BYLAWS OF THE STUDENT FUNDING BOARD
http://www.ascsu.colostate.edu/sfb-bylaws.aspx
Article I: Purpose
The Student Funding Board’s primary purpose is to allocate a portion of the ASCSU Student Fee approved by the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System to student organizations for educational and cultural programming and to administer relevant provisions of Article VIII of the ASCSU Constitution. Additionally, the Student Funding Board shall assist student organizations in fundraising and discovering alternative income sources. The Student Funding Board will encourage members of ASCSU to attend the programs funded through student fees.
Article II: General Provisions
Section 1: The ASCSU Constitution and subsequent legislation in addition to these bylaws and any additional special rules adopted in writing shall primarily govern the Student Funding Board. Additionally, the Student Funding Board shall act in compliance with all appropriate federal, state and local legislation and regulation in addition to any rules or policies promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and/or Colorado State University.
Section 2: The Student Funding Board will meet on Thursdays at 5:15 p.m. in the Lory Student Center. A special meeting may be called at any time by a written petition containing the signatures of a majority of the Board’s members or by the ASCSU Director of Finance. The last meeting of the Student Funding Board shall be the Thursday prior to the second to the last session of Senate.
Section 3: All Student Funding Board meetings will be open to the public. Additionally, the Chair will be responsible for ensuring that written minutes are recorded that detail all action taken by the Board and demonstrate that allocation decisions are based on the Funding Rules set forth in Article V of the SFB Bylaws. Such minutes shall be available for public review in the ASCSU office including the budgets of organizations requesting funding and any other Funding Board documents.
Section 4: Each member of the Student Funding Board will be allowed two excused absences per semester. The ASCSU Director of Finance must approve these absences prior to the meeting. Attendance shall be registered in the minutes. Failure to comply with these regulations shall result in sanctions by the Senate pursuant to the ASCSU Constitution and legislation.
Section 5: The Student Funding Board shall have the power to vote, score and hold hearings only if a quorum of current members are present. . Proxy votes shall not be permitted for either establishing quorum or in voting.
Section 6: The Funding Board shall encourage one or more of its members to be present at funded programs.
Section 7: All funding documents shall be considered parts of the bylaws and are adopted, amended and eliminated as such.
Section 8: The Student Funding Board shall elect a vice-chair at its first meeting annually or whenever a vacancy shall occur.
Section9: The President of ASCSU will make the executive budget request to the SFB prior to the fiscal year that they take office. Any other student organizations wishing to request funds prior to the fiscal year in which the funds will be used must: 1) be requesting more than $9,999, 2) have an event lasting the duration of the fall semester, or 3) need secured funds prior to October 15th. Student organizations may apply for funding for events occurring any time throughout the academic year.
Section 10: A sum of $50,000 must not be allocated until November 1 of that fiscal year for events occurring during the spring semester.
Article III: Conduct of Meetings
Section 1: The ASCSU Director of Finance, acting as chair, will conduct meetings. The chair will neither score nor vote except in order to break a tie. In the absence of the ASCSU Director of Finance the vice-chair shall serve as chair.
Section 2: The meetings shall work around the concept of consensus, and Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, 10th Edition shall only be used to the extent necessitated by the meetings as determined by the chair or a majority of the members.
Section 3: The following format shall be used in running meetings, although a two-thirds (2/3) vote of current members shall be sufficient to reorganize this agenda for any meeting.
1. Call to Order - Establish a Quorum
2. Budget Report
3. Minutes
4. Discuss the Business that will be heard that day
5. Hear Requests
a. Group presents Request
b. Group receives questions from Board members
c. Board debates Request.
d. Board votes on Request as a whole.
6. Special Reports/Special Business
a. Suspensions.
7. Program Evaluation Reports
8. Announcements
9. Adjourn
Article IV: Lead Reviewer
Section 1: Each organization eligible for funding shall be assigned a lead reviewer from the Funding Board who shall be available to assist the organization in developing its budgets and preparing for presentation to the Board.
Section 2: The lead reviewer, together with the student organization, shall be responsible for ensuring that the request complies with the bylaws and that all paperwork needed, including budgets (with narratives), is available. Once submitted, an application may not be altered at any time for any reason unless approved by the Chair.
Section 3: The lead reviewer shall also assist the organization in determining sources of alternative funding for programs.
