Funding Guidelines for Senate Organizations

This document shall be handed out along with the Philosophy of Funding of the Student Senate to all student organizations.

1. Obtaining Funds From Student Senate

   New Club Recognition and Funding C

   All student organizations must be "recognized" by Student Senate. For official recognition protocol, see Student Senate Organization Registration Guidelines . Recognition of an organization does not guarantee funding . In order to receive funding, student organizations must adhere to the funding guidelines set forth below.

   Funding Process for Recognized Organizations C

   A. The Treasurer of Student Senate shall notify each student organization four weeks before the scheduled date that budget hearings begin. This notification shall include a copy of the Funding Guidelines and Philosophy of Funding, as well as the budgeting time-line for the rest of the year.
   B. The Treasurer of Student Senate will assign student organizations a time for a Finance Committee Budget hearing annually.
   C. At end of fall semester, the funds not spent that were allocated for fall expenses as well as programming, will roll back to the Student Senate general activities fund.
   D. Organizations must be represented by an executive officer (however representation by both the President and the Treasurer is preferred) at the Finance Committee budget hearing. The organization must explain their budget for the semester at this time.
   E. Organizations that fail to adhere to this process will not be considered for Senate funding during the budget allocation process and must petition the Senate Finance Committee at a later date.
   F. At the completion of the budget hearings, the Finance Committee will submit a proposal for funding to Student Senate on behalf of the organization. Student Senate will review this proposal and make any changes deemed necessary. The Treasurer of Student Senate will then send copies of the approved budget through campus mail to the organization's treasurer.

2. Budget Request for Finance Committee Hearings

   Organizations must present the following information to the Treasurer of Student Senate prior to the first Finance Committee budget hearings:

   A.  Two copies of an accurate, current membership list. This list must include:
   B.   List of the organization's officers
   C.   All members' names
   D.   Sixteen copies of the Budget Request -- this budget should be structured according to a line item format (see sample budget below). If the organization received funding during the preceding year for a similar purpose, the amount received should appear next to the current request. Furthermore, all anticipated organizational revenue must be subtracted from the total annual request.
   E.   Two copies of the organizational constitution and mission statement.

3. The Budget Format

   Wittenberg Student Senate, in an effort to insure consistency in funding decisions, requires specific denotation of all budget requests. Therefore, an event such as a speaker must be listed according to the various expenses associated with the event. For instance, while the budget heading is speaker, the actual expenses must be attached to a specific item such as fee, security, or transportation. Furthermore, all estimated income must be subtracted from the organization's total budget request.

   Often, an organization's approved budget exceeds the actual expenditures for that budget semester. This excess money "rolls over" into Student Senate's general budget and will not be available to reallocate the following semester. Organizations may not, under any circumstances, retain excess funds from the previous semester unless they have rolling accounts. Rolling accounts may be established by making a written request to the Student Senate Treasurer. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, with the Senate Finance Committee bringing recommendations to the Student Senate for approval. Organizations that violate the funding guidelines set forth in this section may be subject to the penalties described in the Philosophy of Funding of the Student Senate . Further penalties may be imposed at the discretion of Student Senate.

4. Appealing Student Senate Funding Decisions

   For any problems with funding, it can be brought to Senate's attention, a new budget can be proposed, and additional monies allocated.

5. Reclaiming Organizational Funds from Defunct Organizations

   Organizations that have become defunct due to absence of membership or lack of organization may have their budgets for the current academic year reclaimed through the following procedure:

   Each student organization must re-register with Student Senate at the beginning of each school year. Organizations have four weeks from the start of school to fill out the re-registration form with Student Senate. Any organization not filling out this form will have their allocated money temporarily frozen. Any organization not registering by the tenth week of school will have their allocated money reclaimed by Student Senate. If a club wishes to receive funding for second semester, they may petition Student Senate within the first two weeks of the semester for the opportunity to register with Student Involvement and set-up a budget hearing with the Student Senate Finance Committee.

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