Last Revised: 04/15/20

Originally Written by: Session 4 LEB

Title 7 Finance Code #

Chapter 700: Introduction
Chapter 701: Definitions
Chapter 702: Audit and Budget Committee
Chapter 703: Budget Approval and Amendments
Chapter 704: Rules and Requirements for Entities Funded by A&S
Chapter 705: Travel
Chapter 706: A&S Rollover
Chapter 707: A&S Reserves
Chapter 708: Contracts
Chapter 709: Freezing of Funds
Chapter 710: Budget Deficits
Chapter 711: Penalty Measures
Chapter 712: Enforcement

Introduction #

  1. This chapter serves to detail the financial policies, procedures, and rules governing all Activity and Service fees and Student Government Association Funds, and shall serve as the foundation for answering the needs of the Student Body.
  2. This Statute shall comply with Florida Statute 1009.24(10) (a)

Definitions #

  1. A&S Fees – Activity and Service Fees
  2. Secondary Funds – Student Government monies including fundraised, foundation, and auxiliary funds
  3. Fundraised & Foundation Funds – Any funds generated through fundraising or donations to SGA or its affiliated entities.
  4. Auxiliary Funds – Any funds generated by SGA or its affiliated entities that are not considered fundraised or foundation funds.
  5. Show Political Alignment – Determined by a majority vote of the ABC or Executive Board. May be appealed by supermajority vote of the Judicial Branch.
  6. ABC – Audit and Budget Committee.
  7. S&E – Standards and Enforcement
  8. SD – Student Development
  9. FY – Fiscal Year, In accordance with University fiscal year.
  10. Line Item Transfer – Any Reallocation of A&S Fees already associated with a line item.

Audit and Budget Committee #

  1. Annual Budget Process
    1. A budget request shall be made by entities that are deemed eligible as defined by Title VIII of the Student Body Statutes
    2. Budget Request Initialization Deadlines
      1. Student Government Entities – The last Friday of January
      2. Student Government Funded Department Initiatives – The last Friday of January
      3. All RSO Budget requests shall be submitted no later than 23:59:59 on the last Friday in February.
        1. All RSOs receiving A&S Funding before January 15th of the current fiscal year shall meet the deadlines as stated in 702.1.2.3
      4. Exceptions to 702.1.2.3
        1. If any technical issues occur regarding the method of budget submission under the responsibility of the University or SGA a budget deadline extension shall be granted by the Treasurer or the ABC Chair if this clause is deemed active by the director of S&E.
  2. Auditing
    1. All RSOs shall be required to submit status and performance reports as a part of the auditing process. The performance and status reports shall include but are not limited to:
      1. The organizational information (officer listing, membership, mission statement)
      2. Description of any projects, programs, and services
      3. Information on meeting and events (Times, dates, location, etc.)
      4. Information on all RSO managed assets
      5. Additional items may be requested by a majority vote of the ABC
      6. All entities who currently or previously received A&S fee funding shall be subject to audit at any time
    2. The ABC in conjunction with the treasurer will conduct audits
  3. Balancing
    1. All SGA budget requests shall be considered by the ABC and modified accordingly to meet budget restrictions
    2. During balancing, all budgetary line items shall be reviewed for purchasing feasibility and accordance with state and university policy by the ABC and S&E

Budget Approval and Amendments #

  1. Budget Approvals
    1. All budgetary approvals shall be in accordance with appropriate State and University policy and regulation
    2. Student Government Association budget shall be approved as a bill of law in accordance with the Student Body Constitution
  2. Budget Amendments
    1. All budgetary amendments shall be in accordance with appropriate State and University policy and regulation
    2. Student Government Association budget amendments shall be approved as a bill of law in accordance with the Student Body Constitution

Rules and Requirements for Entities Funded by A&S #

  1. An accurate account and spending records of all A&S and Secondary Funds are required. These records must be made available to the ABC and S&E upon request
  2. All A&S and Secondary funded entities are expected to maintain a non-negative balance based on certified received budget amounts.
  3. Financial records must be kept in accordance with sunshine law
  4. Any printed items purchased with A&S fees must have SGA branding placed in a visible location. SGA branding shall be provided upon request to the SOC or the ICC. SGA branding shall be a minimum of 2.5% of printable space unless size requirements are overwritten by a majority vote of the ICC.
  5. Spending Regulations
    1. Does not pertain to Student Government Branch Initiatives
    2. No A&S funds shall be used to support political and/or religious lobbying or related expenditures. Religious/political RSOs can use A&S funds for service projects or service travel but must not proselytize their religion and/or campaign for their political alignment
    3. No A&S funds shall be used to bring political or religious groups and/or individuals on campus that show political or religious alignment
    4. RSOs affiliated with national political parties or supporting/advocating a national, state, city, and county political agenda may request money from said outside source(s) for awareness of their RSO on campus, for RSO events, for spreading messages and ideologies of their RSO on campus, and for travel to advance their RSO’s mission at the University
    5. Standard merchandise purchasing
      1. All RSO merchandise purchasing falls under “standard merchandise purchasing” unless given approval for advanced merchandise purchasing via a supermajority vote of the ABC or Executive.
        1. Governing rules
          1. Per unit t-shirt amounts shall not exceed $10
          2. Per unit merchandising shall not exceed $15
    6. Advanced merchandise purchasing
      1. Purchases approved by majority vote of the ABC or Executive Board and Appealed to the Senate for a majority
    7. Standard food purchasing
      1. All RSO food purchasing falls under “standard food purchasing.” Unless given approval for advanced food purchasing via a supermajority vote of the ABC or Executive
      2. Governing rules-
        1. Intentionally left blank for future use
    8. Advanced food purchasing
      1. Purchases approved by majority vote of the ABC or Executive and appealed to the Senate for a majority vote