Article V: Funding Rules
Section 1: The Student Funding Board will evaluate budget proposals by the following viewpoint neutral criteria (in no specific order):
1. The services and programs relation to the organization’s purpose
2. The organization’s ability to effectively use the student activity fee
3. The organization's adherence to its planned budget and accountability for its expenses through the past fiscal year
4. The ability of an organization to plan and effectively deliver their services
5. The program’s potential for direct student involvement
6. The effort and thought evidenced by the budget request
7. The justification and clarity of the budget presentation by the organization
8. The ability of an organization to generate revenue to support the organization’s activities
9. The activities and programs are open to all fee paying students
10. The number of students involved in the organization's past activities.
Special consideration shall be given to those requests that show the organization has solicited and obtained significant levels of co-sponsorship.
Section 2: Regulations
- Only those organizations registered with Student Leadership, involvement, & Community Engagement (SLiCE) (“registered student organizations”) will be funded.
2. The Student Funding Board will not fund the operational costs of any registered student organization. ASCSU and subsidiary committees and departments are not Registered Student Organizations subject to this rule.
3. ASCSU will not fund requests from housing or recreational sports organizations. The definitions of housing and recreational sports organizations are as follows:
a. Housing: Any organization that is designed for the express purpose of benefiting university operated residential communities.
b. Recreational Sports: Any organization recognized by the Department of Campus Recreation as a Sport Club.
4. The Student Funding Board shall, in funding any organization, expressly prohibit the use of funds for any activities prohibited by federal or state law, including, but not limited to the following:
a. Colorado Revised Statute 1-45-117 provides that state funds cannot be used to fund political campaigns involving the nomination, retention or election of any person to any public office. This statute also prohibits the use of state funds to urge electors to vote in favor or against any state-wide or local ballot issue, referred measure, or measure for recall.
b. The Constitution of Colorado, Article IX, Section 7, prohibits the expenditure of state funds for any sectarian purpose, which could include, but is not limited to, the activity of worship, devotion, prayer, meditation, or a religious service.
The Student Funding Board will require a funded organization to sign an acknowledgement of this prohibition, and to certify that funds will not be used in a manner that violates state or federal law. Should a Student Organization use its allocated funds in a manner that violates state or federal law, the Student Funding Board reserves the right to limit or deny future funding requests from such Student Organization, demand the funds be reimbursed to the Student Funding Board and, depending on the nature of the violation, the Student Organization may also lose its recognition status or face other penalties.
5. The officers listed with SLiCE and the majority of the members of the organization must be fee-paying students.
6. The Student Funding Board expressly prohibits prostylitizing of any kind at ASCSU funded programs. Educational and cultural programs that will include sectarian content must include a recognized educational expert in the content field in order for the program to be considered by the Board. Student organizations shall be required to provide documentation to the Board that will fulfill the requirements of this provision. The Student Funding Board will have the sole purview to make determinations as to whether the requirements of this clause have been met.
7. No ASCSU monies can be spent on raising funds for appropriation to any entity which is not (1) a registered student organization; or (2) not under the express control of Colorado State University. All fees central and necessary to an attendee’s participation in a program funded by the Student Funding Board will be reverted to ASCSU up to the amount allocated by the Student Funding Board. All participatory fees generated from the Campus Information Box Office must be deposited into the organization’s Student Organization Financial Account. ASCSU will not allocate funds for fundraisers, or activities associated with fundraising, that are intended to benefit an entity outside of the student organization.
8. Student organizations are required to obtain at least ten percent (10%) co-sponsorship to receive funding for an event open and free to all students. Co-sponsorship is defined as any funds from the student organization’s financial account (SOFA), any funds belonging to the requesting organization, or a partnership from another group resulting in the physical transfer of funds. Discounts are not a legitimate form of co-sponsorship. Consideration will be given by the board for groups that have displayed a good faith effort to obtain co-sponsorship.
9. Student organizations are eligible to obtain a cumulative maximum of $20,000 each academic year from Student Funding Board. Any single request exceeding $9,999.99 must be ratified by the Senate through a bill following the Board’s recommendation. Funding requests presented to Senate must be accompanied by an itemized budget. Any request brought forth in the form of a Bill to ratify Student Funding Board allocations must be approved by the Senate in a viewpoint neutral manner. The Chair of the Student Funding Board, and/or their designee(s) will provide all related documents and present a short presentation regarding the application. The student organization will not be required to attend this presentation. This process is designed to ensure the Student Funding Board followed its regulations and protocols, not to “rehear” the application.
