Finance Committee

From KUpedia

The Finance Committee is one of the five standing committees of Student Senate at the University of Kansas. It's primary goal is to review all legislation that involves finances, including bills that allocate money to student organizations for events or other expenses and bills that modify the Budget Code of the Student Senate Rules and Regulations. Finance Committee also acts as a sort of "guardian" of the Budget Code, primarily tasked with keeping the Code in order, and making sure that the rules in the Code are applied evenly and fairly to all student organizations requesting funds from the Senate.

Officers

The current officers of the 2007-2008 Finance Committee are:

• Chair: Mark Pacey
• Vice-Chair: Sonia Marcinkowski
• Secretary: Quinton Cheney
• Associate Senator: Joanne Bauer

Subcommittees

Campus Fee Review Committee

Main article: Campus Fee Review Committee

One of the most important subcommittees of the Finance committee is the Campus Fee Review Committee. This committee is responsible for hearing requests from the various organizations that receive funding from student fees through Student Senate, and determining the need for either an increase or a decrease in those fees. These decisions are then passed to the Finance committee in the form of a proposal, which, when approved by the Finance committee, is then submitted to the Full Assembly in the form of a proposed fee schedule for the upcoming fiscal year.

The chair of the Finance Committee serves as the chair of the Campus Fee Review Committee, unless he or she designates another person to be the chair of that committee. The Finance Committee elects, in addition to the chair, two other representatives to serve on this committee.

Line Item and Block Funding

Main article: Line Item and Block Funding

Line Item and Block funding are two special processes that the Finance Committee performs to ease some of the workload of hearing legislation during the regular Senate year.

Line Item funding is assigned on a yearly basis by the Line Item Subcommittee, which is comprised of any interested members of the Finance Committee. The Line Item Subcommittee hears proposals from organizations (including student groups and departments) that have existed for at least one year. Instead of presenting separate legislation during the regular Senate year, organizations are invited to come and give proposals at the end of each year for the upcoming year. By doing so, groups can plan ahead for the entire year, already having been allocated funding.

Block funding is assigned on a bi-yearly (every other year) basis by the Block Subcommittee, which is also comprised of any interested members of the Finance Committee. The Block Subcommittee hears proposals from the largest organizations on campus, each with its own treasurer, who have demonstrated a need for funding to be planned two years in advance. Since the Block process is only performed every other year, the Block Subcommittee allocates funds for the budgets of these groups for the next two years. Once again, this both aids the groups by allowing them to know exactly how much money they have to work with for the next two years, and aids the Finance Committee by getting some of the largest allocations done and out of the way before the year begins, allowing them to know how much money other groups will be eligible to receive, and to relieve some of the legislative burden during the normal Senate year.

Other Boards and Committees

In addition to these subcommittees, the Finance Committee also elects members to serve on a variety of subcommittees and boards throughout the Senate structure.

• Student Senate Transportation Board (1) (non-voting)
• Legal Services for Students Advisory Board (1)
• Student Media Board (1)
• Campus Safety Advisory Board (1)
• Campus Fee Review Committee (3, one must be the Chair of Finance)
• Student Senate Outreach Board (1)
• Newspaper Readership Program Advisory Board (1)
• Off-Campus Living Resource Board (1)
• Multicultural Education Fund Board (1)
• Women’s And Non-Revenue Intercollegiate Sports Advisory Board (1)

Budget Code

For the full Budget Code, please refer to Article VII of the Student Senate Rules and Regulations.

The Budget Code of Student Senate refers to Article VII of Student Senate Rules and Regulations. It deals primarily with the ways in which the funds accrued by the Senate through various student fees can and cannot be spent. The Budget Code also contains a variety of definitions which are important to consider when allocating funds.

A few highlights of the Budget Code (these must all be met in order for a group or organization to receive funding from Senate):

• "Half Over One Thousand" The "Half Over One Thousand" rule is one of the most misunderstood guidelines of the Finance Committee. It simply states that in the case of special events, Senate shall only fund an event in full up to $1,000. Beyond the $1,000 mark, the event can only be half-funded by Senate. So, for example, an event with a total cost of $800 could receive full funding ($800) from Senate, while an event with a total cost of $4,000 could receive $2,500 ($1,000 + half of $3,000) from Senate.

• The group must be open to all students. This excludes groups that have applications, requirements (such as a minimum GPA), and required fees to national chapters. It has been ruled in the past that this rule does not apply to groups that request dues from members (since this has been in the past considered an important form of fund raising for groups); however, the final judgment on this rests with the current Finance chair.

• The group's meetings and correspondence must be provided in English.

• Funds cannot be used for travel. This includes any costs associated with travel, including flight, hotel, and registration fees of any kind.

• Funds cannot be used for political purposes (such as to promote the candidacy of a person running for a government position), or for religious purposes.

• Funds cannot be used for donation to a third party.

• Funds cannot be used for projects which grant academic credit, or to grant scholarships.

• Any event or organization which uses funds from Senate must acknowledge Senate sponsorship in any advertisements. For example, if you use Senate funds to put on an event on campus, any flyers for that event should include the Student Senate logo.

• Funds cannot be used for events which are primarily social. Some events which are social in nature, but are being held for a primarily cultural reason have been excused from this rule in the past.

• Funds cannot be used to purchase items that cost more than $50 which have the potential to be transported and used for personal use. These are called "walkable" items. If the item is "walkable", it can still be purchased provided that it will be stored in a secure, on-campus location, usually the office of the group's advisor.

Amendment of the Budget Code requires a 2/3 vote of the Full Senate. Suspension of a rule in the Budget Code also requires a 2/3 vote.