I. Introduction
The Budget Committee is a standing committee of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) of the Catholic University of America. It is responsible for preparing a GSA budget for each academic semester and allocating funds to organizations, departments, and persons who request them. The Budget Committee is governed by the GSA Senate. Articles VI and IX of the GSA Constitution delineate the Committee's formation, jurisdiction, and responsibilities.
II. Standing Rules of the GSA Budget Committee
Article I: General Provisions
A. The name of this Committee will be the Budget Committee of the Graduate Student Association of the Catholic University of America (CUA), hereinafter called "the Committee."
B. The Committee will consist of a chair and a minimum of two other members of the GSA Senate. The President and the Treasurer of the GSA will be additional ex officio members of the Committee. The chair will only vote in the case of a tie vote amongst the other voting members. If the vice-chair presides at a Committee meeting (cf. II.B and IV.D below) then the vice-chair will only vote in the case of a tie vote amongst the other voting members.
C. The Committee will prepare the budget of the GSA each spring for the following school year, and submit it to the GSA Senate; make recommendations and motions to the GSA Senate that pertain to the appropriation of GSA funds, as well as ensuring accountability for those funds.
D. Non-members of the Committee are not permitted to attend Committee meetings, unless the Committee votes to admit such non-members by a two-thirds majority of those members present.
E. The Committee must have a quorum to enact legislation and appropriate funds. A quorum will consist of a majority of Committee members, excepting those serving ex officio.
Article II: Officers
A. The Budget Chair is elected by the GSA Senate in accordance with the GSA Constitution.
B. A Vice-Chair and Secretary are elected from within the Committee by a majority vote of those members present.
Article III: Duties
A. The duties of the Committee will consist of the following measures:
1. hearing requests for funds from CUA graduate student groups representing departments or other organizations and individual CUA graduate students;
2. when necessary working in correspondence with the GSA Lecture Committee, which will hear all requests pertaining to on-campus lectures first, and which may refer requests that exceed their guidelines to the Budget Committee;
3. preparing a budget for the GSA each year listing the GSA's current assets and liabilities;
4. making specific motions regarding requests for funds to the GSA Senate;
5. overseeing the use of GSA funds that have been allocated by the GSA to organizations and individuals;
6. maintaining a record of expenses approved by the Committee
- The duties of the committee Chair will consist of the following measures:
1. scheduling the meetings of the Committee and notifying the Committee and the GSA Senate of
this schedule, which will include date, time, and location;
2. preparing an agenda for each meeting and presiding at each meeting;
3. maintaining an archive of minutes of the Committee meetings.
4. serve as an ex officio member of the GSA Lecture Committee
- The duties of the GSA Treasurer will consist of the following measures:
1. providing a report of the current GSA general ledger upon request;
2. signing University Requisitions as needed in the role of a GSA representative.
- The Vice-Chair will conduct the Committee meetings when the Chair is absent
E. The Committee Secretary will take minutes of the Committee meetings, prepare a manuscript of
the minutes, and distribute copies of the minutes as needed to the Committee members.
Article IV: Creating Guidelines for Appropriations
A. The Committee will maintain a current list of appropriation guidelines and distribute them in such a way that the guidelines are available to students petitioning for funds.
B. The Committee will set a schedule of hearings each semester at which students and groups, in the person of the relative department GSA Senator, may petition for GSA funds and submit this schedule to the GSA Senate.
C. The Committee will propose appropriations based on the hearings each semester and submit this proposal to the GSA Senate for approval.
D. The petitioning Senator or the Committee will notify petitioners requesting appropriations of the final decision of the GSA Senate regarding such appropriations.
Article V: Amendments
A. These standing rules may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of the Budget Committee.
III. Appropriations Policy and Budgetary Guidelines
A. General Guidelines
1. The committee stresses that all appropriations are a privilege and not a right. This privilege is made possible by the GSA overall budget, and is enabled by the members of the GSA who have volunteered to serve as Senators or Executives. It is a privilege based upon scholarly achievement and need, and is never an “a priori” guarantee.
2. All appropriations must directly benefit CUA graduate students.
3. All other factors being equal, the Committee will give preference in appropriations to events that benefit the greatest number of CUA graduate students.
