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Allocations

  1. Only a student organization (which shall be defined in this Paragraph to include an agency of the Association) may receive an allocation of Board funds. A student organization may receive such an allocation only if it is not receiving funds from another Board or any Special Fee, and it is in compliance with all relevant organizational and financial requirements specified in the Constitution, these By-Laws, and Acts of the Senate. Only one allocation per student organization per General Fee may be effective at any given time.

  2. An allocation recommendation shall specify the amount of Board funding recommended (which may be zero); the event, activity, project, or program for which these funds are intended; the specific expenses for which these funds are intended; the full and complete current authorized budget of the student organization (which must be balanced); the full and complete new authorized budget of the student organization which incorporates these funds (which must be balanced); and a time limit during which the funds must be spent. Unless otherwise stated, the default time limit for one quarter discretionary allocations shall be the end of the quarter of Senate approval of the allocation; for multi-quarter discretionary allocations it shall be the end of the last quarter for which the allocation is intended; and for annual allocations from the Annual funds it shall be the end of the fiscal year following Senate approval.

  3. Board Funding Guidelines
    1. At the beginning of each fiscal year the Board shall approve supplemental funding guidelines, specifying for specific types of expenses both their validity and relative priority, and shall schedule all deadlines for the submission of funding applications throughout the fiscal year, unless the Senate has done so already. These shall be adopted as part of the Standing Rules of the Board, provided that such initial adoption at the beginning of each fiscal year shall not require previous notice. No allocation recommendation shall be made by the Board until this has been completed.

    2. During Winter quarter the Board shall adopt supplemental funding guidelines as necessary to facilitate the review of applications for annual allocations from the Annual fund for the following fiscal year. These shall be adopted as part of the Standing Rules of the Board, provided that such initial adoption each Winter quarter shall not require previous notice. No allocation recommendations shall be made by the Board until this has been completed.

  4. Meetings of the Board
    1. The Director shall schedule all meetings so as to provide for the fair and speedy transaction of business on behalf of student organizations applying for funds, the Board, the Senate Appropriations committee, and the Senate. The Director shall coordinate all meeting times with the other Boards, the Senate Appropriations committee, and the Senate Chair.

    2. The Board shall meet at least monthly during the Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters.

    3. Proper notification of a meeting of the Board requires written notification to all members, both voting and ex-officio, of the meeting time and place at least 48 hours before the meeting. This requirement may be waived only by the unanimous consent of all of the members of the Board.

    4. Allocation recommendations may only be made at a properly called meeting of the Board. This requirement may be waived only by the unanimous consent of all of the members of the Board.

  5. Student organizations applying for funds shall submit applications specifying the amount of funding requested; the event, activity, project, or program for which these funds are intended; descriptions of these events, activities, projects, and/or programs; the specific expenses for which these funds are intended; the full and complete current authorized budget of the student organization (which must be balanced); the full and complete new budget of the student organization which incorporates these funds (which must be balanced); and any other information requested by the Board, the Senate Appropriations committee, or the Senate.

  6. Examination of Financial Records
    1. Upon submission of this application the student organization grants to the Board and the Senate complete authority to examine their financial records throughout the application process and, if funds are allocated, throughout the time limit for which this allocation is valid. The student organization shall be notified of this fact when filing an application by an appropriate written notice.

    2. The Financial Manager shall supervise and assist the members of the Board and the Senate Appropriations committee in performing these examinations. Specifically, the Financial Manager shall be authorized to make and enforce rules of administration to ensure the integrity of the Students Organizations Fund records. All requests for information shall be directed to the Financial Manager or authorized designee.

    3. Access to financial records of ASSU-funded organizations must be available as required by the ASSU's freedom of information policy as expanded in Article VIII, Section 1, Sub-section D, Paragraph 4.

  7. Student organizations applying to the Board for funds shall be interviewed by the Board. This interview must be conducted by at least two voting members of the Board. The individual representing the student organization at the interview shall not be a member of the Board. The Board shall originate an allocation recommendation for each student organization interviewed (the amount of Board funding recommended may be zero). The Board shall not originate a recommendation for a student organization which has not been interviewed.

