Handbook

A. SGC Mission Statement

The Student Governance Council (SGC) is the representative body for the Ithaca College student community. SGC works with the student community to implement change on campus and improve student life. Additionally, SGC is the link between the students and the Senior Leadership Team providing student feedback on campus issues and plans.

B. The Appropriations Committee Mission Statement

The mission of the Appropriations Committee is to equitably and transparently allocate financial resources to student organizations. The committee strives to create a vibrant on-campus community and to provide students with a pre-professional experience to encourage their individual and professional development. 

A. Meetings to Attend

Appropriations Committee Meeting: The Meeting, in which student organizations who have submitted budget requests, present their budgets to the Appropriations Committee. 

B. The Verdict of a Budget

Approved: The Appropriations Committee voted to approve your organization's budget. The approved amount of funds with be allocated to your organization. If there are any stipulations with the amount funded, they will be included in the notification email from the VP of Business and Finance. 

Denied: The Appropriations Committee voted to deny your organization's budget. There will be no money allocated for your organization's submitted budget. The reason for denial will be included in the budget notification email from the VP of Business and Finance. 

Tabled: The Appropriations Committee voted to table your organization's budget. There will be no money allocated for your organization's budget. The reason will be included in the budget notification email from the VP of Business and Finance. The organization may re-submit the budget after it has been tabled, if it is adjusted according to the outline of the Appropriations Committee.

C. IC Engage

Unapproved: This is the default status when a budget is submitted on IC Engage. Once the Appropriations Committee votes on the budget, this status will change.

Canceled: This status either signals that the Appropriations Committee voted to table the budget with instructions on what needs to be changed before submitting it again, or when the VP of Business and Finance reviews your budget, finds issue with it, and sends it back. 

Denied: This status means that the Appropriations Committee voted to deny your budget and no money will be allocated for this budget.  

Completed: This status means that the Appropriations Committee voted to approve your budget and will allocate money for this budget. 

A. Expectations between student organizations, the Vice President of Business and Finance, and the Appropriations Committee

A. What is expected from the VP of Business and Finance

a. Communication

1. Email: Response within 48 business hours.
2. Office Hours: Student organizations can meet one on one with the VP of Business and Finance upon request. 
3. The VP of Business and Finanace will send out one email per semester to all club officers. This email will update students on the remaining funding of the committee and the start and end dates of the committee. 

b. Support

1. The Allocation Process will be as transparent and fair as possible. 
2. They will provide personal assistance to help clubs be able to have a successful year.
3. The committee will provide an anonymous platform for feedback from clubs on how policies in the handbook can be amended to better support student organizations and the IC community.

B. Expectations of the Appropriations Committee

a. Attendance

1. It is extremely important to go to every week's meeting because the committee must meet quorum to vote on budgets. The Appropriations Committee follows the same attendance rules as the SGC general body as laid out in the SGC constitution. 
2. If something comes up, please email the VP of Business and Finance ahead of time. 
3. If the committee is unable to make quorum during a meeting, e-board members may step in and will be considered Ad-Hoc members and will have voting powers until enough voting members have been procured. 

b. Participation

1. You are expected to review the submitted budgets prior to each Wednesday night's meeting. 
2. Your camera should stay on throughout the Appropriations Committee meeting. 
3. Ask the organizations critical questions to get a better understanding of how their request for funding relates to their mission. 

c. Additional Support:

1. In addition to the VP'soffice hours, the committee may be expected to provide additional support to student organizations.

C. Expectations of Student Organizations

a. Communication

1. Read all communications from the VP of Business and Finance. 
2. Email the Vp of Business and Finance if there are any questions.
3. Meet one on one with the VP of Business and Finance to get additional help. Email them for a time to meet. 

b. Education

1. Read the Allocations Handbook to fully understand the funding process.

c. Management

1. Treasurers are expected to be the officer presenting at the appropriations meeting. If the treasurer is unable to present another of the clubs four official officers should go in their place. Email the VP of Business and Finance with the name of the officer who will be presenting in the treasurers place. 
2. All student organization treasurers are responsible for monitoring their organization's finances. The treasure should be the member submitting and presenting the budget. If another member submits a budget request on behalf of your organization, you must communicate with each other about this transaction. 
3. You are not allowed to spend the allocated money on item/events that was not originally allocated for. 
4. Newly recognized organizations or first-time fund requesters have a maximum total allocations of 1% of the total budget. 

