Policies & Procedures

Downloadable Version

Please make note that these policies and procedures may change with a majority vote of the Board and do not require ratification by the student body of Drew University.

                                       The fiscal manager of student activities

College of Liberal Arts

Extra-Curricular Activities Board

Internal Policies and Procedures in Use as of October 2, 2008:

Please make note that these policies and procedures may change with a majority vote of the Board and do not require ratification by the student body of Drew University.

 

1)  Conferences Attendance

Conferences must be structured, formal, and educational.

ECAB will only fund registration and/or transportation costs with respect to conferences.

· ECAB will fund registration, transportation, and housing costs with a maximum of $250.00 per person.

· Any organization or any member of an organization that receives funding for a conference from E.C.A.B. is required to host an event, lecture, presentation, etc. related to the conference.  This must be completed within 2 weeks of the group’s return.  If the organization or members of the organization do not host an event, lecture, or presentation by the deadline set by the Board, the organization will not receive funding specifically for conference purposes for one full semester.  The semester must be the one that immediately follows the semester of the infraction.

Before clubs may put university money towards conference attendance they must propose to ECAB the event they will host within two weeks of their return to campus.

 

2)  ECAB Money (Including Budgets and Ad-Hoc) will not fund the following:

· Individual club honors

· Personalized items

· Prizes

· Gifts

· Rush delivery charges

· Invite only events

· Donations

Events not publicized in a minimum of two different ways

 

3)  Fundraising

· Any ECAB monies used to fund a fundraiser must be reimbursed and deposited back into the ECAB account.

· If funds are not reimbursed, the amount used for the fundraiser will be debited from the organization’s account.

· If there are insufficient funds in the account and the organization is unable to repay the amount, the organization will be on fiscal probation for one semester.  The semester of fiscal probation must be the semester which immediately follows the semester of the infraction.

· An organization may not ad-hoc funds to be used for a fundraiser.  The funds must come directly from their own budget.

Fundraising money can be spent at the discretion of the organization as long as it aligns with their mission statements.

 

4)  “Active” Organizations

· Organizations recognized by ECAB are considered active only when fiscally active.

· If an ECAB organization does not use any funds within a given academic year, the group will be on probation and will not receive a budget.  If the organization remains fiscally inactive in the first semester of the new academic` year as well (in other words, three consecutive semesters of fiscal inactivity), the organization will lose ECAB recognition.

If an ECAB organization does not use any funds during an academic semester, the group will be issued a warning. If the organization continues to be fiscally inactive in the following semester then they will be placed on probation. Once on probation, all funds in the account will be frozen.  However, the organization will retain the ability to ad-hoc and to apply for a budget in the spring. At the end of the third semester of fiscal inactivity, the organization in question will cease to exist and have to go through SOAC to regain ECAB recognition.

 

5)  Budget Proposals

The following are items and/or activities that will take precedent in the Board’s budget allocation decisions:

                          a)  whether the previous budget was used in the 2/3 guideline

b)  supplies/equipment

                          c)  traditional events, particularly those events held on campus

                          d)  items vital to a club’s function - including, but not limited to dues and                                     registration fees    

                          e)  new events, only when specific details and confirmations are included

                          f)  food

An organization’s budget allocations may be determined by other factors, including, but not limited to:

                          a)  the number of events hosted in a given fiscal year, and whether such                                       events were open to the entire Drew Community

                          b)  any fiscal infractions

                          c)  the amount of the previous year’s budget

                          d)  the amount spent of the previous year’s budget

Budgets are frozen until signatory cards and election forms are handed in. Attendance at Leadership Day is also mandatory in order to obtain funds.

Clubs must implement 2/3 of the programs they purposed in their budget within the academic year.

 

6) Budget Use

Budgets with the exception of fundraised money cannot be used for any purpose for which ad-hoc would not be allocated.

 

7)  Voting Procedures for Ad-Hoc Requests and Club Proposals

· Each ad-hoc decision and club proposal decision requires a majority vote for approval.

· The Chair will open the floor for discussion of the request and/or proposal.  At the conclusion of the discussion, a motion must be made by a voting member of the Board and must be seconded by a different voting member of the Board.

· The Board will then proceed to vote once the motion is on the floor.

· Abstentions are only permitted in the case of a Board member’s absence or in the case of a conflict of interest.

If an ECAB Category Representative is presenting an ad-hoc request, they are willingly stepping out of their role as a Category Representative and assuming that of a presenter.  As such, he or she is required to step out of executive session during the deliberation on that particular presentation and to abstain from voting on that ad-hoc decision.

