Governing Guidelines for the SGA Finance Committee

Governing Guidelines for the SGA Finance Committee Standards of Application Please read these guidelines carefully. Failure to follow the guidelines and failure to complete budget paperwork properly will result in the immediate rejection of your budget request. Disclaimer Policy Changes ● All changes will be announced by an email from the Executive Treasurer of the SGA after the meeting at which the change was made. ● Upon approval of new funding guidelines, the Student Government Association Finance Committee (Now SGA-FC) will begin funding under the newly approved guidelines starting from April 2024 to April 2025 ● The guidelines are subject to change according to university policies. SGA-FC Discretion and Conditional Funding ● While the SGA-FC Guidelines describe the proper procedure for student group funding, the SGA-FC reserves the discretion to approve, deny, or table each budget and proposal on a case-by-case basis. ● The SGA-FC. may also attach conditions and requirements to any approved budget or proposal at its discretion. ● If the SGA-FC.’s account becomes depleted, SGA-FC must deny all funding requests. ● If the SGA-FC operations account has a negative balance, the Student Government Association Senate must conduct a full audit of SGA-FC. SGA-FC Transparency ● The SGA-FC will disclose guidelines set for themselves during the funding process to show how they approached the allocation and provide specific justification notes. Semesterly Budget Allocation ● Any undergraduate student group deemed eligible to receive a semesterly allocation by the Student Government Association may apply during either allocation period, which occurs toward the end of each semester. In addition to being appropriately verified, groups must maintain proper registration through the Campus Groups platform to qualify for funding availability. ● When requesting a semesterly grant, groups will apply for funding in the semester before the allocation period. An example would be the Spring allocation request, which should have been submitted in the Fall semester prior, and the Fall allocation request, which should have been submitted in the Spring semester prior. ● Funding required for the Intersession semester must be applied for within the semester allocation for the Fall semester. ● All necessary deadlines are subject to change from year to year and shall be made publicly available to facilitate timely applications. The SGA Finance Committee (Herein SGA-FC shall post all the required deadlines on the corresponding SGA-FC website. Additionally, the SGA-FC shall communicate with verified groups through a designated primary contact from the student group to further facilitate funding applications. ● Necessary forms for processing semesterly budget allocation requests can be found on the SGA-FC and LEED websites. Additionally, the budget form will be available on the Hopkins Group website. ● The SGA-FC is not responsible for requesting allocations or any necessary supplementary materials from groups; it is the primary contact's responsibility to submit completed materials for review. ● Semesterly budgets must be submitted using the Hopkins Groups and with the following naming convention: groupname_semester.xlsx(i.e., ArtClub_Spring2024.xlsx). Documents submitted in this manner must be completed in their entirety and in the latest format, or the SGA-FC will not review them. In the case of inconsistent dollar values across the submission, the SGA-FC will always begin considering the lowest dollar value. This is exclusive of cost summations; in the case of inconsistent total costs across the main pages of a submission, the submission will be discarded unless the SGA-FC requests updated information from a group; the SGA-FC will only accept submissions on time. Expectations SGA receives a grant each semester to fund over 150 student groups. Events that foster collaboration, communication, and community building among the entire student body, not just group members, are given special consideration. Event Funding Applications ● Groups may apply for event funding through the Johns Hopkins University Student Government Association page on Hopkins Groups. To receive SGA-FC funding, all events must be open to the general campus community. ● Requests will be submitted via the Excel sheet provided on Hopkins Groups with the format “groupname_semester_eventname.xlsx” (e.g., ArtClub_Fall2023_BobRossPaintingEvent.xlsx). ● If the submission is approved, the money will be disseminated to the requesting group approximately two weeks from Tuesday, so please consider this time frame when making submissions. ● The SGA-FC reserves the right to contact the requesting group for reasons including but not limited to whether the grant submission needs to be more specific or include information. ● The SGA-FC reserves the right to allocate an amount less than requested. ● The SGA-FC reserves the right to deny funding to groups with prior histories of misappropriating funds. Fundraising ● Beginning with the Fall 2024 allocation, clubs must also outline their plans to raise their funds via Hopkins Groups. ● Progress with fundraising is subject to monitoring by the student organizations' respective finance liaisons. ● Execution of fundraising plans will be considered in evaluating future allocations beginning in Spring 2025. Finance Committee Meetings Procedures ● Grants are considered every Tuesday (Subject to change) during SGA-FC meetings on a rolling basis, and decisions are released biweekly, if not sooner. It will take one to two weeks from each meeting to disseminate money to the requesting group. ● The SGA-FC will not fund refunds or reparations for misspent funds on a requesting group’s behalf. All funding derived from the SGA-FC is allocated with the expectation that requesting groups