Buying class supplies

Obtaining Class Supplies

Reimbursement Quick Reference

Obtaining Class Supplies

The budget for Cascade is $50 per class section. If you would like to spend more than this, please contact cascade@mit.edu before making any purchases.

To purchase class supplies, you must pay on your own, then request reimbursement from MIT by filling out a Request for Payment (RFP) if you're an MIT student or affiliate. We will fill one out for you if you're not affiliated with MIT. Before making a purchase for your class, you should read these brief instructions. Then, you can fill out the Google Form linked below.

1. Check our inventory first

ESP owns a lot of non-consumable class supplies, so before buying any, you should check out our inventory. Email us at cascade@mit.edu if you have any questions or want to confirm the state and quantity of the supply. We can provide staples such as paper, pens, pencils.

2. Ask us ahead of time if you're going to be spending more money

We love awesome classes, and sometimes awesome classes require awesome class supplies! You may automatically spend up to $50 per class section, but if you want to spend more than that, please contact us at cascade@mit.eduwith a description of what and how much you want to buy. We will only reimburse larger purchases if you have obtained prior approval.

3. Return supplies to ESP

While we're happy to reimburse for class supplies, we will not pay for other expenses. For travel, please look at the travel subsidies page. If you do end up buying any non-consumable items for your class, you must return them to us. We will add those supplies to our inventory so that future teachers can use them for their classes.

You may buy prizes for your students, but we ask that you please not use your class budget to buy things for yourself, with one exception: if you give away an item to every student, you may keep one for yourself.

4. MIT does not reimburse tax, so don’t pay it

You can use a copy of MIT’s tax exemption form to avoid paying state sales tax. You can download this form from the VPF website (MIT certificates may be required; alumni and non-MIT students can request a copy of the tax exempt form by emailing ). In MA, you might additionally need MIT’s ST-5 (Sales Tax Purchaser Certificate).

If you need to buy things from Amazon, the usual procedure is to pay tax and then send Amazon the tax-exempt form. They will then refund the tax.

5. Make sure to ask for a receipt

You will need to submit electronic images of your receipts, so it is critical that you obtain legible photos or scans of your receipts before discarding them.

All receipts must:

  • be itemized
  • show a proof of purchase: they should say "paid with cash", "paid with visa ####", etc.
  • differentiate between class and personal expenses: if there are any personal expenses on the receipt, you should highlight all class expenses. Note that if you are using tax exemption, it is illegal to tax-exempt personal goods.
  • not contain tax: if you paid tax, please highlight the before-tax subtotal; you will not be reimbursed for the tax (sorry!)

If a receipt does not have a proof of purchase, you must submit a credit card statement or a bank account statement, with the corresponding expenses circled or highlighted (you may redact all other information but your name)./cascade@mit.edu


RFP Quick Reference:

Everyone
Tax exempt forms:VPF's website
Budget:$50 per class section. Email cascade@mit.edu to spend more!
Google form:https://forms.gle/hPgPeTiCKnnhiefC9
Print-outs and receipts:No longer required! Get legible photos / scans of your receipts!
Form DeadlineSaturday, November 18th, 2023
MIT Only
Link: Create an RFP (select Request a Reimbursement for Me)
MIT Cost object:Leave Blank
G/L Account:420226
Submit to:Angelica A Chin (aachin), Harry Chen (harryc), or Zi Yan Wu (ziyanwu)

Submitting reimbursements:

Submitting your reimbursement (MIT students and affiliates with a Kerberos account)

Please don’t forget to fill out the Google form! We won’t give reimbursements to anyone who hasn’t done so.


TL;DR: RFPs are now completely paperless


  1. Scan or photograph all of your physical receipts as PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, or BMP, and make sure each file is under 2MB (note that PDFs might be too large). Make sure all aspects of the receipt are legible. Otherwise, we may not be able to complete your reimbursement
  2. Visit Atlas and select “Request a Reimbursement for Me.”
    • Beware! The RFP website is uncomfortable with multi-tabbed browsers. If you accidentally open it in multiple tabs and begin working on an RFP in both tabs, the safest thing to do is to quit your browser and return to the RFP via the RFP inbox, which you can reach from Atlas at My Reimbursements Inbox.
  3. Name this RFP: “ESP Cascade Class Supplies”
  4. Fill in a line item for each receipt (if you have multiple receipts, click “Add Line” to create more line items):
    • Date of Service: the date you purchased the items
    • G/L Account: 420226
    • Cost Object: (Leave Blank)
    • Amount: the price of the transaction (not including tax!).
    • Explanation: “Class supplies for Cascade [this year] class [class title]”
  5. Press “Save and Continue”.
  6. Upload your scanned and/or digital receipt. If you have more receipts, press “Add Receipts” to add more documents.
  7. Press “Save”.
  8. Press the “Send to” button. Send to:
    • [see table above]
    • Note: type in the full name of the person to search for them
  9. Fill out the Google form! Each teacher that has made a purchase should fill this out once for all of their purchases. You must do this before 11/18 if you want to be reimbursed!
  10. Sometime in the future, you will receive either a check in the mail or a direct deposit from MIT (if you have already set this up).
    • You can view all of your unfulfilled RFPs in the RFP Inbox. But be careful! Sent RFPs are ones with the flying envelope symbol next to them. If you click on a sent RFP, it will be recalled to your inbox and you will have to send it again.

Submitting your documentation (Non-MIT)

Please don’t forget to fill out the Google form! We won’t give reimbursements to anyone who hasn’t done so.

TL;DR: RFPs are now completely paperless.


  1. Scan all of your receipts as PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, or BMP, and make sure each file is under 2MB (note that PDFs might be too large). If possible, save all of your receipts into a single PDF.
  2. Make sure all aspects of the receipt are legible. Otherwise, we may not be able to complete your reimbursement.
  3. Fill out the Google form! Each teacher that has made a purchase should fill this out once for all of their purchases. You must do this before 11/18 if you want to be reimbursed!
  4. Sometime in the future, you will receive a check in the mail. Let us know if you don’t receive one within 2-3 weeks.

/cascade@mit.edu


/cascade@mit.edu/cascade@mit.edu



Last modified on Sept. 20, 2023 at 05:19 p.m.