4. All groups and individuals receiving appropriations must acknowledge the financial assistance of the GSA in any advertisements related to the events for which the GSA has appropriated funds, and they must send the GSA Treasurer a copy of such advertisements when they are distributed.
5. The GSA will not fund:
a. events or organizations that are primarily designed to directly influence federal, state, or local elections;
b. events or organizations that are primarily designed to directly promote or hinder proposed or pending legislation at the federal, state, and local levels;
c. any administrative or labor costs;
d. any capital expenditures, unless such expenditures are taken from the rebate monies of a department (cf. GSA Constitution, art. XV);
e. any operating expenses for CUA regardless of the demonstrated need for such expenditures;
f. honoraria for CUA professors;
g. meals for more than two CUA graduate students accompanying a lecturer to a meal;
h. meals for individuals presenting or attending conferences.
i. Internship related travel, or sojourns with a duration of time exceeding one week.
6. All petitioners for appropriations must submit their proposals through the GSA Senate representing their department. No petitions sent by mail, either written or electronic, or by telephone will be considered by the Committee. The Committee reserves to itself the right to make exceptions to this rule.
7. All petitions must include properly filled out paperwork in duplicate. Failure to present the appropriate forms with all the required information will result in a denial of the petition.
8. Each year the Committee will circulate to the Senate a list of specific appropriations guidelines for that year's appropriation hearings.
9. The Committee reserves the right to deny funding requests to departments without proper Senate membership and participation.
B. Specific Guidelines
1. For Departments
a. All graduate groups representing departments must itemize any expenditures for which they are requesting an appropriation. Such itemizations will include:
i. a completed "Department/Organization Request for Funds" form (see V.A);
ii. any additional sources of funding apart from the GSA.
b. Each graduate student group representing a department must provide a written report of all its expenditures using GSA appropriations since its last request for funds at a Budget Committee hearing.
c. All Budget Committee appropriations for refreshments for an event will not exceed four dollars per person, based on a prior written estimate of the attendance supplied by the petitioner(s).
d. At the end of every academic year a department may have no more money in its GSA account than its previous year's spring rebate total. Any departments exceeding this total will forfeit the difference between their current balance and their previous year's spring rebate. Exceptions allowing for a transfer of funds from one academic year to the next can be made in the following two cases:
i. any money that enters a department's GSA account apart from a GSA
allocation (e.g. through fund raising) would be exempted from this
stipulation and not be subject to forfeiture so long as the department
has previously notified the GSA Treasurer of such deposits.
ii. departments requesting an exemption from item (d) above by March 31st
of the given academic year may be granted a waiver by the Budget
Committee.
2. For Extra-Departmental Groups
a. All graduate student groups representing extra-departmental organizations must itemize any expenditures for which they are requesting an appropriation. Such itemizations will include:
i. a completed "Department/Organization Request for Funds" form (see V.A);
ii. any additional sources of funding apart from the GSA.
b. Each graduate student group representing an extra-departmental organization must provide a written report of all its expenditures using GSA appropriations since its last request for GSA funds at a Budget Committee hearing.
c. All Budget Committee appropriations for refreshments for an event will not exceed four dollars per person, based on a prior written estimate of the attendance supplied by the petitioner(s).
d. Non-departmental student organizations shall be funded by GSA in matching dollars only for non-lecture events and requests. GSA will match student organization fundraising up to a maximum of $1,500 each semester (fundraising being tabulated each semester separately).
3. For Individuals
a. Once a month during the academic year, at a time and place to be announced in advance, the committee will hear individual students' requests, in the person of the department GSA Senator, for appropriations in order to present at, or attend, conferences off-campus.
b. Eligible Funding. Petitions will be considered on the basis of priority according to the following factors:
1. A student who makes an international presentation will be given immediate priority. He or she is eligible for funding up to a $1000 per semester, or $800 for Canada and Mexico. Decisions will take into account the scholarly merit of the presentation as determined by select members of the academic area in question.
2. Students who make a domestic, off-campus presentation will be given secondary priority. They are eligible for funding up to a maximum per semester as determined by time zone area: $300 for Eastern; $400 for Central; $500 for Mountain; $600 for Pacific; and $700 for Hawaii and Alaska. Decisions will take into account the scholarly merit of the presentation as determined by select members of the academic area in question.
