The name of this
committee shall be the Finance Board of the Undergraduate Association of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (hereafter referred to as Finance Board or Finboard).
The purpose of this
committee shall be to recommend to the UA Senate the allocation of the
financial resources designated by the UA Senate in a fair, beneficial, and
responsible manner.
1. All members of the
Undergraduate Association are eligible to serve on this committee. If and when the Treasurer of the Association of Student Activities is a member of the graduate community, an exception will be granted.
2.
Finboard shall consist of ten members as follows:
A. Members
selected by and from the outgoing Finboard:
a.
A Chairperson (who only votes in the event of a tie)
b.
A Vice-Chairperson
c.
A Member-at-Large
B. Two members elected
by and from the Undergraduate Association, as directed by the UA Constitution and Election
Code.
C. Two members
selected through an application process by the outgoing Finance Board.
D. One member elected by and from the UA Senate, who shall not be an Executive or Principal Officer of the Association or the UA Senate, respectively, during his tenure on the Board.
E. The Treasurer of the Undergraduate
Association
F. The Treasurer of the Association of Student
Activities
3. No more than three
members may be from the same living group unless they are members elected from
the Association as a whole.
4. The title and
duties of secretary/treasurer will be delegated to a member of the newly formed
Finance Board by a majority vote of the Finance Board at their first meeting.
This member may not be the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson.
5. No individual may
hold more than one executive leadership position on the Finance Board at any
one time (i.e. Finboard chair or vice chair and UA Treasurer or ASA
Treasurer.).
1.
Before assuming office, members-elect and
officers-elect shall undergo an orientation program in association with the
Undergraduate Association Coordinating Committee, the elected Chairperson, and
the Student Activities Office. This orientation shall take place before the
first allocations session.
2.
Each member of the Finance Board shall serve as
liaison between Finboard and a subset of groups eligible for funding, as
determined by the Chairperson. Liaisons shall inform their groups of funding
deadlines, help them formulate applications, help them with the Finboard
reimbursement process, and advise them on sources for supplemental funding as needed.
3.
Each member of the Finance Board shall monitor the spending of their assigned liaison groups at regular intervals throughout the semester.
4.
During the week prior to application deadlines,
each Finance Board liaison will be available for office hours, extending
between one and two hours in length, to assist student groups in the
preparation of requests.
5.
Each member shall be present at all meetings of
the Finboard unless excused by the Chairperson.
6.
All members of Finboard shall be invited and
encouraged to attend the yearly UA Retreat.
7.
All members are urged to participate in
Treasurer Training or Budget Proposal workshops organized by the Student
Activities Office (SAO) each semester.
Section 3: Term of
Office
All the members of the
Finance Board shall be selected in the spring for a one-year term of
office, and shall take office by the fifth Senate meeting of the Spring term.
1.
General members of the Finboard may be removed
by a two-thirds vote of the committee or a majority vote of the UA Senate. A
member may be reinstated by another such vote of Senate.
2.
Officers may be impeached by a petition signed by
one-third the members of Finboard or Senate. After such a petition has been delivered
to the UA Speaker, the Finboard Officer may be removed by a two thirds, roll call
vote of Senate.
1.
Elections are to be held between the Fall
Appeals session and the fifth Senate meeting of the Spring term.
2.
If the office of Chairperson should ever become
vacant, the Vice-Chairperson shall immediately succeed to that office.
3.
Vacancies in all other offices shall be filled
as appropriate to the office, except that vacancies for Association-wide
positions shall be filled by members elected by the UA Senate.
1. The Chairperson
shall have the following powers and duties:
A. The
Chairperson shall be the presiding officer and chief spokesperson for this
committee.
B. The
Chairperson shall act as the direct liaison between Finboard the Student
Activities Office.
C. The Chairperson shall act as the liaison
between this committee and all other bodies not specifically delegated to the
other officers.
D. The
Chairperson shall have the first interpretation of these bylaws in cases of
dispute.
E. The
Chairperson or his or her designee(s) shall monitor the spending of student
groups at regular intervals throughout the semester.
F. The
Chairperson shall undertake any other duties requested by a simple majority
vote of the Finance Board.
G. The Chairperson shall undertake all other
responsibilities as stated for the position of the Finboard Chairperson in the
UA Constitution and UA Cabinet Bylaws.
H. The Chairperson or his/her designee
responsible for presenting at monthly Treasurer Training or other workshops
organized by the Student Activities Office.
I. The
Chairperson shall attend the meeting each semester with the Finboard
Vice-Chairperson, the UA President, the UA Treasurer, and the UA Speaker to
determine the percentage for overallocation.
J. The
Chairperson shall be responsible for maintaining the bylaws.
K. The
Chairperson or his/her designee is responsible for providing the Student
Activities Office with Senate approved funding spreadsheets after each funding
meeting.
L. The
Chairperson is responsible or providing the Student Activities Office with copy
of all funding proposals for use in the processing of Expense Vouchers.
M. The
Chairperson or his/her designee shall attend any Senate meetings where Finboard
recommendations are being presented.
N. The
Chairperson or his/her designee shall enter all Senate approved budget
allocations across the four categories into SAPGui with guidance from the
Student Activities Financial Administrator.
O. The
Chairperson with support from the Student Activities Financial Administrator
will prepare a summary report of spending after the close of a funding term.
2. The
Vice-Chairperson shall have the following powers and duties:
A. The
Vice-Chairperson shall assist the Chairperson in his or her duties and shall
assume those duties if the Chairperson is unable to perform them.