 

8)  Attendance Policy

· No more than three absences without a proxy in an academic year (except in the case of the Chair).  The Chair and the Comptroller may have no more than three absences.

· No proxies will be allowed for the budget meeting.

· A proxy may not be appointed more than twice in an academic year.

· Any Board member who is in violation of the attendance policy will automatically be removed from the Board.

· Board members may petition for excused absences to the Chair as outlined in the attendance policy in Daniel’s Dictionary.

· The Chair may petition for excused absences to the entire Board, requiring a simply majority vote.

· The Chair and the Comptroller may not appoint a proxy.

· A proxy for a Board member must be an active member of an organization in their respective category.

· Should a Board member need a proxy, ECAB must be notified via email by noon on the day of the meeting.  The email must include the name of the proxy chosen.

· Members of probationary organizations may not proxy for any Board member.

Each member of the Board must attend a mandatory training session at the beginning of their term as outlined in the Policies and Procedures Manual.

 

9)  Faculty/Staff Funding

Student organizations may request funds and/or utilize their budgets to offset the costs of Faculty/Staff in leadership positions for off campus events and conferences.

 

10) Ad-Hoc

· Must comply with all University policies.  A meeting with the Chair or Comptroller can be made if necessary.

· Event or program must be open to the entire CLA community.  ECAB funds cannot be used for invite only events.

· If a group is planning to ad-hoc for an event that costs $1,000 or more in total, they are required to present the ad-hoc request to the Board at least 3 weeks before the event.

· If applicable, the organization MUST attach three (3) copies of official bids for services/goods over $500.00 – official bids are invoices, copies from catalogues, website printouts, vendor-authorized emails, etc. – phone quotes or informal word of mouth quotes are NOT acceptable and an organization will be requested to resubmit their ad-hoc request before a decision can be rendered – if a product or service is very specific to the event and is over than $500.00, the student group may submit a letter of explanation to ECAB and the Purchasing Office outlining their specific need.

· Any student organization that submits an ad-hoc proposal without three (3) quotes will be asked to come to the next ad-hoc meeting.

· Only one organization may ad-hoc for a specific event.  After a request has been made for a specific event and the Board makes a decision for that event, no other organizations may request funds for that same event.

· You may ad-hoc for more than the cap; however those grants require a unanimous decision.

When granting ad-hoc requests, the ECAB board will take into consideration the requesting organizations’ exploration of other funding avenues.

 

11)  Executive Session

· The Board may move into Executive Session after hearing all ad-hoc proposals, club proposals, budget proposals, student concerns, and any other discussion in order to make decisions regarding said proposals.  Results of Executive Session (excluding minutes) are to be made public by the Board to any organization requesting such information.  The Board may choose to include rationale or reasoning as part of the decisions and make that information public as well.

· All information discussed in Executive Session, with the exception of the allocation decision, is strictly confidential.

Any breach of Executive Session will result in an investigation as outlined by the ECAB Policies and Procedures Manual.

 

12)  Decisions of the Board

The Chair or his/her designee must make the decisions of the Board available to the organization which submitted the proposal within three days of the decision.  The Board shall submit copies of the official decision to the Treasurer, or similar position in the organization, the ECAB Advisor, the ECAB Comptroller, and any other members of the Board that the Chair, or his/her designee, deems necessary.  Decisions should be communicated according to a method selected by the Board.

 

13)  Categories

Categories should be named as follows:

Academic

Belief

Cultural

Service

A Category Representative must be an active member, as defined by the organization’s constitution, within the category they wish to represent.

 

14)  Disciplinary Action and Sanctions

Upon notification to ECAB that there have been a gross misuse of funds, failure to comply with ECAB or University policy, or breach of Executive session, the person or organization in question will be subject to an official investigation and sanctions.

When allegations of a violation are made, the Board shall notify the organization or person and then conduct the investigation.

 

Investigation Outline:

When allegations arise concerning the conduct of an ECAB club or Board member, a temporary Investigation Committee shall be established by a two-thirds vote of the Board

The Committee shall consist of three members of the Board and be chaired by the ECAB Chair.

The official role of the Committee shall be to determine the validity of any accusations and to recommend further action to the Board.

If the Committee determines that the allegations are unfounded and recommends no further action to be taken, that decision shall be binding.

Should the Committee find evidence of misconduct during the investigation, any recommendations shall be accepted with a two-thirds vote of the Board.

The Investigation Committee shall deliver a report to the Board within one (1) week.

