Organizations recognized by the College of William & Mary may request funding for activities they sponsor from the Student Activities fee. The Student Activities fee is a non-academic fee charged to each full-time student at the College. The President will recommend the Budget of Student Activities fees to the Senate. Once the budget has been approved through the normal budget process it shall be taken to the Vice President for Student Affairs for presentation to the Board of Visitors
The mission of the Student Assembly's finance allocation process is to foster growth and excellence in the student experience at the College. The Student Assembly will fund activities that comply with the following guidelines, irrespective of viewpoint of the organization, and in accordance with the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities found in the current edition of the Student Handbook. The Student Assembly will not fund activities that fail to comply with the prescribed guidelines.
Organizations seeking funding from the Student Activities Fees for the following academic year must apply during the authorized budget request period. Those wishing to make a special request for funding during the current academic year may do so through the President of the Student Assembly and the Office of Student Leadership Development. The budget process begins during the end of the Fall semester. This period will be announced in various College publications.
The budget process consists of four stages: (A) the budget request; (B) optional hearings of the EAC; (C) objections to the EAC recommendations and the President's presentation to the Senate; (D) final Senate approval and Presidential signature
IV. Activities and Fund Allocation
The Student Assembly may fund activities that fall into the following categories:
a. Student Government Activities: These are activities or initiatives sponsored by the Student Assembly or parts there of. These include student government organizations, the individual graduate schools, and the four undergraduate classes. The activities of the Honor Council and the Judicial Council will also be considered as student governmental activities.
b. Publication Activities (Publication Council): These are limited to university-sponsored publications under the jurisdiction of the Publications Council. The Student Assembly shall fund a block sum for the Publication Council per a contract set forth in Chapter Six of this title.
c. Conference Activities (Conference Fund): These activities involve support for students of the College attending lectures, conferences, symposia, or similar activities.
d. Special Activity Funding: Available to student organizations to provide financial assistance when holding activities and events. Consist of four separate funds: Speakers Fund, Multicultural Fund, Campus Event Fund and the New Event/Initiative Fund.
e. Service Activities: These are activities whose primary purpose is to provide volunteer service to the College community, outside the College community, or both.
f. Co-curricular Activities: These are activities which promote, supplement, or enhance curricular activities of the students at the College. To be included in this category, the activity for which funding is requested must be clearly linked to those of academic departments, programs, or schools.
g. Cultural Activities: The activities consists of a program that are designed to increase cultural awareness, and the activities is for the benefit of and open to the entire college community.
h. Interscholastic Activities: These are activities which involve competitions, exchange of ideas, or simulations with students of other institutions of higher education.
i. Peer and Public Education Activities: These are activities which promote knowledge and information within and/or outside the College Community regarding subjects of importance or interest to the community but are not of a politically partisan nature or involve religious worship ceremonies or devotional activities.
j. Humanitarian Activities: These are activities which, through student action, promote or encourage the humane treatment of people or animals.
k. Hobby Activities: These are activities which promote, enhance, or encourage the hobbies of students at the College.
V. Criteria Considered in Fee Allocation
a. The extent to which the proposed activity is likely to foster growth and excellence among students at the College.
b. The commitment of the activity sponsors to the execution of the activity.
c. The history of the activity, and the projected needs of the activity for the upcoming fiscal year.
d. The amount of outside funding the activity has previously received and the potential for additional funding from other sources.
e. The goals of the organization's primary activities and its membership selection process.
f. Any other relevant factors the committee deems appropriate.
VI. Additional Points
a. It is the responsibility of the President of the Student Assembly and the EAC to project accurately the annual income from the Student Activities Fee and to recommend allocation of that money in order to meet the needs of the sponsored activities. If a surplus from the Student Activities Fee should accrue, it will be put in the Consolidated Student Activities Reserve Fund to be carried over into the next fiscal year. If a deficit occurs, the Student Assembly will use money from the Consolidated Student Activity Reserve Fund to meet its needs.
b. The Student Activities Budget shall annually receive any surplus revenue from the College that was not included in the original budget for the previous fiscal year.
c. Any funds remaining in an activity account shall be transferred to the Consolidated Student Activities Reserve Fund at the end of the fiscal year.
d. Any activity which has a special request or emergency need may be funded, if funds are available and if the activity conforms to the funding guidelines and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. All such requests are subject to approval by the Director of Student Leadership Development and the President of the Student Assembly or his/her designee.
e. New organization, recognized by the College and formed after the Fee allocations were made, that request funding for activities may do so if the activities conform to the funding guidelines and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. These request are subject to the availability of funds and the approval of the Director of Student Leadership Development and the President of the Student Assembly or his/her designee.
f. Any organization may include requests of subgroups in its request provided the subgroup is recognized by the College and the activities conform to the funding guidelines and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
g. Any organization whose request is not met in whole or in part will be given the reasons for this action.
VI. The Budget Process
a. The Budget Request
An organization representative must obtain a Budget Request Packet from the Student Leadership Development office to apply for funding. This packet will include but not be limited to information on eligibility for funding, deadline for submitting requests, and instructions for completing budget requests. The following requirements are mandatory:
- Prior to the submission deadline, a representative of each organization requesting funding must attend one of the three pre-budget seminars held by the Office of Student Leadership Development. These seminars will explain the budget process and address additional questions.
- All information requested in the Budget Request Package must be disclosed.
- The packet must be submitted by 4:30 pm on the last day of class of the Fall semester.
All organizations not meeting these requirements may not be eligible for funding. The President of the Student Assembly or the Senate of the Student Assembly may decide to grant funding only in extenuating circumstances.
b. The Open Hearing
Each organization that has submitted a budget may request a hearing open to public to be conducted by the Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) of the President of the Student Assembly. A maximum of three members of your organization are allowed to make the budget request and presentation to the EAC. Once all hearings have been completed, the EAC will deliberate and recommend allocation amounts to the President of the Student Assembly for his presentation to the Senate.
c. Objection to the EAC Recommendations
If an organization or individual finds the EAC’s budget recommendations unsatisfactory, the organization may file an official objection to the President of the Student Assembly within five days of the EAC’s recommendations. The objection must have the following information:
- The objection must state the basis for the request for reconsideration and must be submitted in writing to the Chief of Staff to the President within five days of the EAC’s recommendation to the President of the Student Assembly.
- The President will review the objections and take them into consideration in his budget presentation to the Senate of the Student Assembly.
d. Action on the Budget
The final step of the budget process is the Senate passage of the Student Activities Budget and signature of the President of the Student Assembly.
- The President shall recommend the yearly allocation of student activity fees to student organizations.
- The Senate Committee on Finance and Budget shall review those recommendations and shall accept amendments to the President’s budget recommendations
- The full Senate shall approve the final budget for the President’s signature. The Senate may amend the budget based on the Senate Committee’s recommendations
- Once the President has signed the budget, it shall be presented to the Vice-President of Student Affairs for his presentation to the Board of Visitors.