use said funding for the submitted purpose. ● The SGA-FC will hold weekly meetings to review allocation requests. At such meetings, the SGA-FC will allow up to four groups to present a 4-minute pitch with a 2-minute Q&A period with information regarding their requests. This process operates on a first-come, first-serve basis. Groups must submit an email request to the Executive Treasurer and Finance Chair. The SGA-FC may also request groups to present if deemed necessary. ○ Time constraints can be extended at the discretion of the executive Treasurer and Finance Chair. Group Funds ● All clubs are subject to an audit anytime during the year if they request funding. ● If groups have at least $750 in group funds and don’t provide an explanation as to how the funds will be used, the SGA-FC has the right to deny any funding for the RSO, either in semester allocations or event grant requests. ● Clubs with over $1500 in group funds request any funding and must send a breakdown of how they plan to use them. Otherwise, all requests will be subject to immediate rejection. Communication ● The SGA-FC will be available for communication via email via each student organization’s respective Finance Committee Liaison, which the committee will announce with Fall Allocation decisions at the beginning of the fall semester, ● For more urgent matters, Student Body Treasurer Brandon Benjamin (bbenja11@jh.edu) and Finance Chair Oluwakemi Abiodun–oabiodu8@jh.edu) can serve as additional points of contact. New Groups ● New student groups, including any group formed during the current academic year, are not eligible for SGA-FC semesterly funding until the conclusion of two full academic semesters following approval by the Committee on Student Organizations (C.S.O.). ● However, these groups remain eligible for all other funding avenues, including campus event grants and incentive programs. ● New student groups are eligible for event funding applications beginning in the calendar month following their approval by the general Student Government Association body. ● New student groups are eligible for a one-time startup fund of $100.00, payable through a request sent directly to the Executive Treasurer. Formals and private events ● The SGA-FC will not fund private events restricted to only club members. ● All SGA-FC-funded activities must be open to the campus community and demonstrate a positive impact on it. ● The SGA-FC will only fund giveaway items if all student body members are eligible to receive them and the giveaway is publicly promoted via social media or print. Debts ● If an RSO has a negative balance, as indicated on CampusGroups, they will be ineligible for an allocation. ● Suppose an RSO goes into a deficit, ie. If they have a negative balance on CampusGroups, they will be ineligible to receive semesterly/monthly allocations for at least one semester. ● If an RSO wants to appeal its ineligibility, it can set up a meeting with the Executive Treasurer and provide a thorough plan for resolving the deficit. ● Whether the appeal is approved is based on the discretion of the Executive Treasurer and the Committee on Finance. Annual Allocation Maximums Budget Caps Each request shall be subject to an annual cap, defined as the maximum amount of money a group can receive per category of good/service in a given academic year. This cap includes allocations from both semesters, meaning that groups should be mindful of previous requests whenever additional requests are submitted. If a request exceeds the cap amount, the amount considered will automatically be reduced to the remaining cap (though this will not necessarily be the final amount allocated). ● Caps can be raised for an organization if a Senator or SGA-FC member appeals to the Executive Treasurer and the SGA Senate agrees upon them by a majority vote. ● NOTE: The caps are the maximum; getting funded up to the cap amount does not guarantee success. ● Budget caps do not roll over from semester to semester. Budgets get recalled after every semester. Budget caps fall into the following categories: Independent Contractor Annual Cap: $3000.00 Categorization: Any funds appropriated for contracted acts or services, such as speakers or performers, must be paid via a federal identification number. Eligibility Notes: ● Funding applications must include documentation attesting to the contractor's rate (per hour, per session, etc.) to be approved. ● Religious figures can be paid under this cap but cannot perform a religious function. ● Johns Hopkins University (herein J.H.U.) employees may not be paid under this category. ● Individual students may be paid under this category, provided the service said student offers is at the lowest possible cost as reasonably determined by the requesting group. ● Individual students may not be paid under this category if they are a group member requesting funds. ● For events with expected attendance >50 people, as determined at the discretion of SGA-FC., additional funding may be granted for independent contractors as determined when escalated to the Senate. If you expect this provision to apply to your group, please clearly state this in your funding request. JHU Professional Services Annual Budget Cap: $3000 Definition: Funds used for university services, such as security, audio/visual, plant operations, and university rentals (excluding Zipcars), where: o The service is provided through JHU o The student group is being charged for the service Eligibility Notes: ● The SGA-FC will not fund pay to individual Hopkins employees Non-Reusable, Non-Price Items Annual Cap: $1000.00 Categorization: Any funds appropriated for single-use goods, including but not limited to paper goods, royalties, name tags, etc. Eligibility Notes: ● Merchandise cannot be funded under this category. ● A cap of $100 exists for all non-royalty requests in this