Reimbursement

So it turns out that the reimbursement program they have set up is something of a hassle (surprise). Reimbursement alone actually isn't so arduous if you're willing to first spend your own money. But it's better to go through this Buzzmart thing.

Basically, GT has a list of vendors through which it is allowed to purchase things through. "Okay," you say. "That sounds reasonable." But then you go to Buzzmart and you find that you can't order anything because you can't see any products or any of the vendors. Ah ha! That's because you have to first get certified (online video + a class only offered at certain times of the year) to use Buzzmart. To get certified you have to be an employee of GT. That can be subverted if you fill out a 5 page form to be an unpaid employee.

This all isn't too much work if it's done early. Unfortunately, we're facing this in the second semester when it should have been done in the first semester. So we're FORCED to first spend up to hundreds of dollars of our own money. We hope we're reimbursed. We're just crossing our fingers right now.

Final advice: bug the program director (Sathya) about this in the FIRST semester  (he'll refer you to Pat Jordan, but the referral is valuable) and get it going during that time. That will make things a lot easier the next semester.