Supplemental Course Expenses

Instructors may request course supplies and technologies to support best practices for teaching and enhancing learning in their courses. 

Prior to each semester, faculty are surveyed to identify their service, supply, and technology needs. These are reviewed and approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Typical requests for course-related supplies and services are office supplies, software licenses for students or instructional teams, subject fees for course-related lab experiments, and technology for teaching. Last-minute requests are discouraged.

Note that if you are requiring students to purchase books or other publications, we are contractually obligated to provide these to the Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) for free. These items should also be requested through this process.

Please see below for policy on course costs and the process for submitting a request. Questions regarding requests for support for class-related expenses should be umsi.suppcourseexpense@umich.edu. 

The items listed below are intended to clarify what expenses UMSI will cover in relation to supplemental course expenses and include:

• Course Materials

• Other instructional resources offered by the Engaged Learning Office

• Prohibited Expenses

• Request and Review Process

See below the list of request types for information on how to submit individual requests.

Course Materials

1. Instructors may request that UMSI purchase special materials needed to deliver a course. This can include (and is not limited to) items ranging from office supplies to specific technologies related to the class. Tangible items that are purchased for a one time use are strongly encouraged to be returned to the UMSI Engagement Center for storage and re-use in other classes and for student projects.

2. See this list for existing materials that you can use at any time. https://shorturl.at/TaUhd. Use of existing materials is strongly encouraged. 

3. Specific to software requests:

   1. Before submitting a request for software, please first review the UM Software Directory to learn which software is already available for students:  https://software.umich.edu/

   2. A large number of UMSI specific-classroom tools are documented at https://umich.instructure.com/courses/397708 under Modules: Technology for Teaching. 

   3. All other software should be requested from https://help.si.umich.edu. Note that certain software is regulated by student privacy laws and may not be purchased for student use.

Other Instruction-Related Resources

For other instruction-related resources not on the supplement course expense list, please refer to the Engaged Learning Office Faculty Handbook pages to learn more about how to request these resources:

• Clients in classes

• Course Events (outside of Exposition)

• Immersive Experiences, Field Trips, and Regular Course Transportation

• Guest Speakers and Facilitators

• Datasets

• Poster Printing

• Student-Incurred Project Expenses

Prohibited Expenses 

UMSI will not pay for the following items:

• Food for class events or meetings

• Monetary awards or prizes for class-only student competitions

• Student materials that would be under their normal educational expenses (books, posters, computers, personal educational supplies

Request and Review Process

Submit requests for course materials at https://forms.gle/t6TqkxLL81cZKkfaA

Request timeline:

• Course supplies (books, materials, etc) should be submitted one (1) month prior to term start (preferable), or the date needed in the course

• Software and hardware should be submitted one (1) month prior to term start (preferable) or date needed

  • These requests will be evaluated in collaboration with SI Computing Services; certain requests may not be possible to be fulfilled for proprietary reasons. Hardware that is purchased remains property of the school and should be returned to the AADA for potential reuse.

  • See this list for a list of available resources: https://shorturl.at/TaUhd

Most requests should be submitted one month prior to the start of class (or in alignment with the data associated with.) See the individual request types for more specific information on requests and response.  Requests for field trip transportation funding and coordination should be submitted as soon as possible, ideally one to three months in advance of the field trip.

Please send questions to umsi.suppcourseexpense@umich.edu.

Updated: June 20, 2025, K. Kowatch