An Awards & Prizes payment is awarding money to an individual based on judging criteria. For example, your group holds an essay competition, and you want to award the top 3 finalists a cash prize.
Possible Financial Aid Issues: Any Prizes, Gifts, and Awards issued to students will be reported to the Office of Financial Aid. It is up to the student to confirm that it will not affect their Financial Aid. The Office of Financial Aid can be contacted at [email protected].
A member of your group may not pay for these services upfront and later be reimbursed. If this occurs, we will be unable to reimburse that individual.
Any Awards & Prizes payment is considered taxable income.
Grossing-up: If the individual is currently employed, or has been employed or paid by the University within the last 12 months, taxes will be taken out of the payment because it will be paid through Payroll. If your group would like to cover these taxes, you can request to gross up the payment. When a payment is grossed up, your group will cover the taxes so the individual receives the net amount that you originally requested.
For example, if you submit a Services Rendered Purchase Request for a faculty/staff member in the amount of $300, they will actually receive a check closer to $200 since taxes are taken out. If your group opted to gross up the payment, your group would pay $453 and the faculty/staff member would receive a check for $300. To request a payment to be grossed up:
- Enter the net amount to be received in the Purchase Request
- After submitting, leave a note in the comments asking for the payment to be grossed up
You can use this calculator to estimate how much your group would pay if you opt to gross up. Please note that you should not use the total gross-up amount in the Purchase Request. Instead, you should use the net amount. If you have questions regarding this procedure, please contact SOAS.
Federal, State, and Health Insurance Taxes
Grossing-up does not cover federal and state taxes and health insurance taxes. There is no way to not pay these additional costs. The organization may have to cover these taxes for the individual.
Physical Prizes, Gifts, and Awards
If your student organization is purchasing any physical Prizes, Gifts, and Awards, please use and complete the SOAS Prize Acknowledge Form Template. Specific instructions on how to use this form are written on the form itself.
Awards & Prizes Payment Process
NOTE: Only Authorized Signers can create purchase requests.
- Log in to your Dashboard.
- Click on "Purchase Request" link
- Select "Awards & Prizes" for the type of Purchase Request.
- Fill out the necessary information (UMID, explanation of judging criteria)
Payment Timeline
- If the individual is a current student, this will be paid through Financial Aid into their student account
- If the individual has no affiliation with the University and has not been paid by UM in the past 12 months, then a check will be created in 10 business days
- If the individual has no affiliation with the University and has been paid by UM in the past 12 months, then a check will be created in 5 business days
- If the individual is a current staff member, the money will be added to their usual paycheck in 4-10 business days; typically pays out in the next pay period (please note taxes will be taken out; see above section on gross-up)
- If the individual is no longer a staff member or student employee but was paid by UM in the last 12 months, the money will be added to how they used to receive their paycheck in 4-10 business days; typically pays out in the next pay period (i.e.- direct deposit), please note taxes will be taken out; see above section on gross-up
For more information or help regarding the Awards & Prizes process, please refer to the online guidebook for SOAS. If the payee is a non-resident, taxes may be taken out.