  8. The Senate Appropriations committee shall consider all of the allocation recommendations which originated with the Board. The committee shall report all of these recommendations, as modified by the committee, to the Senate for its consideration.

  9. Allocation recommendations shall not originate in the Senate Appropriations committee unless they are either 1) for agencies of the Association, or 2) for student organizations which are not agencies of the Association, provided that the circumstances are extraordinary and the amount of funds allocated to the student organization is not in excess of $300.00. All such recommendations shall be reported to the Senate for its consideration, but they shall require approval by two-thirds of the Senate.

  10. The Senate shall accept, reject, or modify the allocation recommendations reported by the Senate Appropriations committee. Allocations require a two-thirds vote of the Senate.

  11. Only upon Senate approval may funds be distributed. Upon Senate approval the conditions stated in the allocation recommendation shall be considered binding upon the student organization receiving the allocation, and their violation shall result in the halt of disbursements of any or all Association funds to that organization.

  12. No allocation recommendations may originate in the Senate.

  13. The Senate may subsequently modify an allocation by a two-thirds vote, subject to any legally binding contracts the student organization may have entered into under the authority of the original allocation. These modifications shall usually be conducted after the same review accorded to original allocations.

  14. Computation of Maximum Demonstrated Financial Need from the Program Board Fee

    1. All income of a student organization shall be considered unrestricted income unless either:
      1. The agency granting funds to the student organization restricts their use to specific expenses. A written agreement with the agency to this effect must be presented to the Board. Funds originally derived from a Special Fee may be restricted with the consent of the Senate.

      2. The funds are internally generated by the student organization, through either dues, admissions, donations, or retail sales. In this case the governing body of the student organization may restrict the use of these funds to specific expenses, provided that these include all expenses incurred in the process of raising these funds. A written statement by the governing body of the student organization to this effect must be presented to the Board.

    2. All expenses of a student organization shall be considered valid expenses unless they are payments for:
      1. Food, unless it constitutes an integral and small part of an event.

      2. Travel for members of the Association.

      3. Publications, unless the publication is an incidental organizational expense (such as a newsletter) or primarily a vehicle for event publicity.

      4. Services contracted for or debts incurred before approval of the allocation by the Senate, unless they were incurred either:
        1. At the beginning of the fiscal year before the first opportunity to apply for funds, the application for funds was made at that first opportunity, and the organization informed the Director in writing at least one week before the expenses were incurred.

        2. For allocations not in excess of $300, after the Senate Appropriations Committee has reported out the proposed allocation with a positive recommendation according to the procedures specified in subsection 8 or 9 of this paragraph. Such a positive recommendation shall not be construed as a guarantee of eventual Senate approval of the proposed allocation, and any expenditure of funds prior to such final approval shall be solely at the risk of the student organization concerned.

      5. Any other categories of expenses as specified in the Standing Rules of the Board.

    3. Income which is not unrestricted shall be termed restricted; expenses which are not valid shall be termed invalid. No Association funds may be allocated for invalid expenses.

    4. The maximum demonstrated financial need of a student organization shall be the difference between that organization's valid expenses that cannot be paid for by restricted funds and their unrestricted income.

  15. Recommended Funding
    1. No allocation shall be recommended or approved by the Board, the Senate Appropriations committee, or the Senate which is in excess of a student organization's maximum demonstrated financial need.

    2. Should the amount of Board funding in an allocation recommendation be less than the maximum demonstrated financial need of the student organization, then the recommendation shall contain a new full and complete authorized budget for the student organization (which shall be balanced), and shall be accompanied by a written explanation from the Board director. This budget shall normally be developed by the Board and the authorized representative(s) of the student organization, and must be accepted by the student organization before Association funds are disbursed.

  16. In making allocation recommendations from the Program Board General Fee, the following guidelines shall be used, in addition to those specified elsewhere in the Constitution, these By-Laws, Acts of the Senate, and the Standing Rules of the Board.