10. The presidents and treasurers of all ASCSU funded clubs and organizations are required to attend an Officer’s Orientation organized by SLiCE. If within the year a new officer is elected, it is their responsibility to contact both SLiCE to make arrangements to attend an Officer’s Orientation.
- Student organizations that have a negative account balance in their Student Organization Financial Account shall not be eligible to receive funding from the Student Funding Board.
- Organizations that receive ASCSU funding will expense the funds from the Student Funding Board Student Organization Financial Account. The ASCSU Director of Finance will approve the transactions for processing by the University. Unlike ASCSU financial transactions, no second signature is required.
- For programs lasting less than one month, the requesting organization is required to submit a program review to the ASCSU Director of Finance, using the Program Evaluation Form located on the Student Funding Board’s page on the ASCSU website, within 21 calendar days of program’s completion. All receipts and requests for payments must be submitted by 5pm of 30 calendar days at the conclusion of the event. When programs extend beyond one month, the Chair will determine an appropriate schedule of progress reviews at the time of approval, as well as when receipts and requests for payment will be due. Requests for long duration programs should include a proposed report schedule. In general, reports will be due monthly for semester long programs and at the last Funding Board meeting of the Fall semester for year-long programs; however, this is only a guideline and can be adjusted as appropriate for specific events. In all cases a final report will be due 21 calendar days after completion of the event. If all allocated funding is not used as prescribed by the approved budget, remaining funds will be canceled and inaccessible for spending. Organizations must expend requests as approved by the Funding Board. Program Evaluation Forms will be reviewed by the Student Funding Board and are available in the ASCSU Office within 30 calendar days after the program’s completion.
- Organizations that are funded by ASCSU must clearly state on all advertising and club promotion that their program is made possible in part by student fees allocated through ASCSU. The method of statement must be a logo as approved by the ASCSU marketing department. Any student organization that fails to include the ASCSU logo on all marketing materials shall be automatically suspended according to the rules set forth in Article VII of these bylaws. The Chair may grant exemptions for unusual circumstances and small ads on a case-by-case basis in writing. Exemption requests must occur within 10 days after the hearing where funding was initially approved.
- ASCSU allows the charging of CSU students only when the more than 50 percent of the program’s cost and associated advertising is not funded by ASCSU, as illustrated by the Program Budget. Fees central and necessary to an attendee’s participation must be run through the Campus Information Box Office. Exemptions may be granted by the Chair for unusual circumstances in writing, and must be requested within 10 days after the hearing where funding was initially approved. Failure to use the Campus Information Box Office will result in an automatic suspension according to the rules set forth in Article VII of these bylaws. ASCSU strongly encourages the charging of non-students to attend fee-funded programs. Any time that students are charged, they must receive a discounted price over the cost for non-students. Forecasted revenue cannot be counted as co-sponsorship. Student organizations should have co-sponsorship funding secured prior to presentation before the Student Funding Board.
16. ASCSU does not provide funding to Registered Student Organizations for the following items. (ASCSU and subsidiary committees/departments are not Registered Student Organizations subject to this rule)
Awards, Trophies, and prizes
Capital Expenditures
College Commencement Ceremonies
Contest Entries
Concessions
Damage Deposits
Decorations
Departmental Honor Nights
Donations
Flower and Floral Arrangements
Food or Beverages
Newsletters
Office Supplies
Raffle Tickets
Salaries
Scholarships
Travel for students
17. It is the responsibility of each group’s treasurer and officers to adhere to the club’s budget and to all pertinent legal and ASCSU guidelines. Each organization must keep true, up-to-date and accurate records of the organization’s fiscal activities which ASCSU may request to view at any time for any reasons. Failure to comply will result in an automatic suspension according to the rules set forth in Article VII of these bylaws.
18. The Student Funding Board shall not consider retroactively funding an organization unless fault for the delayed request is determined by the Board to be outside of the organization’s control.
19. The Student Funding Board will not allocate funds to any group whose program is less than twenty-one calendar days after the Funding Board meeting at which they are heard.
