SGA Finance - Budget Training Workshop

SGA Committee on Financial Affairs

September 2015

Sarah Niezelski, SGA VP of Financial Affairs

Intro & Agenda

• Who I am

• SORC Intro

• Resources

• The Student Activities Fee

• Normal Funding Process

• Budget Walkthrough

• Emergency Funding

• SORC / University Accounts

• Feedback / Contact Me

• Questions

SORC – Student Involvement Suite - Stamp

• Assists with groups applying to become a new organization

• Provides assistance and support to existing organizations.

• Assists student groups in spending their SGA allocated funds.

• Can also visit SORC for help/advice before you’re allocated SGA funds

Resources

• Your #1 Resource: The Website – umdsgafinance.weebly.com

• SGA Funding Guide (one-page summary of important information)

• SGA Finance Manual & Discretionary Guidelines

• Orgsync – make sure your president and treasurer are accurately listed now!

• Account Management• SORC • STARS

The Student Activities Fee (SAF)

• $75 a school year for full time students, less for part time

• The SGA Finance Committee allocates the SAF to recognized student groups’ programs

• SGA Recognition• Group must not be exclusionary in any way• Group must have at least 25 members & a constitution• Group must not charge dues• Contact the Director of Student Groups, Ruth Orevba, at

SGAstudentgroups@umd.edu

The Student Activities Fee (SAF)

• The SGA’s Committee on Financial Affairs (COFA) is charged with fairly and equitably distributing the SAF• Every decision we make is meant to fall in line with that mission

• It is also on student groups to be using SAF funding honestly and appropriately• Committee on Audit & Review• Random Audits

The Finance Process

• There are 3 main deadlines per semester, 6 per school year• September, October, November, February, March, April

• COFA accepts, reviews, and makes decisions on budgets for the 6 deadlines

• Attending this training is the first step!

Main Restrictions

• 30 day rule: A program will not be funded unless it occurs at least 30 days after the budget deadline

• 60 day rule: A program of $1,500.01 or more will not be funded if it is less than 60 days after the budget deadline

• 5 month rule: A program may not be funded if it is further than 5 months away from the date of the deadline, unless the group provides sufficient reasoning for needing to apply more than 5 months in advance

Other Main Restrictions

• Student groups cannot ever be reimbursed for money they’ve already spent

• Date of Payment / Date of Program: use whichever comes first as your main date on the application, and always just let COFA know the full story

• You may not edit your application once it is submitted

The Budget Application

• 1 application per program your group is planning, no limit on the number of applications you can submit in an allocation period

• Always consult the Finance Manual & Discretionary Guidelines while preparing a budget

• All numbers, dates, and math on the form must be exact and correct

• All line items must have documentation that proves the exact costs and cost breakdown

The Budget Application - Certification

• By being here, you’re in the process of being certified for the remainder of the school year

• Again, always check the Finance website, email, and the Manual and Discretionary Guidelines. Rules may change from now to April

• The actual application – must be filled out using the OrgSync login of a certified President or Treasurer. The application can be found on the SGA OrgSync Portal under forms.

The Budget Application – Pre-clearance

• The Student Groups Committee will be doing pre-clearance budget checks for all student groups planning to apply for funding

• Simply submit your budget request by September 11th through the form on OrgSync and the Student Groups Committee will review it and let you know if it has any issues that may prevent your group from receiving funding

• The form will be emailed out to everyone who attends budget training to the email address you signed in with

Submitting Your Application

• Form must be submitted online by Monday, September 21st at 5:00pm

• 1 printed copy must be turned in in-person in the SGA Office, 0209J Student Involvement Suite, Stamp Student Union during Finance committee office hours

• September Office Hours:• Mon Sept 14th: 4-6pm• Thurs Sept 17th: 2-4pm• Mon Sept 21st (deadline): 10am-5pm

• Once it is 5:00pm on Monday, September 21st, your submission is considered final and is not able to be edited, so double and triple check your work!

After the Deadline

• COFA will spend the next week and a half or so reviewing and voting on budgets

• You will receive a decision of Fully Funded, Partially Funded, or Not Funded

• You may then choose to sign up for an appeal with the Finance Committee• We explain in further detail why your application was Partially or Not funded, you

make your case• New information, such as additional documentation, is not allowed, as the

purpose of these appeals is more to determine if the Committee made a mistake in reviewing the budget

• Decisions of the Committee appeals are announced, and if you are still unhappy with the decision, you may appeal to the SGA Legislature, and will receive further instructions informing you how to do so

Spending of Funds - SORC, STARS

• Funds will be available in STARS roughly 2 business days after legislative approval of the finance bill

• Must also complete the mandatory SORC officer online training and quiz before any SGA funds can be spent• You should have already received an email about the training, and it

is recommended that you complete it as soon as possible• Different from this workshop in that it will teach you about the

spending of funds, rather than applying for funds

• Spending Guide document to be made available closer to the deadline

• Remember, if you ever have a spending question just go to SORC!

Emergency Funding

• The Group Help fund is meant to serve as a last resort to groups who cannot fund their event through traditional means

• This application becomes available September 11, 2015• Applications are considered ONLY if the time constraint on receiving the

funding is sooner than the upcoming regular Funding Allocation period (if you cannot apply for the next available budget deadline)

• Applications are considered ONLY if submitted more than 10 business days prior to the Date of Program*

• Each group is limited to $1000 in total funds awarded per semester

*If there is an off-campus contractual agreement, the committee reserves the right to deny the application if SORC is unable to process the contract in time (DG0003-09201305)

Emergency Funding

• Co-Sponsorship Grant• Similar to Group Help, but meant for co-sponsored and

collaboratively planned events• While the applying group must be SGA-recognized, not all co-

sponsors need to be SGA-recognized• Applications are considered ONLY more than 10 business days prior

to the Date of Program*

*If there is an off-campus contractual agreement, the committee reserves the right to deny the application if SORC is unable to process the contract in time (DG0003-09201305)

Closing Points

• Next Budget Deadline: October 19th• First date we can fund from that is November 18th (under $1500)

• Application is live now

• Constantly check Finance website for all updates• To any publications and policies, such as the Manual• For an announcement about Finance office hours to collect budgets

• Update your group’s Orgsync profile to make sure you receive important emails

Questions / Feedback?

• Anonymous ‘Contact Us / Feedback’ form on Finance website

• If you have a specific question that the website, the Manual, and Orgsync (incl. the SORC training) can’t answer, email me at: sgavpfinance@umd.edu