Program Allocations
The City University's budget is a part of New York State's budget and must be authorized annually by the NYS Legislature and the Governor. Once CUNY's budget is determined, The Graduate Center and other CUNY colleges receive budgets from CUNY's central administration. The two main budget categories are Personal Services (PS) and Other than Personal Services (OTPS). PS covers full-time salaries, and OTPS includes all other areas such as contracts, equipment, and supplies. The budget year runs from July 1 through June 30. Some funding is also available through the CUNY Research Foundation (RF) from overhead and released time recovery from the sponsored research of Graduate Center faculty and staff, and from Graduate Center fund raising (GC).
Funds are allocated to each program in the following categories:
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Student financial aid (PS, OTPS, RF, GC). Allocations are made in the spring. See the financial aid sites for prospective students and current students, as well as the Graduate Center Bulletin and the Financial Assistance section of the Doctoral Study prospectus.
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Postage, central stores, graphic arts, telephone (OTPS). The programs in Business, Criminal Justice, Engineering, and Social Welfare do not receive allocations in these categories.
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Program activities, including honoraria for lectures and refreshments for receptions (OTPS, GC). Each year, the Office of the Provost provides a program activities allocation to each of the academic programs. These funds may be used for such program activities as receptions for colloquium evens, honoraria payments and/or travel reimbursements to guest speakers, and other similar expenses. For guidelines on payment and reimbursement from the program activities allocation, see the Procedures Regarding Purchases, Payment or Reimbursement.
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Funds for travel (OTPS) to professional meetings or conferences are available to Executive Officers and Graduate Center faculty members upon application to the Office of the Provost.
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Funds for travel/research/dissertation-related expenses for students are available upon application. The Ph.D. Alumni Association, the Doctoral Students' Council, and The Graduate Center through the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs provide this support. See the Student Travel and Research Fund section of the Student Handbook for application procedures.
