Student Purchasing Authority
Presidents or treasurers of student organizations are eligible for purchasing cards, which enable the authorized user to make purchases up to $100/transaction (with a $500/month limit) on behalf of the organization. Presidents and treasurers are also authorized to sign Departmental Purchase Orders (DPOs), again with a spending limit of $100/order. Purchase Requisitions, Check Requests, and contracts must be signed by one of the administrators listed below.
The following administrators are authorized to sign Purchase Requisitions, Check Requests and DPOs on behalf of the organizations they advise:
Jon Duraj - all student organizations
Sarah Kelly -All student organizations
Melissa Jensen - Residence Hall Association, hall governments
Carol Preston - IFC, Panhellenic Council, Greek honorary organizations, fraternities and sororities
John Young - Concerned Black Students, Voices, Gay/Straight Alliance
Faculty/staff advisers to student organizations are not authorized to sign purchasing paperwork.
Contracts
Only the Director of Student Activities, Jon Duraj and the VP for Student Development & Dean of Students, Sarah Kelly, are authorized to sign contracts for student organizations.
General Procedures for Making Purchases
• Identify the items needed, their approximate cost, and where they can be purchased.
• If the items to be purchased cost less than $100 and your organization has a purchasing card, then obtain the card and make the purchase. Turn in the receipt to your organization's treasurer.
• If the items to be purchased cost less than $100 and your organization does not have a purchasing card or if the vendor will not accept a purchasing card, then obtain a Departmental Purchase Order. Make the purchase and turn in the completed DPO form with receipts. Purchasing will pay the vendor.
• If the items to be purchased cost more than $100, then consult with the vendor to determine payment options. See 5a and 5b below.
Obtain a Requisition for Purchase form, fill it out, and take your completed requisition to an administrator who is authorized to sign it.
• If the vendor will accept your order with just a Wittenberg University Purchase Order number:
• Purchasing will mail or fax the purchase order to the vendor.
• Purchasing will send the pink and goldenrod copies of the Purchase Order to Student Involvement.
• Pick up the items or accept their delivery. Confirm that the correct items were received in good condition. Notify Student Involvement that the items have been received. Turn in invoice.
• Student Involvement will sign the pink copy of the Purchase Order, noting the exact price of the items, and turn it in with the invoice to Purchasing.
• Purchasing will pay the vendor.
• If the vendor requires payment in advance, then please note that on the Purchase Requisition.
• Purchasing will mail or fax the purchase order to the vendor.
• Purchasing will send a university check to the vendor or directly to you.
• Purchasing will send the goldenrod copy of the purchase order to Student Involvement.
• Pick up the items or accept their delivery. Confirm that the correct items were received in good condition. Notify Student Involvement that the items have been received. Turn in receipt.
• If personal funds were used to make the purchase, obtain a Check Request/Cash Reimbursement form. Fill it out and take it to an administrator who is authorized to sign it. Turn in receipt.
Building and Maintaining Your Budget
Many student groups get funding allocations from Student Senate each year, but others are funded only through dues, fund-raising or other sources. However your budget is built, though, your group will need to carefully monitor all deposits and withdrawals from its account.
Requesting Funds from Student Senate:
The Senate funding process for the following academic year begins each spring semester.
• First, Student Senate and Student Involvement collaborate in presenting at least two information sessions dealing with budgeting and other concerns. Your organization's treasurer and president must attend one of these sessions. Other officers are invited and encouraged to attend as well.
• Second, all funding requests (budget proposals) are due in early March to the Student Senate treasurer.
• Third, the Senate Finance Committee holds hearings in which each group presents its proposed budget.
• Fourth, the Finance Committee decides how much funding they believe should be allocated to each group-subject to the approval of the entire Senate.
• Fifth, Student Senate approves (sometimes with modifications) the Finance Committee's recommendations for student organization funding.
• Finally, before the end of the spring semester, the Senate treasurer informs each organization of the funding it has received. Sections three and four of this guidebook contain more information on Senate funding.
Additional Allocations
Some organizations find there's a need for funds beyond the original allocation during the year. Senate funds are normally available for this, but it is important to plan ahead . Do not go into debt. At any time during the year, you can contact the Senate president to schedule a meeting to make an additional allocation request. See section five, How to Make a Presentation to Senate, for details.
Know the Numbers!
Your student organization is eligible to open a university account and probably has already done so. The account number always begins with the number eight and is followed by five digits that are specific to your group: 8-11111 for example. There are two distinct budget lines within your university account; one is for income and the other for expenses. All income must be deposited to line 49914 and all expenses must be charged to line 50311. So, if you hold a bake sale and turn a profit, you should deposit the money into account number 8-11111-49914, but when you buy flour and sugar for the next one, you should charge the expense to account number 8-11111-50311.
