Budget request and allocation procedure
From lissa
Notes from LISSA student group budget meeting October 17, 2006 Presented by Lana Thelen (LISSA Treasurer) & Anne Reid
The meeting’s purpose was to inform student group leaders of proper procedures for dealing with budgets, spending and finances in their student groups each year. These procedures should be passed along within each student group, year to year.
[edit] General information
- The fiscal year runs from July 1-July 30th. All budgets should be planned to fall within these dates. All funds must be spent by June 30th of the fiscal year. Use it or lose it!
- At the beginning of the academic year (September), each student group should submit a budget proposal to the LISSA treasurer. The treasurer uses his or her discretion when dispersing funds to groups. Funds are dispersed based on past budget needs, levels of detail with plans for events/speakers and related costs, and numbers of students served (i.e. LISSA West will receive more funds than other single groups because they conduct all student events in Holyoke, vs. the many groups on the Simmons campus). Priority will go to groups who have fairly definite plans for use of their funds.
- There aren’t any strict categories for groups to use in presenting their budgets, but it was noted that the ASIST 2006-2007 budget was exemplary. Could we have a copy to refer to?
-Some examples of student group expense categories would be food for meetings and honorariums and related expenses (parking, travel, etc.) for guest speakers. -LISSA gets the most money because they fund the student graduation parties. Student groups should remember to prepare to be flexible on the amount of money they may receive, as there aren’t any guarantees.
- Current Simmons student groups are:
ALASC, ASIST, LISSA, LISSA West (Holyoke), LISSA, MSLA, PLG, SIR, SLA -Details about each group are available through the GSLIS Gateway, Resources & Student Organizations.
[edit] Procedures for student group spending
- All student groups have their own account number to use when charging expenses on campus (e.g. copies, pizza, etc.) A list of these numbers was distributed with the GSLIS Student Group Expense Form.
- Student groups should designate an officer who will receive the monthly spending report in his or her student folder: this report is dispersed two weeks after the end of the reported month (i.e. an October expense report will be delivered in mid-November).
- The GSLIS Student Group Expense Form should be signed & submitted to the LISSA treasurer by a student group officer for the following scenarios:
a) Report charges to the Student Group Account To charge to a student group account, use the account number as mentioned above. b) Request reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses To request reimbursement, the person paying for items should keep a receipt and attach it to the completed expense form before submitting it to the LISSA treasurer. c) Pay a third party directly. Indicate who the check should be made out to, and complete the form well in advance of date check is needed by.
There was a brief discussion of ways to save money on food expenses. Student groups could, but are not required to, use the campus food service to supply food for meetings and events. The advantages of doing so are that the food is delivered directly to the meeting, and it’s easy to order everything. The disadvantages are that their food can be significantly more expensive than an off-campus service, and sometimes there are mix-ups with where to send the food for a meeting.
- To save a little money, some groups use “University House of Pizza” ($30 less for pizza on average), and keep a stash of utensils, plates, and napkins in a locker at GSLIS. Groups can purchase larger jugs of soda or beverages to save money, versus getting single-serving beverages from the campus service, again a significantly more expensive endeavor.
- Lana pointed out that while officers will be reimbursed for most expenses, they will not be reimbursed for tax, or deposit costs for cans/bottles.