3. Students solely attending an international or domestic conference will be eligible for funding from the GSA not to exceed $150 per semester. Relative distance will be taken into account when assessing this decision. Scholarly merit will also be considered.
4. Money will be granted on an individual basis. It will not be given to departments for off-campus presentations. No departmental caps exist.
5. The Committee will allocate the money in such a way that only a fixed amount of its total semester's budget for the purpose of off-campus presentations will be awarded each month. This way its money will last for the entire semester.
6. Funding will only cover conference fees, lodging, and public travel: air, train, or bus. Because there must be conclusive and definitive evidence for travel expenses, gas, food, and other such items subject to a greater degree of arbitrary volition will not be compensated (see Policy Rationale below).
7. Multiple requests in one semester from the same person will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
8. Funding is always a post facto decision, and is never given in advance.
9. Students may submit requests with respect to three divisions during the year, without the requests being considered multiple and not to exceed $3,000: Fall semester, Spring semester, and Summer.
c. Criteria for Evaluating Requests Above and Beyond the Established Norms
(The Following Factors Will be Considered):
i. Was the presentation given at CUA first, so as to solicit peer and faculty input? (see also ‘d’ below, as well as Policy Rationale). An on-campus presentation consists of any of the following:
A. Organized departmental paper reading
B. Personally organized paper reading among peers, validated by a faculty
member
C. Seminar class presentation under the guidance of a faculty member
ii. Will the presentation be published?
iii. What is the overall contribution to the campus community?
iv. Are there outside funding sources?
v. How much prestige and recognition will the proposal bring to CUA?
vi. Will it help recruit new graduate students?
vii. What is the need of the requestor as a graduate student?
viii. Will it provide opportunities for students to succeed?
ix. What are the available resources of the department?
d. Determining priority status:
x. In the event that the amount of requests in a given month exceeds the
monetary amount allotted, it will be necessary to evaluate the requests
within a comparative priority status.
xi. Priority status will be determined based upon the following criteria:
A. Priority 7: International paper presentation; paper will be published;
paper was presented first at CUA.
B. Priority 6: Domestic paper presentation; paper will be published;
paper was presented first at CUA
C. Priority 5: International/Domestic paper presentation; paper will be
published; no prior CUA presentation.
D. Priority 4: International paper presentation; paper is not being
published; paper presented first at CUA.
E. Priority 3: Domestic paper presentation; paper is not being
published; paper presented first at CUA.
F. Priority 2: International/Domestic paper presentation; paper is not
being published; no prior CUA presentation.
G. Priority 1: International/Domestic conference attendance.
e. Necessary Documentation for Making Requests. The Committee requires
documentation for all requests. This includes:
i. A completed copy of the Committee's "Universal Expenditure Form".
ii. If the student is requesting money for a presentation that had been given, a
copy of the event's schedule with the student's presentation listed on that
schedule.
iii. Receipts providing indisputable evidence of payment for: travel ticket,
lodging accommodations, and conference fees.
iv. All forms are to be submitted in duplicate: the original forms for processing,
and one copy for the Budget Committee. All requesters should keep one
copy for the their own records. Failure to submit the forms in duplicate will
result in immediate denial of request.
v. Protocol for Making a Request--The Committee requires that all requests be
submitted through the relative departmental GSA Senators. The Committee
reserves to itself the right to make exceptions to this rule.
vi. Penalties for Fraud--The Committee will report any suspected incidents of
fraud involving the money it distributes to the Student Judiciary Board.
IV. Force of this Document
This document supersedes all previous Budget Committee guidelines, policies, and rules. Any contrary principles in previous Budget Committee legislation are hereby revoked.
Requesting GSA funds – the step by step process:
- Prepare yourself for your presentation by presenting your paper at CUA first.
- Attend and or participate in the conference.
- Organize all the necessary paper work:
- Universal Expenditure Form
- Receipts
- Evidence of Presentation
- Any other documents that may help your case
- Copy these forms so that there is three of everything.
- Meet with your GSA representative to ensure the forms are filled out properly.