Monitoring Your Budget
Like all student organizations, you are responsible for monitoring how the money in your account is used. The treasurer of your group should record all account activity in a ledger or a spreadsheet and keep it current at all times. Student Involvement can help with this through the use of on-line and printed budget status reports to compare with the treasurer's records. Jon Duraj can check your budget on-line any time you request it-just stop by Student Involvement and ask. On a monthly basis, Student Involvement will also send a printed budget status report to your organization's campus mailbox in the Student Center. This report will list all transactions in the previous month and the closing balance of your account. If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact Student Involvement at 327-7815.
The following is the list of source codes that may be helpful to you while reviewing your budget status report:
Making Purchases: Tax-Exempt Status
Because the university is a tax-exempt organization, you should never pay tax on any official purchases you make for your student organization. Instead, provide all vendors with the university's tax-exempt number before paying. This number can be found on the front of student organization purchasing cards or obtained from the Purchasing Department or the Office of Student Involvement.
Purchasing Cards
Authorized students may use a Wittenberg purchasing card for best-judgment purchases made on behalf of their student groups. The purpose of using this credit card is to maximize convenience and minimize the paper flow for small-dollar purchases. The purchasing card is accepted wherever credit cards can be used.
Each card is given monthly spending limits, transaction limits, and vendor restrictions according to the need of the cardholder. Presidents or treasurers of student organizations may apply for purchasing cards, which enable the authorized user to make purchases up to $100/transaction, with a $500/month limit. By accepting the card, the student officer assumes full responsibility for the card and will be responsible for all charges made with it. At the end of each school year, the student officer must turn in the purchasing card to the Office of Student Involvement.
A Cardholder Agreement is required at the time of receiving the Card. This Agreement outlines Purchasing Policy and Procedures of Wittenberg University and must be signed by the student officer assuming the responsibility outlined in the Agreement.
To obtain a purchasing card, please contact the purchasing card program administrator, Donna Picklesimer, at 327-6309. A Cardholder Agreement will be sent, and a training session will be given when the card is distributed.
Departmental Purchase Orders
For student organizations that do not have purchasing cards, purchases under $100 made on behalf of Wittenberg University must be properly initiated by a departmental purchase order (DPO) at the time the order is placed. The DPO is a five-part carbon form that is accepted by many Springfield-area businesses.
When filling out a DPO, you must complete the Date, Department, and Account Number sections. The Vendor Section also needs to be completed, including the correct mailing address of the vendor. In the Ship To section, please make sure to indicate your organization's name and if there is a specific individual the order goes to. Down below, make sure to record the quantity, the unit of measure or purchase unit, a complete description of the item, and the unit of measure or order cost. If the cost is an estimate, please make sure to indicate this on the form too. Include any other charges such as shipping or delivery in this section as well.
An authorized individual for the organization must sign all DPO's. Give the white copy to the vendor and hold on to the Receiving Copy Accounts Payable and the Department Copy. The Accounts Payable Copy and the Purchasing Copy must be sent to the Purchasing Department for processing as soon as the order has been placed. When the order has been received and is acceptable, your organization's president or treasurer must sign and date the Receiving Copy Accounts Payable and mail it to the Purchasing Department for payment approval.
It is critical that the paperwork be distributed and completed in the steps indicated to ensure that the vendor is promptly paid. Note: DPO's may only be used for purchases totaling less than $100, and a series of DPO's cannot be used to complete an order exceeding that amount.
Failure by an organization to adhere to all purchasing policies and procedures may result in loss of authority to initiate DPO's. Furthermore, personal financial responsibility may result if purchases are made disregarding University policy.
Requisitions for Purchase and Purchase Orders
• Used for: Purchases over $100 made on behalf of Wittenberg University
• Cannot be used to place order directly with a vendor
• Obtain purchasing requisition forms at Student Involvement or the Purchasing Department
• To fill out the form you must complete:
'The Vendor Section' (including the complete mailing address of the vendor)
• 'The Shipping Information' and 'Date Materials Are Needed' sections
• 'The Departmental Remarks Section' can be used to instruct Purchasing to phone or fax the order to the vendor (indicate the proper contact numbers)
• Large section below: please be sure to record the quantity, the unit of measure or purchase unit, and a complete description of the item to be purchased, as well as your organization's account number, the unit of measure or order cost (if cost is an estimate, indicate it as such on the form), and any other charges such as shipping or delivery.