A. Checklist: What to do before completing and submitting a budget request 

• Must be an OSE recognized student organization
• Review the Allocations Handbook
• Download the budget template from the SGC's IC Engage Portal of the SGC Website
• Meet with the VP of Business and Finance (Optional)
• Review the suggested price list located on the budget template (Optional)
• Gather all your supporting documentation

B. How to Complete a Budget Request

a. Download the most recent budget template

b. Follow the directions on the first sheet of the template 

c. Rename the buget request with the organization's name (or acronym) and the type of budget. 

i. Example: "SGC Fall Operational 2024"

ii. Example: "SGC Kick-Off Event 2020) 

iii. Example: "SGC Boston Conference November 2022"

d. Once done, you can submit the budget. 

C. How to Submit a Budget Request

a. After completing the budget request, go to your organization's IC Engage portal.

b. Click on "Manage Organization" in the top right of the organization's portal.

c. Click the three horizontal lines located on the left side of the top bar of the organization's portal.

d. Click "Finance".

e. This is the organization's finance page. Click "Create Funding Request".

i. You can also find the finance page by clicking on the circular icon on your organization on the bottom left

ii. Click "finance there"

f. Complete the form with the appropriate information 

g. Upload the completed budget request 

h. Read the instructions for "After Submitting a Budget"

i. Click "Submit Request".

D. How to Submit Supporting Documentation

a. It is required to submit supporting documentation with budget requests because it is a justification for the money that is being requested.

b. Supporting documentation is required for every single item that is requested funding for.

c. Supporting documentation is attached to the Budget Request template on the 3rd tab of the Excel spreadsheet.

d.Examples of items that need documentation:

• Catering from Wegmans: A screenshot of the Wegmans online catering menu.
• Contract for a speaker: A digital copy of the invoice or contract with the speaker.
• Streamers from Party City: A screenshot of an online cart with the supplies itemized out.

E. The Allocations Process

1. Complete the Budget Request
2. Submit the Budget Request on IC Engage
3. The organization member who submitted the budget will receive an invitation to the Appropriations Meeting via email the Tuesday before the meeting on Wednesday. 
4. Allocation notifications will be emailed to the organization member by Friday 10am.
   1. This notification will be one of the three verdicts: Approved, Denied, or Tabled. 

F. Important Dates and Times for the Appropriations Committee

a. Appropriations Committee Meetings are held every Wednesday on Zoom. They will start hearing budgets at 7:00pm.

b. The SGC Appropriations Committee will not her any budgets after the deliberation process has started, unless previously talked about with the VP of Business and Finance.

c. The SGC Appropriations Committee will not meet to review and vote on budges on the following days: the Wednesday before Fall Break, the week during Spring Break, and during any finals week.

G. The Allocations Process Timeline

Student organizations can submit budget requests at any time

A. The Allocations Process

a. It is up to the discretion of the VP of Business and Finance when the Allocation Process opens each academic year.

i. There are many factors that are weighed into the opening date of the Allocation Process, including when the Senate starts meeting and recruitment of members, etc. 

ii. Historically, the first Appropriations Committee Meeting of the Fall Semester is the first Wednesday in October. 

b. The committee will meet one a week. The time of the meeting may change throughout the semester by majority vote of the committee.

B. During Block I a student organization can request funds for:

A. Block I + II

i. Programming 

ii. Fundraising 

iii. Operational 

C. During Block II a student organization can request funds for:

A. Fall and Spring Semesters

i. Programming 

ii. Fundraising 

iii. Operational 

D. During Block Ill your organization can request funds for:

A. Spring Semester 

i. Programming

ii. Fundraising 

iii. Operational 

E. During Block IV your organization can request funds for:

A. Spring Semester and Block I 

i. Programming 

ii. Fundraising 

ii. Operational 

There are three different types of budgets student organizations can request funding. There are basic rules for all budgets and each of these types of budgets has its own criteria and rules that need to be followed when requesting funding for them. The three different budget types are: Operational, Programming, Fundraising.

A. Rules & Policies that apply to all budget requests

a. General rules and policies:

1. The amount that any single organization is able to request in total during the course of an academic year is limited to 10% of the overall SGC budget.
2. SGC will not fund any retroactive purchases. All items requested on the budget must not have been previously purchased.
3. Everything requested on the budget must have supporting documentation to provide the justification for the cost.This must be current, and not used from previous years or requests.
4. New organizations may receive a maximum total allocation of $1,000 of their first active semester requesting funds from SC. This allows the organization to demonstrate financial responsibility to SGC for future funding requests.
5. All posters funded by SGC must include the SGC logo to prove sponsorship of the organization.
6. Any item over $500 must provide an alternative source to provide evidence that the organization chose the most fiscally responsible option.
7. Co-Sponsorships are highly encouraged by SGC. Organizations are supported to collaborate with other organizations and academic departments. 
   1. To collaborate with another organization, each student organization must be submit a budget requesting money for their part of the event. Each budget will be allocated into the designated student organization's account.

