Student Assembly Appropriations Committee

I. Preamble

The Student Assembly (the Assembly), through the delegated authority of the President and the Board of Trustees, is charged with the allocation of the Student Activity Fee (SAF). This fee is mandatory for all undergraduate students of the University and shall be used to fund participation in, and viewing of, activities and programs that benefit the Cornell community. The SAF shall be determined during the fall semester of every odd-numbered year, and be subject to the approval of the President of the University.

II. Definitions

The following terms, which appear frequently in this Appendix, shall be defined as follows:

Organization

a registered Independent or University organization that has authorization to receive funding.

SAFC

Student Assembly Finance Commission, a committee of the Student Assembly.

New applicant

an organization that did not receive funding in the previous two funding cycles.

Returning applicant

an organization that did receive funding in the previous two funding cycles.

Funding cycle

a two-year period of time spanning from the start of the third quarter of an even-numbered year to the end of the second quarter of the next even-numbered year (e.g. July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008).

Petition

document to collect signatures that includes the name of the organization, its mission statement, and monetary request. All petitions must be registered with and prepared by the Office of the Assemblies.

By-line funding

line item funding that comes directly from the SAF and not from an intermediary source, such as the SAFC.

Appropriations Committee

a committee of the Student Assembly as outlined in Bylaw 7.6.a.1.

III. Eligibility

To receive byline funding applicants must:

1. directly and primarily serve/benefit the entire undergraduate Cornell community
2. allow all students equal access to services and/or participation
3. request as part of their annual operating budget at least $0.50 per student, per year, from the SAF
4. if a new applicant, present a petition of fifteen hundred (1500) registered undergraduates to the Student Assembly

Except at the discretion of the Assembly and with approval of the President, organizations must also:

1. be a registered organization
2. be student-directed and student-led
3. possess a University operating account with internally controlled funds
4. have a Cornell-employed advisor with oversight of its account
5. be previously funded by either the SAFC, the Student Assembly, or a University department/unit for at least two semesters