• Incomplete purchasing requisitions will be returned to the requestor
• All requisitions must be signed and dated at the bottom by the Director of Student Activities (Student Involvement will review your organization's account to ensure the availability of funds before submitting the paperwork to the Purchasing Office. If funds are not available, the student initiating the request will be advised that the order cannot be placed.)
• Once the form is complete, you should retain the Department Copy and send the Purchasing Copy and Follow-up Copy to the Purchasing Department
• When the order has been received and checked for accuracy, it is extremely important that you contact Student Involvement right away. Your timely action assures that the vendor will be promptly paid.
• Changes to any purchase order may only be made with the mutual consent of both Wittenberg University and the vendor. The organization must send a memo to the Purchasing Office requesting the change and providing a brief explanation. Only the Purchasing Office is authorized to approve the changes with the vendor.
Failure by an organization to adhere to all purchasing policies and procedures may result in loss of authority to initiate Requisitions for Purchase. Also, personal financial responsibility may result if purchases are made disregarding University policy.
Check Requests
All check requests must be submitted by 4pm on Tuesday afternoons if you wish the check to be issued the same week on Friday. Any questions or concerns can be addressed by the Controller's Office at (937) 327-7005.
A. Purchasing Items With Personal Funds and Getting Reimbursed
• In order to be reimbursed, you must obtain a Check Request/Cash Reimbursement Form, fill in the necessary details, and attach your original receipts.
• You sign the line labeled Originator. The Director of Student Activities or another authorized administrator must sign the Supervisor line.
• For purchases that are under $25 and not travel-related, the check request can be used as a cash disbursement form and can be cashed at the Service Center or Student Accounts (3rd floor Recitation).
• If the reimbursement is for more than $25 or for travel-related expenses, the completed check request along with receipts must be submitted to the Controller's Office, Accounting Services, 301 Recitation Hall.
• Retain the blue copy of the request for your records.
B. Reimbursement for Travel-Related Expenses
Please fill out a Travel Expense Report and turn it in to the Controller's Office. The form must be signed by the organization adviser and turned in with all receipts for lodging, food, etc.
C. Payment of Conference Fees, Dues, etc.
When submitting a check request, also submit the supporting paperwork with it. For example, a registration form or application form may be required. A Check Request can also be used for subscriptions and publications.
D. Payment for Services
If submitting a check request for an individual who has provided services, a social security number is required. This also includes stipends and honoraria. If service payment is for a student currently employed by the University, the check request must be submitted to Student Employment (3rd Floor Recitation).
Interdepartmental Transfers
When buying something from another campus organization, or co-sponsoring an event, a transfer of funds should be requested. To request a transfer of funds:
• Contact Accounting Services, in the Controller's Office, with the appropriate account numbers to be debited and credited and the amount requested for the transfer of funds. This may be accomplished by e-mail. Please copy all parties indicated.
• Either organization can request the transfer, but both parties must reply to the Accounting Services e-mail address for the transfer to be completed.
• Once this request is completed, the charge/credit will be reflected on your next monthly statement.
If you have questions regarding these transfers, please call 327-6386.
Travel
If your organization was allocated funds to attend a conference or workshop, these are the steps you will need to follow:
A. Transportation
If you were authorized to fly to the conferences, you must purchase your airline tickets through a local travel agent. Once you have made reservations, tell the agent that the purchase will be confirmed via a Purchase Order.
If you are using your own car to drive to the conference, you may be reimbursed for the mileage at 32.5 cents per mile (subject to change). Keep track of your round-trip mileage, complete a travel expense form and return it to the Accounting Services Office in order to be reimbursed. Forms can be obtained from the Accounting Services Department.
If you wish to use a University-owned car or van to drive to the conference, see the Transportation Office section.
B. Hotel Accommodations
Make your hotel reservation with a Purchase Order. If necessary, the Purchasing Office can fax the hotel a copy of the Purchase Order to hold your reservation. You may use your organization's Purchasing Card to hold a reservation, but the card cannot be used to pay the bill. This must be accomplished with a Check Request or Purchase Order. Some hotels will not accept Purchase Orders. In that case, see Jon Duraj, Director of Student Activities, for assistance.
C. Conference Fees
You may pay for conference fees by using a Purchase Order or by a Check Request (See Related Information).
D. Miscellaneous Expenses
All other expenses should be paid for by the individual, who will in turn be reimbursed by the organization. Be sure to save all receipts and complete a Travel Expense Report (you will not be reimbursed for expenses without receipts). Expense reports should be turned in at the Accounting Services Office for reimbursement. In some cases, it is possible to obtain a cash advance to pay for anticipated miscellaneous expenses.