    1. Allocations of Board funds should be used primarily to pay for events, activities, projects, or programs which confer widespread benefits upon the student body which are impossible or extremely difficult to recover through user fees (admissions, donations, etc...), or where it would be inefficient to do so because the costs of the events, activities, projects, or programs are relatively fixed regardless of the number of persons participating.

    2. Duplication of organizations and their activities shall be kept to a minimum.

    3. Absolute and relative cost per person involved in the student organization (for organizational expenses) or participating in an activity (for programming expenses), when weighted by the intensity of that involvement, shall be kept as low as possible.

    4. Higher relative priority shall be given student organizations and their activities that enrich the academic environment.

    5. Higher relative priority shall be given activities which are open to, and are of interest to, the general student body.

    6. Food expenses, where valid, shall be given a low relative priority.

  17. Before funds are transferred to the account of the student organization, the Director shall present, in writing, the specifics of the allocation as approved by the Senate to the Treasurer of the student organization. No funds shall be transferred until the Treasurer has accepted, in writing, these specifications. The Treasurer shall be responsible for keeping track of expenses as they are incurred and for ensuring that the specific conditions of the allocation are followed.

  18. Transfer of Funds
    1. Following Senate approval of an allocation and the acceptance of the specific conditions of the allocation by the Treasurer of the student organization, funds shall be transferred by the Director from the accounts of the Board to the account of the student organization in a timely manner, provided that all of the requirements specified in the Constitution, these By-Laws, Acts of the Senate, and the allocation recommendation have been met.

    2. Unless otherwise specified in the allocation recommendations, funds shall be transferred within two weeks after Senate approval or at the beginning of each quarter for which the allocation is authorized (whichever is the latter) for discretionary allocations, and at the beginning of each quarter for which the allocation is authorized for annual allocations from the Annual funds, provided that all of the requirements specified in subparagraph a. above have been met.

  19. Treasurer's Report
    1. The Treasurer of the student organization receiving Board funds shall report to the Director on the organization's income, expenditures, and general financial condition either within two weeks after the end of the specified period for which the single quarter discretionary allocation was authorized, or quarterly during the period for which the multi-quarter discretionary allocation or annual allocation from the Annual fund was authorized.

    2. The Treasurer's Report shall specify the status of the funds, specifically what funds had been expended for what purposes. The record of expenditures shall indicate exact expenses whenever possible (supported by appropriate documentation); otherwise it shall provide estimates of the expenses which are as precise as possible. If, at the end of the specified period for which the allocation was made, any approved expenses were not incurred, then the Director shall transfer the funds allocated for these expenses from the account of the student organization to the accounts of the Board, and they shall be available for reallocation through the normal allocations process.

    3. If the Director and the Financial Manager determine that a report cannot be made at the specified time, through no fault of the Treasurer or the student organization, then he/she may grant an extension of up to three additional weeks, but no additional Association funds shall be transferred to the account of the student organization by any Association agency until a report is made.

  20. Unless specifically agreed to otherwise by the Senate, title to all tangible property purchased by a student organization in whole or in part through the use of Association funds shall vest with the Association, and possession shall devolve upon the Association in the event of dissolution of the organization. A student organization shall be considered dissolved upon receipt of a declaration of dissolution by its membership, failure to register as a student organization for 15 months, or the passage of a declaration of dissolution by two-thirds of the Senate after reasonable efforts were made to contact the last known officers of the student organization.

  21. All allocation recommendations made by the Board shall be published by the Board in the Stanford Daily in a display ad at least 48 hours before consideration by the Senate; however, this requirement may be waived by a vote of two-thirds of the membership of the Senate. All allocation recommendations approved by the Senate shall be published by the Board in the Stanford Daily in a display ad within one week after they are approved.

  22. The Association shall be credited as a co-sponsor in all publicity for an event for which an allocation is made for at least one-third of the expenses, and for all activities of a student organization for which an allocation is made covering at least one-third of its operating expenses. Deliberate or repeated failure to so credit the Association shall halt the disbursement of all Association funds to that student organization.



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Mon May 9 17:09:02 PDT 1994