IV. Procedure

1. Application
   1. The Office of the Assemblies shall make application materials available for all interested applicants by noon on the first business day in February of the academic year preceding the fee-setting year.
   2. By noon on April 25 or the first business day thereafter in the semester preceding a fee-setting year, each applicant must submit, using forms provided by the Office of the Assemblies, a preliminary application including:
      • name of applicant,
      • a preliminary request in dollars per student per year,
      • checklist statement regarding eligibility criteria,
      • current primary and secondary contacts for the organization including email and phone contact information, and,
      • if a new applicant, petitions bearing the signature of fifteen hundred (1500) undergraduate students registered in that semester.
   3. At least one week before the deadline for final application submission, the Vice President for Finance shall convene mandatory meetings for the Presidents, Treasurers, and Advisors of all applicants
      • the Vice President for Finance shall review each applicant’s application and approve the detail of each applicant’s financial statements.
      • applicants shall notify the Vice President for Finance if their final request will differ from their preliminary request.
   4. By noon on Friday of the third week in which classes are held in a fee setting year, each applicant must submit in print and digitally in a single file, using forms provided by the Office of the Assemblies, a final application including:
      • mission statement, of the organization or program, not to exceed one page,
      • written organization profile, not to exceed three pages, including:
        • officers,
        • number of members, and
        • description of activities, programming, and events conducted in the present cycle,
      • summary of request for funding, not to exceed two pages, including a final funding request, and describing how the applicant intends to use funding and summarizing any changes if the applicant is a returning applicant,
      • financial statements for the past two academic years, the current academic year, and financial projections for the two years during the funding cycle¹, and
      • an analysis of the current academic year’s financial statements showing hypothetical spending on each budget item in an organization’s financial statements if the organization received 10%, 25%, and 35% less funding than its current allocation².
   5. Applicants may submit materials in excess of specified numbers of pages only with written permission by the Vice President for Finance.
   6. The Office of the Assemblies will make received application materials available for public viewing online. Any pages containing confidential information must be explicitly stamped “confidential” and clearly identified to distinguish them from the publicly viewable portion of the application.
2. Preliminary Report by Appropriations Committee
   1. By the last day of classes in the academic year preceding a fee-setting year, the Vice President of Finance will report each request received and the total amount of requests received in dollars per student per year to the Assembly, the Vice President for Student and Academic Services, and the President of the University.
   2. Before the deadline for final applications, the Vice President for Finance will report to the Assembly on the eligibility of each applicant, identifying:
      • any new applicants that do not meet one or more eligibility criteria, and
      • any returning applicants that do not meet one or more eligibility criteria which the Assembly may not waive.
   3. The Assembly may waive those eligibility requirements it is empowered to waive on a per organization basis for any organization for the remainder of the semester. Such organizations may then proceed through the appropriation process, provided they meet all other eligibility criteria not waived by the Assembly.
3. Appropriation Process
   1. Within one week after the deadline for final applications, the Appropriations Committee (the committee) shall convene to review applications.
   2. For each applicant deemed to be eligible or for which eligibility criteria are waived by the Assembly, the committee will:
      1. arrange a hearing where the applicant may address questions of the committee,
      2. decide whether to fund the applicant in any amount, and,
      3. if it decides to fund the applicant, adopt an allocation in dollars per student per year of no less than fifty cents and no more than the request submitted by the applicant.
   3. At each meeting of the Assembly immediately preceding such a meeting of the committee, the Vice President of Finance will report the date, time, and location of the meetings as well as the names of applicants the committee intends to review.
   4. At each meeting of the Assembly immediately following such a meeting of the committee, the Vice President of Finance will introduce a written report, including:
      • name of applicant,
      • amount requested by applicant,
      • amount of allocation recommended by committee,
      • rationale explaining committee’s recommendation, and
      • a brief response from the applicant, including any request to appeal to the Assembly. The Vice President of Finance may set a deadline for the applicant to submit a response, provided the deadline is no less than one business day after the applicant receives notice of the committee’s decision.
   5. The Vice President of Finance must inform each applicant of the time and location of any meeting where the report is to be presented or reviewed and must advise each applicant to send a representative who may answer questions of assembly members.
   6. If an applicant chooses to appeal the committee’s recommendation, the Assembly will reconsider the recommendation of the committee. The Vice President of Finance will provide several copies of complete application materials at any meeting where the assembly considers appeals.
   7. The Vice President of Finance will also file minutes of the committee’s meetings with the Office of the Assemblies.
   8. The committee will submit its final recommendation, including individual allocations, to the Assembly in the form of a legislative at least two weeks before the end of the fall semester.
4. Student Assembly Appropriation Process
   1. The Assembly shall not adopt the recommendation of the Appropriations Committee at the same meeting that it is proposed.
   2. The Assembly shall provide notice to all applicants at least one full day in advance at any meeting where legislation related to its funding is discussed.
   3. The President of the Assembly will transmit its recommendation to the President for consideration by the last day of classes of the fall semester, including:
      • the total amount of SAF recommendation,
      • the allocations of each by-line funded organization, and
      • a short description of each organization.

V. Specifications

1. Members of the Assembly or the Appropriations Committee must disclose to the Vice President of Finance any personal affiliations with applicants and must recuse themselves from any business related to such applicants to prevent conflicts of interest.
2. Members of the Assembly and of the Appropriations Committee must sign a confidentiality statement and submit it to the Office of the Assemblies before they are seated in the fall semester of a fee-setting year.

VI. “Check-off” or “Pay-extra” Options

Neither a check-off option nor an option to pay an amount in addition to the established SAF for specific programs or services will be allowed for purposes of exempting a student from paying the full amount of the SAF. Exceptions may be considered if recommended and approved by the Student Assembly and approved by the President of the University.

VII. Voting

All decisions of the Student Assembly regarding the SAF during the SAF allocation process shall be of members present. Proxy votes shall not be permitted on any votes pertaining to the SAF.

VIII. Freedom of Information

Unless otherwise noted, all documents regarding the SAF shall be considered public and shall be available to members of the Cornell community for review within 24 hours of their request. All deliberations regarding allocations and authorization shall be conducted in open session unless otherwise required by university policy or law.

If a closed session is necessary to review or discuss confidential materials, discussion in such session must be limited only to those materials and no vote may be taken regarding the disposition of the request itself. Confidential materials may be disclosed publicly only at the discretion of authorized university personnel.