Fund Raising
While most student organizations have unlimited programming ideas, they certainly have finite financial resources. To supplement current resources, it is important for organizations to do fund raising in a professional, accountable and legitimate manner.
Fund-raising events can be fun for everyone involved. It is important to make the fund-raising project a group effort and get as many people involved as possible. Not only will the organization have more help to accomplish its goal, but it will also get more people interested in giving money. The key to being successful in fund raising is to be creative and to keep your goal in mind.
Important Guidelines for Fund Raisers:
The Advancement Office (327-7430) and the Director of the Wittenberg Fund, must approve any solicitations to be made off-campus. This includes, but is not limited to, underwriting, alumni donations, requests for donations from local businesses and corporate sponsorship. If you do not know whether or not something needs to be approved, call Student Involvement or the Advancement Office.
All raffles must be registered through the Office of Student Involvement. Raffle tickets may be sold at a variety of locations around campus, but students may not solicit door-to-door for them. Raffles with cash prizes are not permitted.
For a successful fund raiser, two elements are vital - a goal and a deadline. When setting a goal, you should:
1. Determine where the money is going to go. People are more apt to donate to a cause when they know how their money is going to be used.
2. Be positive.
3. Be realistic and specific.
4. Communicate your goal to all involved.
Strategy for Organizing a Fund Raiser:
1. Set a Goal
2. Determine a specific starting and ending date.
3. Make sure officers get suggestions from members. How do members want to approach the fund raising?
4. Tell the group what fund raisers have been attempted before. Explain what worked and what didn't. Find out why.
5. Check into local and state regulations. Check university policy.
6. Make sure all segments of the group - not just the officers - are involved. People contribute to what they create. See that as many volunteers for the project as possible participate. They must understand the cause and be willing to contribute their time and effort.
7. Have the group determine a market: college students, community, parents, etc.
8. Advertise wisely.
9. Make sure everyone knows the expectations in advance and update on progress.
10. Make sure everyone is involved in the planning and implementation of the fund-raising project. Those who achieve should be rewarded.
11. Thank supporters. Give big donors some kind of tangible reminder of how they contributed to a good cause.
12. Complete a written evaluation. Make sure you include: contact names, addresses, and phone numbers; time lines and important dates; suggestions of things to do differently in the future.
University Letterhead and Envelope Usage
Letterhead and envelopes: These are to be used for official university business only. If an organization is sending out a letter on Wittenberg letterhead or in an envelope with the university logo, the letter must be signed by a university staff member (dean, associate dean, assistant dean, faculty adviser, etc.).
Fund Raisers: Any fund raising letter from any organization or employee whether it is on plain paper or letterhead must be first approved by the Director of the Wittenberg Fund. Fund raising by registered student groups in the Student Center at tables is permitted.
Greek organizations are permitted to send letters on their own stationery for house fund raisers (new furniture, etc). These do not need the Advancement Office's approval.
Letters of appreciation to vendors who donate goods for campus programs can be printed on university letterhead as long as a staff member signs them.
Student Center Safe
All student organizations may store money temporarily in the Student Center safe, which is located behind the information desk area in the Wittenberg Student Center. This is especially useful if your organization is fund-raising in the Student Center lobby for several days in a row.
A. Direct access to the larger safe may be obtained through the Student Center Administrative Assistant, Cathie Kuss, during regular business hours or by a Student Manager after hours. Please note, in order to access the safe after 7:00pm, students may need to have the Student Manager paged and then wait for his or her arrival.
B. Deposits into the safe should be made in a sealed envelope stating the name of the organization, date, sum of money, and signature of person making the deposit. There will be a sign in/out sheet to record deposits/withdrawals made by your organization.
C. Students wishing to retrieve money dropped in the small safe will need to present a picture ID to the Student Center Administrative Assistant. Only student organization treasurers will be able to pick up money. A list of treasurers will be in the Student Center office.
D. The Student Center will have a log out process that all student organizations must follow. This procedure will require signing out the money received.
E. If you have a Student Manager paged and they are unable to respond to your needs, Wittenberg Security/Police will be able to gain access to the safe closet. Security is also available on weekend days when managers are not on duty. Security will not have the combination to the safe, however, so you will only be able to make deposits into the slot. Please contact Security in advance to make arrangements for the deposit.
F. Please remember that Security and Student Managers are doing you a service. Plan ahead for your deposits and withdrawals. Allow enough time for either a Student Manager or Security to be paged and then respond.