B. Operational Budget

a. Definition:

1. An operational budget is used to request funding for any expenses, materials, products, food, etc. that a student organization needs to function as an organization.
2. This budget is NOT used to request money for an event, fundraiser, or travel that your organization is planning.

b. General Rules & Policies:

1. Each organization can only request one operational budget per semester. 
2. If an operational budget request totals $350 or under, or an organization has the same budget that has already been presented during the academic year, which has already been approved by the Appropriation Committee, the organization has the opportunity to "opt-out" of presenting to the Appropriations Committee. Student organizations that are requesting funding for the first time this academic school year must come present to the committee even if it qualifies as an opt-out.
3. Fall operational budgets can be requested between Block IV of the previous year and the last day of Block II of the current school year.
4. All funds allocated for a Fall Operational Budget must be spent in the fall semester or they will be taken out of the student organization's account and returned to SGC.
5. Spring operational budgets can be requested between Block II of the current academic year and the last day of Block IV of the academic year.
6. All funds allocated for the Spring Operational Budget must be spent in the spring semester or they will be taken out of the student organization's account and returned to SGC.

ii. Food purchases:

1. SGC provides a list of common food items and prices called the "Suggested Price List". It is not required that this list is referenced when creating a budget, but may be used instead of other supporting information.
2. Must meet with CES if you are getting catering - must provide a quote for your meeting as supporting documentation for the prices.
3. SGC will only fund food for up to three meetings per operational allocation.
4. SGC will fund a minimum of a 20% tip for any food that SGC is planning to fund.

iii. Material purchases:

1. Items that will be purchased for use within an organization may be covered in full by SGC funds. Such items include tabling materials, office supplies, and decorations if they are not provided by the Student Activities Center. These items are expected to stay within the organization for future use.
2. SGC will not fund membership fees associated with membership such purchases include individual membership fees, chapter fees, and membership dues.
3. SGC will not fund the purchase of items that are intended for personal use. Although these items may be used for the organization, they will be kept by individual members and will not benefit the organization.
4. SGC will only fund t-shirts if the use of the t-shirts aligns with the organization's mission statement and serves a purpose that would benefit the greater good of the campus community.
5. SGC will fund the purchase of equipment sparingly, due to avaliablity of various types of equipment at Ithaca College for rent. If an organization wishes to purchase equipment, it must prove that the available equipment on campus is insufficient for club purposes.
6. SGC will fund merchandise for student organizations if the merchandise aligns with the organization's mission statement and serves a purpose that would benefit all the members of the organization.

iv. Print Publication Magazine Materials:

1. Print Copy Amount
   • SGC will only fund printed copy amounts limited by amount per cycle and amount per semester per year:
     • A maximum of 500 copies will be funded per cycle.
     • A maximum of 1,500 copies will be funded per semester.
2. Website
   • If a student organization decides to request funding from SGC for the following, this decision must be implemented for a full calendar year.
   • If the website (SquareSpace, WordPress, etc.), and supporting website subscriptions (Issue, etc.), aligns with the print publication student organization's mission and is deemed essential to operate, provided that Ithaca College's website does not support their needs, we will fund an external website for them if:
     • The student organization will print no more than 750 copies per semester for the full academic year (allowing a total of 1,500 per academic year)
     • Student organizations will not be required to follow a specific cycle cap.
     • Websites must be funded for the full year.
3. Distribution Breakdown
   • Before receiving funding for publications, the student organizations must complete a breakdown for the number of copies and the locations where they distribute them (i.e. Campus Center 2nd floor lobby: 50 copies).

C. Programming Budget

a. Definition:

1. A programming budget is used to request funding for any recognized student organization that wants to host an event. 
2. This budget is NOT used to request funds for materials for general body meetings, or fundraisers.
3. Each organization can request multiple programming budgets per semester.
4. Each programming budget must be requesting funds for only ONE event at a time. Multiple budgets can be submitted and presented per week. 
5. Programming budgets must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the date of their event.
   1. Any payment that is completed through OSE needs at least two weeks' advance notice. 
6. If a programming budget requests a total of $250 or under, the organization can "opt-out" of presenting to the Appropriations Committee. Student organizations that are requesting funding for the first time in the academic year must present their budget, even if it qualifies as an opt-out. 
7. All funds allocated for a programming budget must be spent on the specified items on the budget. If not all the funds from the programming budget were spent, they will be taken out of the student organization's account. 
8. Total cost of request may not exceed $30 per person.  

