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November 20. 2008 Meeting Attachment

R.17 SAFC Handbook Changes

Originally Presented On:Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sponsors:Rebecca Smith
Subject of Resolution:SAFC Handbook Changes
Status/Result:-

Whereas the Student Assembly Finance Commission (the commission) is chartered by and reports to the Student Assembly (the assembly);

Whereas the commission’s Funding Guidelines (the guidelines) are subject to the approval by the assembly;

Whereas a review of the guidelines by the commission has resulted in several recommended changes clarify the meaning of ambiguous rules and improve the funding process;

Be it therefore resolved that, it is the sense of the body that:

- Organizations submitting appeals to the commission should always participate in a hearing with the commission to assure proper communication;
- The commission should support charitable fundraising events so long as they have another equally substantive purpose related to the mission of sponsoring organizations (for example, a charitable concert put on by one or more student performance groups);
- Airfare for invited speakers, performers, and troupes should be funded according to price quotes rather than IRS mileage, if air travel funding is requested and the quoted price is less than the IRS mileage rate would allow;
- The commission has proposed several helpful corrections to grammatical errors and semantic clarifications.

Be it further resolved that, the first sentence in the last paragraph of Article 2, Section 2.5 of the guidelines be amended as follows with insertions indicated in bold and deletions indicated in strikethrough:

I have read and understood the Statement on Ethical Conduct for Student Organizations and the President and Treasurer’s HandbookStudent Assembly Finance Commission Funding Guidelines.

Be it further resolved that, Article 4 of the guidelines be renamed from “Hearings” to “Budget Hearings”.

Be it further resolved that, the first sentence of Article 6, Section 3.1 of the guidelines be amended as follows with insertions indicated in bold and deletions indicated in strikethrough:

The Commission will reject the appeal unless the organization attends its appeal hearing (the hearing), whichThe appeal hearing (the hearing) is a meeting of the Commission where the organization

filing the appeal:

Be it further resolved that, the first sentence in the last paragraph of Article 9, Section 3.2 of the guidelines be amended as follows with insertions indicated in bold and deletions indicated in strikethrough:

To be eligible for funding the event must:
-occur between the first and last day of classes:
-occur on weekday when classes are in session or a weekend that is not part of a university holiday such as Fall Break or Spring Break; and,
-be one of the following:
-a practice session for athletic or performance organizations, or
-a public event open to the Cornell community to the extent permitted by spatial, temporal, or financial constraints; and,
-not have a primary or substantive purpose of:
-conversion/worship
-influencing legislation
-partisan political activity
-raising funds for charity or profit
-raising funds for charity, unless the event has another equally substantive purpose related to the mission of the organization
-social activity.

Be it further resolved that, the second and third sentences in the subsection of Article 9, Section 3.3 titled “Transportation expenses [for speakers, performers, and coaches]” of the guidelines be amended as follows with insertions indicated in bold and deletions indicated in strikethrough:

Funds allocated for transportation may be used for any means of transportation, including bus, car, plane and train.
Applicant:
-indicates the number of people traveling, if the performer consists of more than one person; and,
-includes in its application Proof of Distance (see Documentation for more information) for the speaker or performer’s round trip.; and,
-includes in its application Documentation of airfare costs, if funding is requested for air travel.
Commission:
-funds transportation at the lesser of either the Internal Revenue Service rate, obtained from the Office of the Assemblies, or the documented airfare costs. S (see Negotiated Rates for more information); and,
-funds for the number of people traveling or for one person, if the number of people is not specified in the request.
-Be it further resolved that the second sentence in the last paragraph of Article 9, Section 4.2 of the guidelines be amended as follows with insertions indicated in bold and deletions indicated in strikethrough:
-Applicant includes in its application:
-a Proof of Travel Event documentation;
-a written explanation of how participation in the event supports the mission of the organization;
-the dates of event;
-the number of people for whom travel funding is requested, and
-if travel is requested for more than four individuals, documentation from the event organizers or a signed note from the applicant’s advisor stating the exact number of students traveling; and,
-the location where the event will occur.

Be it further resolved that, the subsection of Article 9, Section 5.3 of the guidelines titled “Qualifications” be amended as follows with insertions indicated in bold and deletions indicated in strikethrough:

The commission will fund art production supplies will be funded if production of art is part of the organization’s mission.

Be it finally resolved that, the amended guidelines will be put into effect starting in the Spring 2009 semester.

Respectfully submitted,

Rebecca Smith ‘11
At-Large Representative

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