category. ● Clothing cannot be funded under this category, provided that clothing is group-exclusive and does not serve a functional purpose. ● Strictly religious items, but the SGA-FC cannot be funded under this category and attempt to provide contact information for appropriate alternatives. Non-Reusable, Prize Items Annual Cap: $500.00 Categorization: Any funds appropriated for goods distributed as prizes Eligibility Notes: ● Promotional items can only be funded under this category if they are open for distribution to the broader undergraduate J.H.U. Community. ● Any requests for promotional items must be accompanied by a visual representation, such as a link to be reviewed by the SGA-FC. SGA-FC reserves the right to deny funding for the promotional item deemed to be merchandise “merch” based on the visual representation. Reusable Items, Supplies, and Equipment Annual Cap: $1500.00 Categorization: Any funds appropriated for goods the purchaser maintains for multiple uses. ● Costumes can be funded under this category – if not funded in the previous year – but cannot include personalized clothing. Costumes must strictly have a performance-related purpose. ● Equipment must have documentation attesting to the type and price of materials. ● Any logos must follow all standard documentation and submission requirements. ● Strictly religious items cannot be funded under this category, but the SGA-FC will attempt to provide contact information for appropriate alternatives. Storage Requirements: ● Any funding request which includes the purchase of a reusable item must consist of both of the following: ● An on-campus location has been allotted for its storage. ● The name, JHED ID, and signature of the treasurer who accepts responsibility for the item and will maintain the item in their possession. ● Groups may be audited to confirm the on-campus location. Food Annual Cap: $1500.00 Categorization: Any funds appropriated for food. Eligibility Notes: ● Food cannot be funded for regular meetings such as GBMs; it must be a special event. ● There exists an $8 sub-cap per expected attendee, but is increased to $12 for religious dietary restrictions and purchases from green caterers(Halal, Kosher, etc.) ● Food must be integral to the event; it cannot simply be a peripheral commodity. ● Food may only be provided to J.H.U affiliates. ● Requests for food funds must be accompanied by a description of the role the food would play in the event. Registration Fees Annual Cap: $1500.00, max per person: $50, Categorization: Any funds appropriated for registration fees for performances, presentations, conferences, etc. Eligibility Notes: ● Registration fees should be requested after qualification/attendance at an event is confirmed unless fees are needed in a time-sensitive manner. ● For conference attendance, a list of attending members should be submitted prior to registration. The SGA-FC will pay for only one conference attendance per unique person. This provision does not apply to competitions, although more inclusive proposals will be considered more fondly. ● Competition groups may need to exceed this cap, which follows the procedure detailed earlier in this document. ● If fees are requested before confirmation, the Executive Treasurer reserves the right to withdraw funds. Travel Annual Cap: $1600, max $200 per person Categorization: Any funds appropriated for transportation, lodging, and costs associated with leaving the J.H.U. Campus. Eligibility Notes: ● Funding will only be provided for essential travel within the continental United States. ● For competition attendance, please provide documentation of the minimum number of members required to compete. Additionally, please specify the number of events your organization must participate in to qualify to be ranked. ● The per-person cost will be calculated by dividing the total travel cost by all members traveling, not just those the SGA-FC is funding. As such, additional support exceeding $200 may be given to some members if support is less than $200 to others. ● The SGA-FC will only pay for travel for members eligible for allocations for their registration fees. Only these members are eligible for inclusion in the calculation detailed above for the per-person travel rate. ● Competition groups may need to exceed this cap, which follows the procedure detailed earlier in this document. ● 25% of requested travel funds off campus are expected to be funded via fundraising or group funds. ● Provide documentation and cost breakdown of travel and lodging. ● Exact ticket costs and lodging costs with proof ● The SGA-FC. will NOT fund travel under the following conditions: ○ Travel by car (personal or rental) over 300 miles round trip. See the J.H.U. Risk Management Policy for details. ○ Travel to private events. ○ Repairs for damages incurred during travel. Interscholastic Competition Groups ● Interscholastic competition groups are eligible for special consideration for travel and registration fees. ● Please provide the minimum number of members recommended to compete effectively. We will review this case-by-case and fund lodging and travel for the amount plus two additional members. ● Please also provide the information below: ○ How many events must your organization participate in to qualify to be ranked? ○ What is the travel and lodging cost breakdown (with documentation)? ○ How competing in this competition will benefit the Hopkins Community? Printing/Advertising Annual Cap: $3000 Categorization: Any funds appropriated to advertise and print publications for groups. ● In this category, a semester sub-cap of $100.00 exists for flyers and $1500 for publications or news-bound prints. Applications for funding must include the number of copies and the price per copy for all print materials. ● The SGA-FC does not fund subscriptions for websites. Pricing Information Electricity: