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Immigration Rights and Resources for the Campus Community

IRA Policy and Guidelines

Guidelines for determining IRA funding 

The IRA fee was established to support essential educational experiences and activities that aid and supplement the institution's fundamental educational mission. 

Activities eligible for IRA funding are limited to those which:  

  • Are discipline / departmentally-based and sponsored
  • Are integrally related to its formal instructional offerings
  • Are intensive, structured activities
  • Reflect active rather than passive student involvement
  • Are considered to be essential to a quality educational program and an important instructional experience
  • Demonstrate skills derived from intensive coursework involvement. 
The guidelines presented will, therefore, exclude funding for the  following: 
  • Instructional activities such as field trips, student research projects, course offerings solely tailored to meet IRA requirements, etc. 
General Requirements: 
  • IRA funds should be spent before the end of the fiscal year (June 30th) in which the IRA award was made.
  • Students must be regularly matriculated and currently enrolled to receive IRA funds. Non-students will not be funded.
  • Activities (competition and production) to be considered for IRA funding should result from a class or classes structured with the specific objectives of creating the activity. Exceptions to the course requirement may be made at the discretion of the IRA Committee and approved by the President.
  • National or regional competitions that are contingent on qualifying are not funded in the initial budget process. Upon qualifying, funding requests for these additional activities may be submitted to the Associated Students Business Office. The IRA Committee will review these requests at the end of each semester.
  • Activity must occur during the fiscal year for which the funds were allocated. Activities that occur outside of the fiscal year will not be funded.
  • No salaries or wages will be funded.
  • Only actual participation in an activity will be funded. 

 

Click here to view the complete IRA Guidelines 101: https://hum.link/IRA101

Eligibility Requirements per Category/Program

To be eligible under this category, programs must involve:

  • Costs essential for basic competitive sports programs, such as:
    • Equipment
    • Supplies
    • Scheduled travel

These costs must be:

  • Necessary for operation, and
  • Not currently funded by the State

Note: Funding under this category is guaranteed due to a student-approved referendum, ensuring that intercollegiate athletics receive continued support from IRA resources.

Eligibility under this category requires that programs provide:

  • Basic "hands-on" experiences for students in media-related disciplines (e.g., radio production, television broadcasting, filmmaking)

These experiences must be:

  • Integral to the curriculum
  • Unfunded by State allocations

Programs under this criterion support practical training that enhances academic learning in media arts.

Programs are eligible under this category if they cover:

Experiential learning in individual and group performance, such as:

  • Instrumental or vocal recitals
  • Ensemble performances (e.g., choirs, bands, dance troupes)

Key Requirements:

  • Performances must be held before live audiences
  • Should occur in a variety of settings to ensure:
    • Students gain broad exposure
    • They develop confidence and versatility in performance
  • These activities should aim to familiarize students with public performance standards and practices

Programs qualify if they provide:

Foundational support for theatrical and operatic productions, including:

  • Acting and vocal performance
  • Direction and stage management
  • Production design, such as:
    • Set construction
    • Costume and lighting design

Key Requirements:

  • Must offer practical experience in all major elements of stage and musical theater
  • Should reflect professional-level training, preparing students for careers in performance arts

Eligible programs under this category must:

Provide basic support for student-operated publication efforts, such as:

  • Campus newspapers
  • Literary magazines
  • Newsletters or other student media

Requirements:

  • Should be part of journalism or literary training
  • Serve as laboratory experiences that complement academic coursework
  • Must offer real-world editorial and production opportunities, including:
    • Reporting
    • Editing
    • Layout/design
    • Digital publishing

Programs are eligible if they focus on:

Competitive and instructional speech-related activities, including:

  • Debate tournaments
  • Public speaking events
  • Oral interpretation or extemporaneous speaking

Key Elements:

  • Activities should be structured to build communication and argumentation skills
  • Funding may include travel and competition fees, as these are essential for providing students with:
    • National or regional competitive experience
    • Exposure to peer performance standards
  • Must directly contribute to students’ academic and professional development in communications or rhetoric

Programs qualify under this category if they:

Support student art exhibitions that are:

  • Tied to coursework or degree completion
  • Supervised by faculty or departments as part of the academic program

Eligible Costs May Include:

  • Gallery space rental (if off-campus)
  • Display materials or framing
  • Event promotion or public viewing support

Purpose:

  • To provide students with professional-level experience in curating, preparing, and presenting their work to the public
  • To simulate the real-world experience of exhibiting in galleries and professional venues

This category provides for campus-identified programs that may not strictly fall under the earlier listed categories but still align with IRA objectives.

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Activities must be:
    • Instructionally related (linked to classroom learning or academic programs)
    • Consistent with the educational purpose of other IRA categories
  • These programs must be:
    • Identified and recommended by faculty or relevant departments
    • Formally approved by the campus President

Purpose:

This allows the university to support innovative or interdisciplinary experiential learning opportunities, such as:

  • Environmental field studies
  • Community-engaged learning programs
  • Interdisciplinary research projects with public components

This broad inclusion clause expands IRA eligibility beyond the defined categories (1–8) when certain academic criteria are met.

Eligibility Criteria:

A program may be approved for IRA funding even if it does not match any of the prior categories, if it satisfies both of the following conditions:

  1. It is a primary component of a class in which academic credit is earned at Humboldt
    • This means the activity is central (not supplementary) to the course curriculum.
    • Examples include service learning projects, performance-based capstones, or major field excursions.
  2. It is closely related to and/or in support of classroom study
    • There must be a clear and documented link between the activity and the course learning outcomes.
    • The activity should deepen students' understanding of academic material through real-world application.

IRA Documents