Amended Monday, 26 September 2011, Monday, 23 April 2012.

Item I. Preamble

The purpose of the Graduate and Professional Student Activity Fee (GPSAF) is to support organizations and programs that are operated primarily for students, by students. Organizations receiving funding directly from the GPSAF are called byline funded organizations.

This document describes how organizations may obtain byline funding and, once they have received funding, which obligations they must to fulfill in return for funding.

Item II. Eligibility

Section 2.01

The Board of Trustees set forth eligibility criteria for receiving byline funding, which are available on the Appropriations Committee website. In order to be considered for byline funding from the Activity Fee, all organizations must:

1. Directly and primarily serve and benefit the entire graduate and professional student community at Cornell,
2. Allow all students equal access to services and/or participation,
3. Request a minimum of $0.50 per student per year.

Section 2.02

Organizations that have not received byline funding in the past, or have had their eligibility revoked by the GPSA, must in addition:

1. Register with the Student Activities Office,
2. Have a Cornell operating account with internally-controlled funds,
3. Have a Cornell-employed advisor with oversight of Cornell funds,
4. Help advertise and organize at least one informational forum regarding their request for GPSAF funding.
5. If an independent organization:
   1. Have petitions with signatures of 10% of the graduate and professional student community,
   2. Have received funding from GPSAFC for at least the 4 semesters preceding their application.
6. If a University organization:
   1. Have petitions with signatures of 10% of the graduate and professional student community.

Section 2.03

All organizations must cooperate in the application process outlined under Item IV of this document.

Section 2.04

The GPSA may also elect to provide byline funding for other programs and services, which are not registered organizations but whose purpose and operations are consistent with the criteria outlined above for byline funded organizations, with the approval of the President of the University.

1. Such programs or services need to demonstrate their appeal to graduate and professional students via petitions with signatures of at least 10% of graduate and professional student community, or
2. A 2/3 vote of the seated members can make an exception to this rule in the spring semester preceding the byline funding application process.

Item III. Petitioning Guidelines

Section 3.01 Petitions must be registered with the Office of the Assemblies before presenting to the public.

1. Petitions must state the name of the organization, the mission statement of the organization, and the initial monetary request it seeks when presented to the public.
2. Organizations seeking to receive byline funding will collect petition signatures during the four weeks preceding the initial application deadline, and the collected signatures shall be verified by the Office of Assemblies.

Item IV. Procedure

Section 4.01 Each organization seeking byline funding must submit an application by the deadline set forth by the Appropriations Committee.

1. With its application the organization must submit, unless prohibited by the University Confidentiality and Disclosure requirements:
   1. Dollar request per student per year,
   2. Mission Statement, Constitution, Charter, and Bylaws,
   3. Financial Information (5–10 pages),
      1. Statements for the past four fiscal years,
      2. Budget and spending to date for the current year,
      3. Budgets for the two years of the funding cycle applying for.
   4. Group Portrait (3 pages) including:
      1. Officers,
      2. Number of members,
      3. Number of students served,
      4. History,
      5. Activities, programming, and events in current academic cycle.

Section 4.02

If the group is a new group, the organization must, in addition, present evidence that the requirements of Article II Section 2.02 are met.

Section 4.03

The Appropriations Committee will review the organization’s application at one of its meetings.

1. All organizations meeting any of the following criteria will be required to present their request at an Appropriations Committee meeting, which will be scheduled at least one week in advance by the Chair:
   1. Any new organization requesting funding,
   2. Any organization requesting an increase in funding,
   3. Any organization whose application the Appropriations Committee feels needs further explanation,
   4. Any organization who wishes to present its case, at the discretion of the Appropriations Chair.
2. The time spent on any particular organization’s application or presentation may be restricted at the discretion of the Appropriations Committee Chair.

Section 4.04 Appropriations Committee Recommendation

1. When an organization’s application has been discussed in the Appropriations Committee, the Committee shall make a recommendation to the GPSA.
2. Recommendation to the GPSA should include:
   1. Recommendation on whether to allocate funding to an organization,
   2. Recommendation on the amount of funding.
3. Each organization’s allocation recommendation will be presented to the GPSA by the Appropriations Committee Chair on an individual basis no later than the fifth regular GPSA business meeting of the Fall semester in a fee-setting year.
4. Recommendations are passed by a simple majority approval of the present voting members.