b. General Rules & Policies:

1. SGC will only fund programs that are open to the entire campus community. Exclusive events will not be funded by SGC.
2. SGC will not fund events that occur within the summer months. The first day of programming is the first day of the academic year and the last day of programming is the last day of the academic year.
3. It is required that every student organization posts their events on IC Engage. When posting an event on Engage, student organizations must also post to the IC Events Calendar. 
4. SGC will fund prizes for events if all event attendees are eligible to win the prizes. The total amount funded for prizes shall not exceed $200 times the number of hosting organizations, with a maximum of $600 to be allocated for prizes.
5. It is required that all student organizations have a health & safety officer, and guarantee that their program is compliant with all the health/community guidelines for in-person events as established by the Office of Student Engagement and Ithaca College.

ii. Food purchases:

1. SGC provides a list of common food items and prices called the “Suggested Price List”. This list can be referenced when creating a budget.
2. Student organizations must meet with CES if you are getting catering - must provide a quote for the Appropriations meeting as supporting documentation for the prices.
3. SGC will only fund food for up to three meetings per operational allocation.
4. SGC will fund a minimum of a 15% tip for any food that SGC is already planning to fund.

iii. Advertising purchases:

1. SGC will fund the purchase of posters for student organizations to promote events.
2. All advertising materials funded by SGC must display the SGC logo on them to indicate that SGC sponsored the organization. 
3. All events 

Hosting A Speaker/Entertainers costs:

1. SGC will fund no more than two meals per day, with a maximum of $25 per meal.
2. SGC will only fund contracts that have been processed through the Office of Student Engagement. 
3. SGC will not fund a contract that is already signed, as that is a form of retroactive funding.

v. Vendors:

1. Ithaca College has a pre-approved list of companies for student organizations to use. This list is provided under the "Risk Management" section of the college website. There are lists of bus, inflatables, and game vendor companies. Only vendors on these lists will receive funding.
2. SGC will fund the payment attached to hiring students only if they are hired through the Office of Student Engagement. This includes, but is not limited to, DJs, photographers, and other professional services.
3. SGC will not fund non-specific items with no specific association. Such items include overage charge covers, risk management, or miscellaneous items. These items are not specific to one category and are not guaranteed expenses.

vi. Student Performances. 

1. The committee will not fund the purchase of clothing or costuming that is deemed environmentally unfriendly ("fast-fashion"). This includes (but is not limited to) purchases from locations such as Aliexpress, Shien, Temu. Locations that are considered fast fashion are up to the discretion of the committee. 
2. The committee will fund a maximum of 40$ of costuming for student performances per performer. 
3. The committee looks favorably upon student performance organizations that coordinate group purchasing of production services. 

D. Fundraiser Budget

a. Definitions:

1. Fundraising loans are effectively programming proposals with the goal of raising funds for the student organization. SC lends funds to student organizations to enable them to run fundraising events.
2. All money allocated to a student organization for a fundraising loan must be returned to SGC after the fundraiser is complete. All other funds raised in excess of the loan will be kept by the student organization.
3. An organization will not be in debt to SGC if the money fundraised is less than the total allocation to the organization.

b. General Rules & Policies:

1. SGC will fund the purchase of shirts if they are for the intent of making a profit.
2. It is important to note that the state of New York charges a tax rate on all items sold on the Ithaca College campus. The respective rates will be applied to any deposits made into a student organization's accounts, and the applicable tax will be deducted from the full deposit amount. The tax for apparel sales is 4%, and the tax for all other merchandise sales is 8%.
3. All rules & policies from programming and travel apply to fundraising budgets.

A. How To Attend An Appropriations Meeting

a. Rules for the Appropriations Committee Meeting:

1. The Committee must consist of these ratios to be able to function as a voting body on budgets:
   • At least 5 voting members at the meeting (including or plus VP of Business & Finance).
   • No fewer than 7 members & a maximum 10 members will be voted to be on the committee.
   • At least one-third of the committee members must be senators.
   • If there is a tie, the VP of Business & Finance will vote to break the tie.
     • Both the VP of Business and Finance and the Assistant will not be considered as voted in by the senate. 

b. Before attending the meeting:

1. Review your budget, and know exactly where you found your numbers and supporting documentation.
2. Be prepared - the committee might ask you questions about previous events and budgets like the one you are presenting.
3. Know the mission of your organization and how it relates to the budget you are requesting.