IX. Conference with GPSA

If a disparity arises in funding levels between the GPSA and SA of an organization that is funded by both, the financial officers of each body will meet to discuss the discrepancy and recommend action to their respective bodies.

X. Default

If the Assembly does not adopt a recommendation in the fall semester of a fee setting year, its recommendation shall be presumed to be that all individual by-lines revert to the same level as in the current funding cycle with the following exception:

1. Should an applicant’s newly approved allocation be less than that of the current cycle, the applicant shall receive the lower allocation.

XI. Amendment

Appendix A may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Student Assembly. In order to ensure consistency and fairness to the applicants and student body at-large, no amendments to this appendix may be adopted during the fall semester of a fee-setting year.

XII. Review

The SA and the GPSA and a representative of the President of the University shall review these guidelines and the procedures established in accordance therewith at least every four years in a non-fee-setting year (e.g. 2006–2007, 2010–2011). This review shall be conducted with strict adherence to the guidelines set forth by the Board of Trustees in Attachment A: Criteria for Setting and Allocating the Student Activity Fee (03/01/99).

Attachment A: Criteria for Setting and Allocating the Student Activity Fee

Cornell University
March 1, 1999

Pursuant to a letter dated March 1, 1999, the President of the University has delegated responsibility for the setting and allocation of the Student Activity Fee to the Student Assembly (SA) and the Graduate & Professional Student Assembly (GPSA) within the following guidelines:

1. The SA and the GPSA shall each amend their respective charters to include the criteria for the setting and allocation of the Student Activity Fee, including the guidelines set forth herein and which criteria shall be reviewed by and meet the approval of the President of the University.
2. The Student Activity Fee for undergraduate students and for graduate and professional students shall be set every two years for a period of two years by the SA and the GPSA, respectively.
3. The amount of the Student Activity Fee shall be determined by the last day of classes in the fall semester of the fee-setting year by the SA and the GPSA, after substantive input and active participation in the fee-setting process by their constituencies. In the event the SA or the GPSA is unable to meet this deadline, the applicable Student Activity Fee will default to the amount and allocation currently in effect during the fee-setting year.
4. In general, in order to be considered for funding from the monies collected through the Student Activity Fee, an organization must meet the following criteria:
   1. Register as a student or university organization with the Student Activities Office
   2. Allow students equal access to the services being provided by the organization or participation in the organization’s activities
   3. Operate primarily for students by students with funds disbursed through a university operating account
   4. Have an advisor to assist with oversight of the university operating account.
5. Funding from the monies collected through the Student Activities Fee may be provided directly to an organization, which applies for and receives “by-line” funding status, outside of the established Student Assembly Finance Commission or Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Finance Commission processes. In addition to the general criteria set out above, an organization wishing to receive by-line funding must demonstrate:
   1. Its activities are of direct and primary benefit to the entire Cornell community represented by the respective assembly; and
   2. It has a demonstrated budgetary need equivalent to at least 50 cents per student per year.
6. The SA and the GPSA may also elect to provide by-line funding for other programs and services, which are not registered organizations (e.g., Students Helping Students, club insurance) but whose organizational structure and programs and services are consistent with the criteria outlined above for by-line funded organizations. Such funding would require the approval of the respective assembly and the President of the University.
7. The SA and the GPSA will ensure that an appropriate balance is maintained between funds allocated to by-line funded organizations and the Student Assembly Finance Commission or Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Finance Commission, respectively. The SA and GPSA shall allocate no less than 35% of their respective Student Activity Fees to the applicable Finance Commission for disbursement among non-by-line funded organizations.
8. Neither a check-off option nor an option to pay an amount in addition to the established Student Activity Fee for specific programs or services will be allowed for purposes of exempting a student from paying the full amount of the Student Activity Fee, due to the funding instability inherent in administering such a system. Exceptions may be considered if recommended and approved by the respective assembly and approved by the President of the University.
9. These guidelines and the procedures established in accordance therewith shall be reviewed by the SA and the GPSA and a representative of the President of the University at least every four years in a non-fee-setting year.

Appendix A