- Give these forms to your GSA representative, who will then present your request before the Budget Committee.
- Inform yourself of the date of the next GSA Budget Committee meeting, and await the results of the committee’s decision.
Policy Rationale and Explanation
In an effort to obviate any animosity or hostility resulting from disagreement with Budget Committee policy, the following rationale is offered as a small means of helping to illuminate the decisions made by the committee. If disagreement remains after reading the following, we at least hope that the reader at least acknowledges that these decisions were made with an appropriate degree of reflection and vision, with concern for the overall graduate student population.
- Why does the GSA not fund food expenses incurred while attending/presenting at a domestic/international conference (See Standing Rules III, B, 3, b, 6)?
- First and foremost, it is important to point out that if it were financially possible and
practical, the GSA would very much want to fund food expenses for all students while
attending/presenting at a conference.
- In an effort to allow a more equitable distribution, it was necessary for the GSA to focus on
the most important aspects of student conference participation.
- Since food expenses are incurred anyway, whether one attends/presents at a conference or
not, this item did not make the cut.
- Moreover, because food expenses are subject to a high degree of arbitrary volition, it is for
this reason subject to a degree of abuse. Seeing that the GSA wishes to offer the most
funding for the greatest number of people, those items that are most subject to abuse will
not be considered as important as other aspects that cannot be abused.
- Some scenarios the policy is hoping to avoid:
1. A student attends a domestic conference in a nearby city. The conference fee is a mere 40$. The student is aware that the GSA will fund up to 150$. In light of this, the student decides to take some friends out for dinner with the extra 110$.
2. A student presents at an international conference, which guarantees eligibility for up to 800$. After flight and lodging, there is a great deal remaining, and so the student eats at more expensive restaurants.
-
To clarify: the Budget Committee is not saying that these are deceitful. It is merely saying that since the goal is to make funding as broadly available as possible, we do not believe that money that a different student could otherwise use later for a conference should be spent on fine dining (though we wish we could!).
-
To reiterate, it is not that the Budget Committee sees no importance in food expenses, it is simply saying that given the choice, the other more important expenses are given priority.
- Why does the GSA not fund gas expenses procured in the travel to and from a conference (See Standing Rules III, B, 3, b, 6)?
- Again, the Budget Committee wishes to declare that it would very much like to fund gas for
students deciding to travel by car. However, for many of the same reasons as food, gas
will not be funded.
- Travel reimbursement must be at all times based upon a verifiable travel itinerary, as well as
indisputable evidence that payment was made toward the item in question by the
requester.
- A ticket purchased for plane fare, bus fare, or train fare serves as the evidence for travel
expenses: they indicate that money was indeed provided for the service in question, and
went only to that requester for the travel involved.
- Gas receipts, on the other hand, offer no such guarantee for the following reasons:
o There is no evidence on a gas receipt as to the car that received the gas. (See scenario 3 below).
o In order to determine the verifiability of the accuracy of gas expenses relative to the distance traveled, it would be necessary to know the car’s miles per gallon, as well as the distance traveled, and finally that each receipt corresponds to both of these factors.
o Not only would it be necessary for the requester to provide this information, it would be necessary for the Budget Committee to verify it.
o While this would be possible, the impracticality of the process renders gas expenses too questionable for funding.
- Furthermore, in light of the inexpensive means of bus transportation, the gas policy can be
seen to be more credible.
o Budget Committee research has determined that bus travel is more economically efficient than, or equally efficient as, car travel.
o For example, a bus ticket to New York City can be as inexpensive as 35$ round trip; a bust ticket to Philadelphia can be as inexpensive as 28$ round trip; a bus ticket to Chicagio can be as inexpensive as 173$ [except to Chicago, these prices are based on smaller bus lines, like New Century Travel; Greyhound would be slightly more in most cases.]
o The expense of gas to these cities, in most cases and for most vehicles, exceeds this price:
· Distance: 240 miles
· Avg. auto mpg: 20
· Avg. cost of gas: 2.50/gallon
· Total amount spent on gas round trip: 60$ (not including distance that may be driven while in NY).
· Distance: 130 miles
· Avg. auto mpg: 20