c. The night of the meeting:

1. Join the ZOOM meeting 10 minutes before the starting time. The order of presentations is based on who joined the waiting room of the meeting first.
2. The VP of Business and Finance will tell you when it is your turn to present. You or the VP of Business and Finance will share your budget with the committee. 
3. When presenting be sure to talk about the following:
   • Your position, organization, and mission statement, as well as the budget you are presenting, the date of event/fundraiser (if applicable), and if it has been done before by your organization.
   • Each item you are requesting money for, be sure to have supporting documentation.
   • If you have other funding sources, know what they are and how much money they are allocating for you

    4. Once you finish your presentation and the committee asks                         questions, you will be dismissed, and you can leave for the night.

    5. The committee will then deliberate the budget request, and vote.               This decision will be emailed to your organization member by no                later than Friday evening.

B. How To Opt-Out of Presenting a Budget

a. **All student organizations requesting funds for the first time of the academic school year must present their first budget, even if it is eligible to be an opt-out.**

1. In certain cases, a student organization may elect to opt-out of presenting at the Appropriations Committee meeting. This privilege was created in an attempt to expedite meetings and save the time of individuals involved in presenting. An organization may be eligible to opt-out if:
   • The grand total of an Operational Budget request is less than $350.
   • The grand total of a Programming Budget request is less than $250.
   • An organization has the same budget that has already been presented during the academic year.
2. The notification of the status of your budget (approved, denied, or tabled) will be sent with the presented budget notifications via email.

C. How to Appeal a Budget Allocation Decision

a.**An appeal is submitted when an organization either receives an allocation they do not want or think is justified, or when an organization's budget is denied, and they think it is unjust. This is a required process and timeline to follow to dispute your funding request decision.

b. Appeals Process (SGC Constitution)

1. Any decision made by the Appropriations Committee may be appealed to the Senate. Student Organizations appealing a decision must email the Senate Chair at least one week before the meeting that they wish to present at. 
2. Student organizations will be given two minutes to present their appeal.
3. Following the presentation of an appeal, there will be a Q&A session between the candidate and anyone in attendance of the meeting. This time is recommended to last ten minutes, but may by extended by the Senate by a motion. 
4. If there are multiple student organizations presenting appeals, all appeal presentations and Q&A sessions will occur before deliberation begins. 
5. All student organization members and guests will be required to leave the room while the deliberations occur. Any student organization member who are also members of the Student Governance Council will be required to leave the room. This deliberation is recommended is recommended to last ten minutes, but may be extended by the Senate by a motion. 
6. The Senate will have the option to approve, deny, or table an appeal. by two-thirds majority. 
7. All guests and student organization members will be permitted to re-enter the room after deliberations and votes have been completed. 
8. The Senate Chair will inform student organization members and the Vice President of Business and Finance of the results of the appeal via email within 24 hours after the meeting adjourns. 

c. The Appeals Process(Continued) 

1. If an organization wishes to submit an appeal, they can do so from the moment they receive the email notification about the status of their budget to the next Appropriations Committee meeting. 
2. The organization has to email the VP of Business and Finance and notify them about their decision to make an appeal. 

A. Student Governance Council Resources

a. SGC Website:

1. The SGC Website has all the information about SGC, including the Appropriations Committee and the funding process.

b. IC Engage:

1. SGC's IC Engage portal has resources for student organizations.
2. Under the "Documents" tab student organizations can find:
   1. The Allocations Handbook
   2. The Budget Request Template 
   3. Suggested Price List and Locations

Emails

1. If student organization members have any questions about the allocation process after reading through the Allocations Handbook please email the VP of Business & Finance at SGCBusiness@ithaca.edu or their assistant at SCCbusiness_assist@ithaca.edu.

B. Campus Resources

a. Academic Schools:

1. Academic schools are a great resource to request funding from. SGC is not the sole resource for student organizations to request funding from. Another resource for student organizations is their respective academic schools.

b. The Office of Student Engagement:

1. Every student organization treasurer is required to maintain a detailed record of their respective organization's financial records. These records include (but are not limited to) a list of all transactions, all funding requests from SGC, all funding allocated by SGC, and a running account balance.
2. If the student organization's treasurer needs help, the OSE staff is able to provide resources and information to assist the organization's treasurers.
3. Patti Banfield is the SGC's Appropriations Committee Advisor AND the Student Organization Business Coordinator. Due to being involved in both SGC and OSE, she is an excellent resource for student organizations. However, if your organization has a question about the funding process or the allocation process, please reach out to the VP of Business & Finance and NOT Brittany.