B.
The Vice-Chairperson shall attend the
meeting each semester with the Finboard Chairperson, the UA President, the UA
Treasurer, and the UA Speaker to determine the percentage for overallocation.
3. The Secretary/Treasurer shall
have the following powers and duties:
A. The
Secretary/Treasurer shall be charged with the sending of meeting notices, the recording
and distribution of meeting minutes, and the prompt dissemination of all
correspondence from Finboard. This includes the distribution of all Finboard
allocation announcements, once the said allocations are approved by the
Council.
B. The
Secretary/Treasurer shall also delegate the responsibility for maintaining the webpage.
C. The
Secretary/Treasurer shall create and maintain the operational budget of
Finboard with the help of the Chairperson and the
Vice-Chairperson.
Section 1:
The Finance Board shall have the power to recommend that the UA Senate authorize financial resources designated by the UA Senate for student groups.
Section 2:
Groups eligible to
request funding from the UA through Finboard are:
A. Any
undergraduate Association of Student Activities (ASA) recognized group.
B. Any
other group designated eligible by a majority vote of Senate. (With the recommendation from the Student Activities Office.)
Section 2:
Dissemination of Information and Submission of Applications
1. The
Chairperson in conjunction with others must set the funding application
deadline at least two weeks in advance and make it public to the MIT
undergraduate community through various means.
2. The
following information shall be made available either in paper, on the Finance
Board's web page, or by Finboard members (as determined by the Chairperson) at
the time of Allocations and Appeals:
A.
A history of that group’s allocations, and
expenditures, over the past academic year.
B.
Copies of any forms that might need to be filled
out.
C.
Guidelines for filling out the forms and writing
a budget defense.
D.
Any other material the Finance Board or the
Chairperson deems relevant.
3. Applications
to the Finance Board for funding shall be composed of a completed form
summarizing the group’s entire budget and Finboard request as broken down into
four categories: Printing and Publicity, Operations, Capital, and Events. A
written explanation of the request (the defense) is also required.
4. The deadline for submissions
should be at least four days prior to the starting date of the meeting. The
binders will be ready at least two days prior to the starting date of the
meeting.
Liaisons shall contact their student groups in the case that there are
technical problems in their form or budget defense prior to the funding
meetings.
5. Requests to Finboard for funding need not be
considered unless they are complete and received in the UA Office by the
appointed deadline. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the
Finboard Chairperson and/or Vice Chairperson.
A. When
the Finance Board believes that committee discussion would best occur in closed
session whereby the Chair shall specify the items to be discussed. A simple majority vote of the members
attending shall suffice to move the board to executive session. During that session, only the items as
specified and motions to adjourn shall be considered. Items specified may not include discussion regarding funding for
specific student groups or student group budget requests.
B. Applications
for funding shall be kept confidential within the Finance Board and executive
and legislative officers of the UA and Senate and remain confidential. Finboard allocation recommendations shall
remain public record at all times.
5.
The quorum at such meetings shall be six
members, one of which must be either the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson.
6.
Such meetings shall be open to the MIT community
at all times,
A. When
the Finance Board believes that committee discussion would best occur in closed
session whereby the Chair shall specify the items to be discussed. A simple majority vote of the members
attending shall suffice to move the board to executive session. During that session, only the items as
specified and motions to adjourn shall be considered. Items specified may not include discussion regarding funding for
specific student groups or student group budget requests.
B. Applications
for funding shall be kept confidential within the Finance Board and executive
and legislative officers of the UA and Senate and remain confidential. Finboard allocation recommendations shall
remain public record at all times.
7.
Representatives of requesting groups must
explain their request for no longer than three minutes and to answer any
questions a member of Finboard should have. A majority vote of the Finboard may
extend the speaking time.
8.
For each amount being appealed, the Finance
Board shall decide only to do any combination of the following:
A. Renew
the offer for that amount
B. Change
allocations between categories
C. Change
stipulations on spending the amount
D. Increase
the amount
E. Decrease
the amount originally given, only when the group specifically asks in person
that its allocation amount be decreased at Appeals.
9.
The Finance Board may decide to offer an allocation
to a group who did not previously submit a request at that term’s Allocations.
Those groups shall have the option of giving a verbal defense.
10.
After approval of the final allocation by
Senate, the Finboard Secretary/Treasurer or webmaster designee will compile
these results and make them available to the respective student groups along
with specific instructions on their required courses of action.
Section 5: Forwarding
of Information to the UA Senate
C. A cover letter which shall at least describe the importance of maintaining the integrity of the confidential forms and defenses.
2. This recommendation shall reflect the Finance Board’s thorough consideration and evaluation of student group requests for that funding period, and shall be considered an official committee report suggesting that Senate adopt the suggested amounts.
3. The Chairperson or his/her designee will attend the Senate meeting where allocations will be approved to answer any Senator inquiries.
Article VII: Other Meetings
The Chairperson may call Finboard meetings other than Allocations or Appeals to discuss issues pertinent to the operations and philosophies of the Finance Board.
For all student
groups, the approval of the Finance Board Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, UA
Treasurer, or designee of the Student Activities Office shall be required for all
expenditures against allocated Association Funds.
Amendments to
these bylaws shall be made by a two-thirds vote of the Finance Board and a
majority vote of the UA Senate, or by a two-thirds vote of the UA Senate.