Section 4.05 Recommendation Reconsideration

1. The GPSA may request the Appropriations Committee to reconsider its recommendation for an organization.
2. Should this occur, the organization will be informed by the Appropriations Committee Chair and given the opportunity to revise its request.

Section 4.06 Time Line

1. The Appropriations Committee shall present its initial recommendations no later than the fifth regular GPSA meeting of the fall semester.
2. The allocation process will be finished by the last day of classes of the Fall semester.
3. The applying organizations will be informed of the allocation they received prior to the start of the Spring Semester.

Section 4.07 Funding Obligations and Guidelines for Organizations

1. In the spring semester following the setting of the Activity Fee, the Appropriations Committee will make recommendations for guidelines and obligations regarding individual organizations that have been granted byline funding, in consultation with each organization and in line with the organization’s funding application.
2. Such obligations and guidelines shall be passed by the GPSA and appended to this document.
3. To prevent said appendix from being outdated, the Appropriations Committee shall, for each two year cycle, present a complete and coherent appendix as a resolution to the GPSA during the spring semester after the GPSAF is approved, to replace the previous appendix in its entirety.

Item V. Obligations

Section 5.01 The GPSA shall assist GPSAF recipients in adhering to the obligations and guidelines as follows:

1. The GPSA shall provide each organization, as well as the Dean of Students and the Dean of the Graduate School, a current copy of the obligations and guidelines and of the GPSA Charter each year.
2. Each organization shall be notified of any GPSA meeting in which legislation concerning or affecting GPSAF recipients is pending.

Section 5.02 Once funded by the GPSAF, organizations must abide by the rules outlined below.

1. Regarding events, for all events (concerts, lectures, films, etc.) funded by GPSAF allocations, and for which admission is charged,
   1. Cornell students shall receive a reasonable discount to reflect their prior contribution via the GPSAF.
   2. Cornell students shall be given the first opportunity to purchase tickets. At least the first day of ticket sales must be for Cornell students exclusively.
2. Regarding publicity, each organization shall include the following (or similar) statement on all fliers, posters, promotions, programs, and literature: “Funded in part by the Graduate and Professional Student Activity Fee.”
3. Regarding organizational structure
   1. Each organization shall regularly advertise its existence and encourage student participation in its meetings, which shall be open to the public.
   2. The GPSA shall have the option of appointing a graduate or professional student to serve as a non-voting liaison to each organization or, where appropriate, its Advisory Board or Steering Committee.
4. Regarding finances and reporting
   1. Each organization shall, every fall semester, present to the GPSA during a regular meeting an oral account of the use of its Activity Fee allocation for the previous academic year. In addition, the GPSA may request an organization to present (during a regular meeting) an oral account of its entire operations and/or a summary of its activities, including usage statistics and future programming plans.
   2. All organizations must notify the Appropriations Committee prior to any changes in the organizations/bylaws and/or constitution.
   3. For accounting and reporting purposes, the GPSAF monies shall be held in a separate university account.
   4. Organizations that own capital equipment are strongly encouraged to include depreciation in their full yearly budgets and must report balances in all depreciation in yearly financial statements. Capital equipment purchases must be reported in the financial statements of the year purchased.

Section 5.03 Regarding violations

1. Organizations which repeatedly violate these guidelines shall have their eligibility for funding investigated and the GPSA may levy penalties or sanctions to organizations that are found in violation of these guidelines. The GPSA expressly reserves the right to revoke Activity Fee funding.

Item VI. Ratification and Expiry

Upon adoption by the GPSA, this document shall be in effect as of June 1, 2012. It shall expire on May 31, 2014.

Item VII. Amendments

Section 7.01

This document may be amended pursuant to Article IX Section 9.04 of the GPSA Charter.

Section 7.02

All amendments must also be incorporated into the GPSA Byline Allocation Procedures, the GPSAFC Funding Guidelines, and the GPSA Charter.

