Faculty Student Association

Special Request for Funding policy

Effective Sept. 1, 2021

The Special Request should demonstrate alignment with at least one of the following guiding principles presented in the FSA strategic plan. 

The Faculty-Student Association is committed to identifying and investing in opportunities that: 

1. support student engagement in the learning process and enhance the student college experience; 
2. support a college climate of sustainability; 
3. support a diverse and inclusive college community; 
4. support improvement of college facilities and programs; and 
5. ensure the ongoing financial stability of the FSA. 

Special Requests that do not meet one or more of the guiding principles will be considered, but priority will be given to requests that do. 

Procedure

Special Requests will first be reviewed and considered by the FSA Finance Committee. 

• The Finance Committee can take the following actions on a Special Request: 
• Approve the request as submitted; 
• Approve the request with adjustments to the requested amount or other modifications; 
• Return the request seeking additional information if deemed necessary; 
• Deny the request as submitted

Based on this review, the FSA Finance Committee will present the action taken on the Special Request to the FSA Board at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The FSA Board can either approve/not approve the action taken or recommend modifications to the Special Request before approval. The decision of the FSA Board will be communicated to the requester by the FSA Board Treasurer within five business days along with the rationale for the action. 

It is the responsibility of the requester to submit the Special Request in a timely manner to allow for timely review by the FSA Finance Committee. A request will be considered timely if it is submitted by close of business the day preceding the next scheduled FSA Finance Committee. Scheduled meeting dates will be made available at the beginning of the academic year in September. Untimely submissions will be delayed until the next scheduled FSA Finance Committee meeting unless there are mitigating circumstances. Untimely requests with mitigating circumstances may be presented at the next FSA Board meeting for discussion and approval. A Special Request not submitted in a timely manner is, in and of itself, not considered to be a mitigating circumstance.

Special action procedure

The FSA Board Executive Committee (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) can take special action to approve a Special Request for $1,000 or less without FSA Finance Committee review and/or FSA Board approval under the following conditions: 

1. the Special Request is submitted during a month the FSA Board is not scheduled to meet-December, May, June, July and August; and 
2. the funding is required and/or the event is to take place before the next regularly scheduled FSA Board meeting; and 
3. the request meets the procedures and guidelines outlined in this policy. 

Approval of a Special Request under these circumstances requires approval by at least three members of the Executive Committee. A Special Request cannot be approved by a single member of the Executive Committee. Upon approval, a copy of the Special Request will be sent to members of the Finance Committee and also presented at the next scheduled FSA Board meeting. An untimely submission of a Special Request for Funding does not meet the criteria for Executive Committee Special Action. 

Decision guidelines

Special Request funding is intended to support educational activities that cannot be funded, wholly or partially, by other means and is not intended to supplant or substitute for funding from other sources. Alternative or additional sources of funding should be sought before requesting FSA funding. The FSA should not be considered a funding source of first resort. A Special Request can be returned to the requestor for additional information regarding what other funding sources were sought. 

• A Special Request is intended to benefit as many members of the college community as possible, particularly students, and not intended to fund an individual or small group activity. 
• Previous Special Request funding for an activity does not guarantee subsequent funding and should not be used as a rationale for approval. Each request should be approved on its own merit given current circumstances and not based on previous funding. 
• Committees and/or groups that have an existing dedicated funding line in the FSA budget must use that funding line first before seeking additional funding from the FSA. 

Once the funding line is exhausted a Special Request for additional funding will be considered. Adherence to this policy and procedures is predicated on the timely submission of Special Requests. Therefore, it is extremely important the FSA disseminate information regarding submission guidelines and deadlines to the college community at the beginning of each academic year.