If your event requires access to outdoor electrical outlets or has special electrical needs, you must hire an electrician to help with your event. Please work with Scheduling and Event Services to reserve an electrician: Hourly Rates: Monday thru Friday, 7:30 AM – 4 PM: $48.05/hour Weekends, before 7:30 AM or after 4 PM: $72.10/hour (4-hour minimum) Grounds: If your event requires a unique outdoor setup, litter control, coat racks, hangers, or installation of temporary fencing or grilling, you must hire Grounds to help with your event. Please work with Scheduling and event services to reserve groundskeepers: Hourly Rate: Monday through Friday, 6:30 AM – 3 PM: $43.65/hour Weekends, before 6:30 AM or after 3 PM: $65.45/hour (4-hour minimum) Custodial: If your event needs additional custodial coverage outside of their regular rounds, in areas such as restrooms, or for trash removal, it may be recommended to request additional custodial services. This is usually only for all-day events or events except for high attendance. Scheduling and Event Services can help you determine if further support is needed for your event. Additional setup fees are associated with having any rented tables, chairs, etc., set up both inside and outside. Your group will be charged if they rearrange the furniture in a room and do not return it to its original setup. Hourly Rate: Monday thru Friday, 6:30 a.m.–3 p.m.: $34.75/hour Weekends, before 6:30 a.m. or after 3 p.m.: $52.10/hour (4-hour minimum) Security: JHU’s preferred security vendor is SAFE Management. When you register for your event on Hopkins Groups, Student Leadership and Involvement staff will determine if your event needs security personnel to staff it. Please be advised that SAFE charges a 4-hour minimum and requires at least one supervisor to be on staff. Hourly rates Manager: $24.90/hour Supervisor: $22.40/hour Event staff: $19.65/hour Lodging: JHU’s preferred lodging vendor is the Inn at the Colonnade. Please fill out the travel request form and work with the budget specialist in SLI to reserve rooms. Typical prices are around $189/night. Film Rights: Movie rights from Swank.com range from $371 to $871, depending on the year the movie was released. Obtaining film rights is MANDATORY to show a film on campus. Streaming movies from movie/TV subscription services such as Netflix or Hulu in any public space on campus is illegal. Please refer to the Undergraduate Organization Policies & Procedures for more information. Waste Bin Delivery Costs: If trash is produced during your event, you must order additional waste bins from Recycling Services. Please work with Scheduling and Event Services to determine if additional bins are needed and to place your order. Depending on your needs and the type of trash produced, Recycling Services can provide trash, recycling, and compost bins. If you are committed to a zero-waste event (compost and recycling only), waste bins will be free. The request must be placed at least four business days before your event. You will be charged for last-minute requests for zero-waste events. Hourly rates Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.: $34.75/hour Weekends, before 8:30 a.m. or after 5 p.m.: $52.10/hour (4-hour minimum). Hourly charges for waste delivery and collection will be charged as follows: 1-100 people = 1 hour 101-200 people = 2 hours 201-300 people = 3 hours 301+ people = 4 hour Van Program: All registered student organizations are eligible to rent Hop Vans. Please consult the Van Program website for more details. There is a charge of $15.00 per rental day plus $0.65 per mile. Usage is billed at $0.65/mile but includes fuel. This is subject to change based on current fuel prices. Event Hours: Staffing and services will not be available earlier than the times listed below. You should plan to start your event a minimum of 30 minutes after the event hours start so that staffing and support are in place. For every additional hour before building hours you require services, you will be charged $75 an hour. Charles Commons, AMR, Wolman, McCoy 8:00 am-10:00 pm Monday- Friday 10:00 am-10:00 pm Saturday and Sunday Levering, Shriver, Mason, Mattin: 8:00 am-10:00 pm Monday- Friday 10:00 am-10:00 pm Saturday and Sunday Copies: Student Leadership and Involvement has a printing station that student organizations can use for their printing needs. All copy jobs should be for student group purposes. Anyone using the SLI copier will need their group’s budget number, which groups can find on Hopkins Group. Table and Chair rentals: Some buildings on campus are already equipped with tables and chairs (see Building Information below). If you are hosting an event in a space that does not have tables and chairs, you can work with Scheduling and Event Services to place rental orders: $85 delivery and pickup charge $8.75 per 8-foot table $1.35 per chair Please note that no outdoor spaces are equipped with tables and chairs, and if your event requires them, they will need to be rented. Parking: Visitor parking permits for the South Garage can be obtained through Parking Services. Parking permits are $12 each when purchasing a minimum of ten permits. Service vehicle permits are $15 each. Unused passes may not be returned. South Garage and San Martin Garage parking passes can be obtained through Scheduling and Event Services. A/V Rentals: Scheduling and Event Services will help you coordinate A/V rentals and services as necessary. Some buildings on campus are already equipped with A/V equipment and may only require set-up. If your event location does not have A/V already installed, you must work with Scheduling and Event Services to rent A/V equipment from Kit-Cats. Below is a list of commonly requested items and their rental rates: Labor (set-up): $50.00/hour Labor (After hours and weekends, 4-hour minimum): $50/hour (minimum $200)