Appendix A. Individual Organization Obligations for Funding

Section A.01

Furthermore, individual organizations shall adhere to the following additional Guidelines:

1. Cornell Concert Commission
   1. The Cornell Concert Commission should continue to offer discounted tickets for all ticketed events.
   2. The Concert Commission shall seek to produce two shows at Bailey Hall or similar venue, at a maximum of $50,000 each academic year.
   3. The Concert Commission shall seek to produce two shows at Barton Hall or similar venue, at a maximum of $35,000 each academic year.
   4. The Cornell Concert Commission shall seek to produce one free show every year on the Arts Quad.
   5. Each year, the Cornell Concert Commission shall co-sponsor a minimum of three on-campus music events with other Cornell University groups.
2. Cornell Cinema
   1. Cornell Cinema shall not increase student ticket prices without the express approval of the Student Assembly and the GPSA.
   2. Cornell Cinema shall, at every film showing, provide a suggestion box or similar medium for determining student preferences.
   3. Cornell Cinema shall maintain the range, quality and amount of programming it currently provides.
   4. Cornell Cinema shall allocate one seat on its advisory board to a representative appointed by the GPSA.
   5. Cornell Cinema shall collect information on how many graduate and professional students attend Cornell Cinema events and present this information to the GPSA.
3. Cornell University Program Board
   1. The Program Board shall fund at least one lecture per year with an honorarium of at least $10,000.
   2. The Program Board can subsidize expenses for no more than one elected or appointed public official per year, regardless of cost. At the speaker’s request, any honorarium paid may go to a charity.
   3. The Program Board shall have at least one event free of charge to all Cornell students.
   4. The Program Board shall offer students reduced ticket prices as well as the opportunity to purchase the best seats available at performance venues two full days before being sold to the general public.
   5. In order to alleviate the costs for other Cornell organizations, the Program Board shall designate at least 5% of the budget for co-sponsorships.
4. Emergency Medical Services
   1. Cornell EMS shall continue to provide exemplary emergency response and basic emergency care for the graduate and professional students of the Cornell community, using updated equipment and emergency response vehicles.
   2. Cornell EMS shall continue to offer and provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED) instruction, along with First Aid classes for training of EMS members and interested graduate and professional students.
   3. Cornell EMS shall continue to provide emergency response support for special events on the Cornell campus.
   4. Cornell EMS shall provide extensive training to all squad members consisting of basic emergency medical technicians (EMT-B), Critical Care Technicians (AEMT-CC), and Paramedics (AEMT-P).
5. Big Red Barn
   1. The Big Red Barn shall continue to provide TGIF, Summer TGIF, International Coffee Hour, Orientation events for incoming students, and the Year-End Barbecue. At its discretion, it shall also continue to provide weekly dance classes, periodic movie nights, and other such events and seasonal events as it sees fit.
   2. The Big Red Barn shall upgrade the program in the following respects:
      1. Offer one hot item at TGIF once a month,
      2. Add newspaper and magazine subscriptions,
      3. Increase the programming for each fellow to bring in more local artists/speakers/performers,
      4. Hold one special event each semester to enhance the programming as a whole.
6. Athletics
   1. The Department of Athletics and Physical Education shall provide graduate and professional students and their families free admission to all home athletic contests. This does not include men’s ice hockey, in which the graduate and professional students and their families are eligible to purchase tickets at a reduced price upon presenting proper Cornell identification.
   2. The Department of Athletics and Physical Education shall continue to provide access to the fitness centers and fitness opportunities (exercise classes, intramural sports, etc.) for the graduate and professional student community, providing the opportunity to engage in a healthy lifestyle and foster personal development.
   3. The Department of Athletics and Physical Education shall continue to provide a wide range of physical education courses for the graduate and professional student community. In addition to physical education courses, the department will provide opportunities for outdoor education through the Outdoor Education Program and related programs for the graduate and professional student community.
   4. The Department shall also allocate at least 200 Hockey season tickets to graduate and professional students. The distribution of these tickets shall not require graduate and professional students to wait more than four hours in the “Line”.
7. Slope Day Programming Board
   1. The Slope Day Programming Board shall allocate one seat on the Executive Committee to a graduate or professional student appointed by the GPSA.
   2. The Slope Day Programming Board shall support continued graduate and professional student representation on the Steering Committee.
   3. The Slope Day Programming Board shall collect information on how many and how long graduate and professional students attend Slope Day and present this information to the GPSA.
   4. The Slope Day Programming Board shall provide free admission to all graduate and professional students.

Byline Criteria Content