Finance Policy for Student Organizations
A motion to amend the SBA Internal Meeting Procedures,
§ 4, to read as stated in the following pages.
Sponsored by: Senators Hugh Murray and
Shane Cater
On behalf of
Chris Fortier, SBA Treasurer and Fiscal Policy Committee
Chair
And
John Uyamadu, former SBA Senator and former Fiscal Policy
Committee Chair
Drafted by the SBA Fiscal Policy Committee
Submitted: February 13, 2004
Approved: March 4, 2004
§ 4.0 Allocation of Student Activity Fees
I. Preliminary Organization Budget
a. Any student organization or student
group seeking funding from the Senate shall submit a proposed
itemized budget to the SBA Fiscal Policy Committee (Committee).
The proposed budget request shall be submitted to the
Committee no later than March first of the academic year
preceding the academic year in which the funds are to
be requested. Full funding is not guaranteed nor should
be expected. These proposals do not bind the SBA nor the
organization.
1. The Committee shall only
accept proposals signed by the Organization President,
Treasurer, and Advisor, or their equivalents.
2. All budgets shall remain
proposals until the SBA Budget is approved by the Board
of Trustees.
3. Final appropriations to organizations
shall be considered on an event-by-event basis.
b. Upon SBA Senate approval, the SBA
Treasurer shall then submit the final aggregate SBA budget
proposal to the Dean of the Law School with
the SBA President’s and Faculty Advisor’s
signature, in accordance with Law School procedures.
c. After the Board of Trustees has made
its decision as to SBA funding, the Committee shall meet
again to finalize each organization’s proposed budget.
1. Any cuts to each organization’s
proposed budget request shall be proportionate to the
total SBA grant for organizations in relation to the total
SBA request.
2. Such equation shall be applied to each organization’s
proposed budget request.
d. At the first meeting of the fall semester,
the SBA Treasurer shall report to the SBA Senate the budget
the Board of Trustees approved for the academic year.
e. As soon as possible, the SBA President
and Treasurer shall notify each organization as to their
approved budget figures.
II. Final Appropriation
a. Any organization or student group
requesting funding must complete an official SBA Organization
Funding Request Form which shall be available on reserve
in the ASL Library or on the SBA website.
b. This form must be submitted to the
SBA Secretary by 5:00 p.m. the Friday before the SBA meeting.
c. The organization’s request shall
be entered into New Business on the agenda and sit “on
the table.” No organization member need be present
at this meeting.
d. At the next SBA meeting, the organization’s
request is entered as “Old Business.”
1. A representative from the
organization must be present at this meeting to answer
questions from the Senate.
2. If no representative is present
at the meeting, the request may be tabled.
e. The request shall pass upon a simple
majority of the Senate’s voting members.
f. The SBA Treasurer shall request disbursement
the check from the ASL Business Office during the applicable
pay period.
III. Funding Priority
a. Priority shall be given to those
organizations which have submitted a budget requesting
SBA funding in a timely fashion and are otherwise in compliance
with the requirements of SBA recognized organizations.
Funding shall not be limited to officially recognized
organizations.
b. The Senate may at its sole discretion,
provide funding to newly formed and recognized student
organizations, however, no organization or student group
which has not submitted a proposed budget as per subpart
I of this section shall be guaranteed any funding from
the Senate.
IV. Accounting Procedures
a. All organizations receiving funds
from the SBA must account for their spending. Each organization
must provide a sheet listing all expenses and return its
receipts and any unused funds to the SBA Treasurer within
fourteen (14) days after the event. For projects that
take place over an extended period of time, the organization
shall make arrangements with the SBA Treasurer to return
the receipts and unused funds in a manner that is agreed
to by both the SBA and the organization.
b. Organizations that do not comply with
this section shall not be placed on any subsequent SBA
Senate agenda for any matter until the organization or
student group is in compliance. Multiple infractions shall
constitute grounds for an organization or student group
to be properly brought before the honor court.
V. Donation of SBA Funds
No SBA recognized organization or student group may donate
any monies derived in any way from student activity fees
previously allocated to the organization or student group
without prior approval of the Senate. Any organization
or group donating SBA funds shall submit sufficient proof
to the SBA Treasurer that the funds were in fact received
by the donee. Any such donation shall be made on behalf
of the organization and the SBA of the Appalachian School
of Law.
VI. Funding Criteria and Senate Decorum
a. All events funded by the SBA must
be open to the entire student body
b. Any funding for travel cannot exceed
the per diem rate for the destination area set by the
ASL. If ASL has not set such a rate, the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) per diem rate shall apply.
c. Voting members of the SBA cannot base
their decisions on funding based on race, religion, creed,
national origin, gender, sexual preference, political
preference, or ideological preference.
d. A voting member of the SBA may not
vote on a request before the Senate if he/she is an executive
officer of that organization or student group requesting
funding.
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