20. The Student Funding Board will not allocate funds to any group whose program budget contains a single line item which exceeds $4,999.99 unless the budget is presented at least 30 calendar days prior to the program’s start date.
21. If an organization believes a procedural error has occurred, an appeal may be made in accordance with Article VIII, Section 809 of the ASCSU Constitution. Student organizations may not appeal funding decisions of the Student Funding Board.
22. The SFB shall utilize a scoring process when reviewing applications to determine their eligibility for final funding. Each voting member of the Board shall independently score applications out of 100 points based on the following scoring criteria:
Scoring Criteria (based out of 5, 10, 15 or 25 points):
0 = No answer provided, answer is blank.
1-2 / 1-5 / 1-8 / 1-8 = Answer provided, but do not recommend application based on response.
3 / 6-8 / 9-11 / 9-17 = Answer provided, application recommended with reservations based on response.
4 / 8-9 / 12 -14 / 18-24 = Answer provided, application recommended based on response.
5 / 10 / 15 / 25 = Answer provided, application highly recommended based on response.
Each Board member shall justify, in writing, on a scoring sheet their score of each application. These scoring sheets shall be part of public record and copies given to the applicant within seven (7) days of their hearing. After all Board members have scored, they will have the opportunity to publicly address the reasoning behind their scoring. After this, the scores will be reported, an average found and funding distributed on the following tiered system:
Final Average Board Score -- Funding Tiers (decimals rounded up to nearest 1)
80-100 = 100% of request granted
60-79 = 75% of request granted
0-59 = funding request denied
5 voting members must be present for hearings to proceed.
Article VI: Process
Section 1: Groups requesting ASCSU Student Funding Board funding should first contact the ASCSU Director of Finance to be assigned a lead reviewer. This should occur four academic weeks prior to the Student Funding Board meeting at which they wish to be heard. The group shall then meet with their lead reviewer pursuant to Article IV of these bylaws. When this is not possible, the ASCSU Director of Finance is authorized to act as the group’s lead reviewer. After finalizing the organization’s budget and written application with their lead reviewer, it is the responsibility of the group to submit an electronic copy of the budget and written application to the ASCSU Director of Finance by 5:15PM on the Tuesday prior to the scheduled hearing at which they wish to be heard via e-mail. The ASCSU Director of Finance will then verify that the budget is correct, and confirm with the group their addition to the agenda for the requested hearing date. The Chair reserves the right to refuse placing incomplete applications on the agenda.
Article VII: Suspensions
Section 1: Failure to comply with any of the rules contained in these bylaws may result in the freezing of allocated ASCSU funds, a revocation of allocated organization funding, and/or the suspension of an organization’s eligibility to request funds from the Student Funding Board. Suspensions shall require a three-fourths majority vote of current members for implementation. The ASCSU Director of Finance will submit student organizations to be considered for suspension on the agenda at a regularly scheduled meeting under Special Business.
Section 2: Suspensions shall be enacted by the Student Funding Board based on the severity of the violation, history with the Student Funding Board, and any dealings with SLiCE. Suspensions shall take effect immediately upon affirmative vote by the board. Automatic suspensions shall be for a minimum of 15 academic weeks during regular academic semesters.
Section 3: Student organizations shall have their eligibility automatically suspended if a specific rule in these bylaws calls for an automatic suspension. Automatic suspension shall commence upon notification to the board by the Director of Finance of the suspension at a regularly scheduled meeting.
Section 4: Student organizations that have their eligibility to request suspended may appeal the suspension only once by submitting a letter stating the organization’s desire to appeal a suspension to the ASCSU Director of Finance at least 10 days prior to the meeting in which they wish to be heard. The ASCSU Director of Finance shall place all student organizations requesting an appeal hearing on the agenda of a regularly scheduled meeting of the board under Special Business. Suspensions may be overturned by the board by a three-fourths majority vote.
Section 5: The ASCSU Senate may overturn a suspension upon passage of a bill to that effect only if the suspended student organization has exhausted the appeal process as outlined in Section 4.”
Article VIII: Summer Financial Management
Section 1: The Student Funding Board shall not be permitted to allocate funds during the summer sessions
Article IX: Amendment of Bylaws
Section 1: The Student Funding Board shall have the power to amend these bylaws by a two-thirds vote of current members with approval of the Senate. No amendment inconsistent with the policies of the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System shall be effective.