Travel #

  1. Travel distance requirements
    1. If travel is less than 300 miles in radial distance from Florida Polytechnic University, transportation method shall be bus, car, boat or rail. Exceptions may be approved by a majority vote of ABC
  2. Lodging policies
    1. If lodging is within 50 miles of FPU, a written statement defending this course of action must be submitted with the purchase request
  3. Food policies
    1. No travel food reimbursements will be expended on any SGA funded trips
  4. All reimbursements shall only be processed if travel occurs
  5. RSO, Individual Travel, Agencies and Departments
    1. All Travel shall be in accordance with all relevant University Travel Policy and Regulations
    2. Reimbursement Policies
      1. All receipts(copies) must be retained and submitted within 30 days of travel
      2. Reimbursements must be approved prior to purchase
    3. Rental car policies
      1. All car rentals shall be handled as an itemized purchase on the travel request form
      2. All car rentals must be in the form of reimbursement
    4. Plane ticket policies
      1. All plane tickets must be bought in the form of reimbursements. May be changed by ABC or Executive in the case of agencies and departments.
      2. All plane tickets should be refundable if there is any concern over trip viability. This is at the discretion of the individual student and may result in loss of reimbursement commitment

A&S Rollover #

  1. All funding allocations expire at the end of the fiscal year

A&S Property #

  1. All items bought with A&S fees are considered A&S property
  2. Any item bought by SGA that has no executor is managed by Executive
  3. All executors are responsible for maintaining a list with the item location and status of items under their care

Contracts #

  1. All contracts must be vetted, reviewed, and approved by Procurement
  2. All contracts must be vetted, reviewed, and approved by the SGA Advisor
  3. All contracts must be vetted, reviewed, and approved by the Student Body President
  4. All contracts must be vetted, reviewed, and approved by the Student Body Treasurer
  5. All contracts must be vetted, reviewed, and approved by the initiating party
  6. Any contracts with a length duration exceeding (2) years shall be sent to the SGA Senate for approval by a supermajority vote and may be appealed to the SGA judicial branch for a supermajority vote
  7. Any contract requiring a yearly fiscal commitment exceeding $5000 dollars shall be sent to the SGA Senate for approval by a supermajority vote and may be appealed to the SGA judicial branch by a supermajority vote

Freezing of Funds #

  1. Should an RSO have a status of “frozen” their funds will be frozen. The automatic freeze shall last no longer than 2 months without an attempt to reconcile with the senate
  2. RSO Funding may be frozen via a supermajority vote of the senate
  3. RSO Funding may be unfrozen via a supermajority vote of the senate

Budget Deficits #

  1. In the event of perceived budget deficits as determined by the Senate President, Chief Justice, Student Body President, or ABC Chair, a meeting shall be called by the Treasurer within two (2) weeks of “perceived budget deficit” notification.

Penalty Measures #

  1. SGA asset loss, damage, or theft fall under 711.3
  2. Violation or perceived malice against the student body statutes may result in enforcement of 711
  3. RSO financial penalty measures shall be determined in a joint meeting with the LEB, Treasurer, and S&E director
  4. Penalty measures and methods
    1. Freezing of funding and asset use in accordance with 709
    2. Inability to submit travel request forms
    3. Inability to submit request for CAB initiatives
    4. Inability to submit a budget request form for next fiscal year
    5. Inability for RSO e-boards to submit individual travel requests
    6. Ability to impose fines to RSO line items, appealable via a supermajority vote of Senate, may be vetoed by the Student Body President or Treasurer
  5. No penalty shall continue from one fiscal year to the next
  6. Any RSO under penalty may attempt to reconcile with the LEB, Treasurer, and S&E director

Enforcement #

  1. This Statute shall be enforced by the following
    1. Student Body Treasurer
    2. Audit and Budget Committee
    3. Standards and Enforcement