakfast, ≤$30.00/person for lunch, and ≤$60.00/person for dinner. This amount includes food, drinks, tax and gratuity. Only one (1) entree per person is allowed.
- Alcohol purchases/reimbursements are not permitted and will be at the individual's own expense.
- Off-campus meetings and socials must be had at a UTMB authorized establishment and the invoice direct billed to the Academy. Click here for a list of restaurants the Academy frequently does business with.
- Gratuity cannot exceed 20%. (IHOP Policy 04.04.02)
- An RSVP count prior to the event and list of attendees after the event shall be forwarded to the McGovern Academy office prior to processing. First and last names of the attendees must be listed.
- Guests are permitted, but costs incurred will be at their own expense unless otherwise indicated.
- Food purchases/reimbursements for anyone attending online meetings is not allowed.
- Deadline for events/activities is July 15th.
3. Purchases:
- Prior approval must be obtained through the Academy to avoid not being reimbursed for personal expenditures. Purchase Orders should be used if possible.
- All orders for books, office supplies, medical supplies/apparatus, lab equipment, electronic equipment, vaccines, medication, etc. must be ordered through the Academy.
- The Academy procurement credit card (P-card) may be used for other miscellaneous items purchased from Wal-Mart, Target, etc. P-card must be obtained from the Academy office with additional instructions to follow.
- Items ordered on-line MUST be shipped to the McGovern Academy office and will be kept secure until time of presentation.
- Be advised, Texas state sales taxes cannot be reimbursed. UTMB, as an agency of the State of Texas, is exempt from payment of the limited sales and use tax under H. B. 106, 58th Legislature, Chapter 20, Title 122A, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas,
for the purchase of tangible personal property. Companies doing business with UTMB should provide a Sales and Use Tax Exemption form to be completed by accounting and returned to the company. Exception: Purchases made online are eligible for
tax reimbursement.
- Be aware of taxable items on all receipts. If an item rings up as taxable, it MUST be removed from the purchase at time of sale.
- T-shirts: Designs must be approved by the UTMB Marketing Department. The use of any UTMB logos on apparel is prohibited. Orders must be placed by May 1st for the billing cycle to be complete by the end of the fiscal year.
- Deadline for purchases is July 15th.
4. Donations:
- It is unlawful for the McGovern Academy, or its subsidiaries, to make a monetary donation to an individual or organization. Tangibles, however, can be purchased on their behalf. The only exception is for pieces of equipment > $500.00. Written
receipt of goods should be obtained from organization benefiting from the donation.
- Transferring funds between departments to satisfy community service requirements is highly discouraged and can only be performed under certain preconditions. Contact the Academy office for additional details.
5. Contracts:
- All contracts and Banquet Event Orders MUST be reviewed and approved by UTMB's Department of Legal Affairs or the Department of Purchasing. Students, faculty, nor staff can enter into a legally binding agreement on behalf of the UTMB.
6. Requests for funding:
- All requests for funding require a narrative budget proposal for travel (not related to the annual American Osler Society (AOS) conference), events/activities and for special guest speakers, not to exceed 500-words. It should include estimated
costs, rationale for the allocation of costs and how it promotes Oslerian ideals. All documentation must be sent to the McGovern Academy in-box: mcacadem@utmb.edu.
- To be considered for funding, students must be in good academic standing. Vetting will be conferred by Academy staff through Enrollment Services.
- All funding requests must be submitted a minimum of 14 days prior to the scheduled event/activity or travel date.
- Funding is based on the total of accepted receipts, not to exceed the maximum allocated.
- Retroactive reimbursements are not allowed.
- All receipts must be submitted within 14 days after the event, activity or conclusion of travel.
- Itemized receipts are required for all expenditures. For additional details click HERE.
- Receipts must be submitted in one comprehensive transmission to the McGovern Academy, mcacadem@utmb.edu.
- Travel:
- The Academy offers the following max travel stipends available to UTMB students ONLY if they present a paper or poster at an academic/scientific conference.
- $500 in-state travel
- $1K out-of-state travel
- $2K international travel
- To be considered, ALL candidates are required to submit the following:
- A letter of acceptance from the conference organizers or your name listed on the conference program/agenda, and
- Written authorization from your course director authorizing the anticipated absence. (Note p. 1, section III of the John Sealy School of Medicine Student Absence Policy.)
- The only exception will be for students on break during the time of the conference. In this instance, a simple statement in writing describing the student’s academic position will be required.
- General conference support: All travelers must seek advance approval by submitting a narrative budget proposal, not to exceed 500-words.
- American Osler Society (AOS) conference support: Students whose abstracts have been accepted to the annual AOS meeting should email the Academy office (mcacadem@utmb.edu)
immediately and attach items outlined in section 6 (b,ii) of this document.
- Firm travel arrangements must not be made until the appropriate authorizations are in place.
- Funding is limited to the lead author; co-collaborators are not eligible for consideration.
- Retroactive reimbursements are not allowed.
- If a travel request is authorized, a stipend will be issued after the trip.
- Travelers must submit copies of their itemized receipts (airfare, mileage, lodging, meals, ground transportation, registration fees and incidental expenses) for review within 14 days after the trip.
- Any expenses incurred beyond the budgeted amount will be the responsibility of the traveler.
- For all international travel, the Academy office must secure all flight arrangements and adherence to UTMB’s international travel process is required. If airfare is purchased independently by the student, they WILL NOT be reimbursed. Contact the Academy office for more details.
- Deadline for travel is July 15th.
7. Endowment Income:
- Endowment funds are gifts specified by the donor to be retained in perpetuity and invested for income-producing purposes. All endowments require a written gift agreement signed by the contributor detailing the purpose and restrictions for expenditures.
Income from endowments will be used in accordance with, and in the spirit of, the contributor’s wishes.
- Inappropriate Endowment Expenses:
- Inappropriate endowment expenses include providing internal and external sponsorships, providing purely social events with no academic purpose, making gifts to internal or external charities, using endowment distributions for personal benefit,
or buying a membership in a non- academic organization. It is also inappropriate to utilize endowment income for purely social events that are unrelated to the endowment’s purpose, such as office parties, club memberships, or other
activities that do not have academic purposes.
- Unless otherwise allowable in the gift agreement, the following represents a list of routinely non-allowable expenditures from endowment funds: Business Entertainment, Community Service, Contributions-Institutional, Employee Coffee & Soft
Drinks, Employee or Employee Retirement Celebration, Hospitality, Membership Dues (Private Club, Institutional, Texas Associations), Non-Employee Expenses, Parking Fees (Employee, Faculty, Patients or Other), Parking Tokens, Private Club
Dues, Professional Fees, Purchase of Motor Vehicles, Special Accounting Transactions, Travel and Travel Non-Employee, and Works of Art
- The endowment holder or the owner of the endowment is responsible for determining the use of endowment income within the restrictions of the donative agreement.