 

The Board reserves the right to impose any sanction it deems appropriate.  The sanctions the Board imposes do not preclude the possibility of an official university hearing or legal prosecution of responsible club officials and individuals involved.

 

Documentation of Sanctions:

All sanctions and decisions must be presented in writing to the president of the organization that is being sanctioned.  This documentation shall be held in the club’s file for at least one (1) calendar year.

 

Breach of Sanctions:

Violation of any sanctions imposed will result in immediate freezing of the organization’s budget for a period of time to be determined by the Board.  Appeals may be filed according to the ECAB Constitution.

 

15)  ECAB Chair Responsibilities

The ECAB Chair is responsible for, but not limited to, running the weekly meetings, overseeing the ad-hoc process, working closely with the ECAB Comptroller to maintain fiscal integrity, delegating duties to the ECAB Category Representatives, and maintaining a close relationship with the administration.

 

16)  Unused ECAB Club Budgets

· Monies will be considered unused when they have not been used for one (1) academic semester

· Each club will be informed if it has unused funds.

· If ad-hoc funds drop below 10% of the original ad-hoc budget, the Board may choose to suspend unused funds and earmark them for use in ad-hocs.

· To retrieve unused monies, ECAB must first ask the club’s executive board if it would like to voluntarily return its unused funds to the ad-hoc account.

If the club does not agree, the Board may forcibly remove the club’s funds.  This action would require a unanimous vote of the Board and the Chair.

 

17)  Financial Policies and Procedures

ECAB funds are distributed via club budget allocations and/or ad-hocs.  However, commitment of University funds is made only when authorized by a purchase order or check request with appropriate approval.  If the proper authorization is not attained, the University reserves the right NOT to assume responsibility for the payment.

 

Ad-Hocs:

In order for an ad-hoc to occur, ECAB requires the group/club or students requesting the ad-hoc to:

Obtain and fill out three (3) copies of the appropriate “Request for Funds” form.

9 copies of a proposal including; 

Budget breakdown for requested funds, including descriptions of how funds will be spent, anticipated audience (number and type), and rationale for requests.

Attend the weekly ECAB meeting and present to the proposal to the Board.

 

Requesting Checks/LPOs/Pos:

· Fill out “Check Requests/LPO/PO” form in order to have request processed.  Request must include contracts, official quotes, legitimate websites and/or authorized e-mail quotes.

· Treasurer’s signature is required on all paperwork.

Paperwork must be submitted two (2) weeks prior to payment date.

 

Checks:

Checks can be used for subscriptions, conference registrations, business entertainment (meals, etc.), membership dues, stipends, honoraria, and government fees.

Checks are not available for pick-up.  They can only be mailed.  Performance checks will be mailed one (1) to two (2) weeks after all proper paperwork has been received.  Please note that University policy states that the performer must have received the check within 30 days of the performance.

A complete check request form must be accompanied by a signed contract.

 

LPOs:

An LPO is a contract that Drew will pay the vendor and is valid for up to $250.00.

After LPO is distributed and used the respective club is responsible for returning the receipt to the Comptroller IMMEDIATELY.  Future LPO requests will not be approved/processed until outstanding receipts have been received.

Due to contractual obligations with Sodexho, no more than $100.00 can be spent on food from outside vendors.

A “First Right of Refusal” form can be filled out if the club chooses to spend more than $100.00 on food from an outside vendor.

Any office supplies purchased should be ordered via the current, contracted supplier, Allied Office Supply.

 

 

For POs:

A PO is a purchase order that can be used for all other request for funds that do not normally fall under the jurisdiction of LPO or check request.

Any purchase that totals more than $500 requires the submission if three (3) official bids

If the organization does not choose the lowest bid, an explanation must be provided in writing to the Purchasing Department.

Paperwork must be submitted two (2) weeks prior to date payment is required.

 

For Transfer of Funds:

· A transfer of funds may occur between different departments on campus and ECAB.

The transfers must be completed by the department from which the money is coming.

 

Contracts

· If an event requires a contracted performer the completed Student Activities contract or contract provided by the performer must go to the ECAB Comptroller to be signed.

When the contract has been signed, the ECAB Comptroller will notify the organization so they can fax it back to the performer.

 

18)  Election Policies and Procedures

· In the case of a tie within Category Representative election, a run-off election shall occur.

If a tie still occurs, the tie shall be broken by the current Category Representative in the respective category.  The Category Representative may not break the tie in the case of a conflict of interest.  A conflict of interest is considered to exist if the Category Representative is one of the candidates.  In such a case, the Chair shall break the tie.  The Chair shall also break the tie in the absence of the respective Category Representative.