Student Activity and Service Fee Budgetary Guidelines (Procedure 3.0500)

Procedure:

1. Student Activity and Service Fee Budget Committee
   1. The Budget Committee is appointed by the Vice President for Student Affairs or designee and is comprised of both students and staff members, with students comprising at least half of the committee membership. Suggested composition of the committee follows:
      1. The Student Government Association (SGA) President or designee from each campus
      2. Director of Student Life or designee
      3. Representative from the Office of Finance and Budget
      4. Vice President for Student Affairs or designee
   2. The committee should elect co-chairs, one student and one staff member with the student chair as the tie-breaking vote.
2. Timeline & Requisition for SASF Requests
   Pursuant to Florida Statute and Board of Education rule, the Student Activity & Service Fee (SASF) annual budget is prepared jointly by students and College staff through the SASF Budget Committee and approved by the President or designee.  The timeline and requisition for the Annual Budget Request follows:
   1. The Associate Vice President for Student Development will create and distribute a Notice of Requisition to all student organizations and department heads. The deadline for requests should be no more than thirty (30) days from the first date of announcement.
   2. The recommended first date of announcement is April 1st.  All student activity and service fee annual budget requests must be submitted by May 1st with a detailed, itemized list of needs and costs. All student organizations and departments that submit an annual budget request are required to attend an SASF budget committee hearing to present their budget request and respond to questions.
   3. As the budget allocation process begins, the committee should develop guidelines to evaluate how all events, programs, and services funded through the Student Activity Budget support the needs of students. Events should be free of charge whenever possible to allow broad participation.
   4. The SASF budget committee will deliberate and recommend the allocations of the annual college-wide student activity and service fee budget. Following committee approval, the Committee Chairman will forward the recommendations to the Vice President of Student Affairs or designee for review.  The Vice President of Student Affairs or designee will submit the recommendations to the College President or designee for approval. The President or designee has the option of approving, not approving, or returning items to the committee for further review. If items are returned, the Budget Committee shall meet as needed to review the budget and recommend any changes.
   5. The annual budget shall be completed, finalized, and approved by June 15.
   6. Student organizations may submit an Allocation Request at any time during the academic year to the respective Student Government Association where the student organization is registered.  A student organization representative must attend an SGA meeting to present their budget request and respond to questions. Student Government Association will approve, not approve, or amend the allocation request at that respective meeting.
   7. If unallocated SASF funds exist, College departments may submit requests for individual projects, events, or services for the student body for the fall or spring semester to the SASF Budget Committee.  Fall semester allocation requests must be submitted no later than August 1 and Spring semester allocation requests must be submitted no later than December 1 to the SASF Budget Committee.  Departments are required to attend the Budget Committee meeting to make the request and respond to questions. The Budget Committee will review the requests and approve, not approve, or amend the requests.  Notification will be sent to the departments regarding their Allocation Request.
   8. Since a budget cannot anticipate every contingency, the budget committee may meet to address needs or emergency situations requiring an immediate decision. If unallocated SASF funds exist, emergency requests can be submitted to the Vice President for Student Affairs or designee. Collectively, the Vice President of Student Affairs or designee and student co-chair will review the request to determine if an emergency situation exists. If so, the committee will meet to review the request and approve, not approve, or amend the request. If not, the request will follow the timeline provided above.
3. Eligibility
   1. Student organizations must be officially recognized by the Office of Student Life and the Student Government Association to be eligible to submit requests for annual or allocation requests. Student organizations must also be in good standing with the College (no current conduct violations or investigations).  Students who benefit from the funding (i.e. travel, free t-shirt, etc.) must be activity and service fee paying students at Seminole State College.
   2. Departments that provide programs and services that benefit the student body at Seminole State College are eligible to submit requests for allocations.
4. Budgetary Process
   1. The budget for expenditures funded from the student activity and service fee shall be based upon an estimate of total funds generated from this fee as well as an estimate of funds carried forward from the prior year. The appropriate financial representative of the Office of Finance and Budget should provide the committee chairman with the anticipated student activities budget for the next fiscal year by May 1st.
   2. The committee meets to review college-wide budget requests balancing revenue against requests, creates an operating budget for the next fiscal year and recommends the allocations of the college-wide student activity and services budget. The committee should determine the appropriate balance between student activities and student services funded by the budget.
   3. Recommended distribution of budgeted dollars is based on the percentage of unduplicated college credit headcount at each campus in the preceding fiscal year, with appropriate consideration for college-wide student activities.
   4. Each fiscal year, 5% of the total student activity and service fee budget will be allocated for indirect administrative support costs.
   5. Each fiscal year, 5% of the total student activity and service fee budget will be set aside in a reserve account in case the actual budget revenue does not equal the projected budget revenue, causing a revenue shortfall. Once the actual student activity and service fee revenue amount can be determined based on fall and spring semester enrollments, any available funds in the reserve account may be allocated during the spring or summer semesters or carried forward to the next fiscal year.
   6. Any allocation restrictions are determined by the budgetary committee and approved by the College President or designee in accordance with Florida Statute.
   7. It is the responsibility of the College to ensure that the committee receives appropriate training and assistance to ensure that restricted Student Activity and Service fees are utilized in a manner consistent with current state statute and rule and local Board policy.
   8. Any student organization or College department receiving funds from the Student Activity and Service Fee will be monitored and reviewed periodically by the Office of Finance and Budget and the Office of Student Life to ensure expenses are appropriate and consistent with the approved budget.
   9. Rules regarding the Budgetary Committee process should utilize a standard meeting format.