BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHARTER
Article I: Definition of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee
1. The Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee is the representative body that oversees the budgeting of the
Student Activities Fund between the Student Government, the Student Media Board and the Club Council, i.e. the three
recipients of the American University Student Activities Fund. These tasks include, but are not limited to, making
recommendations on the modification of stipend allocations, oversight of the distribution of the Student Activities Fund
among the three organizations and other budgetary issues as determined by the committee.
2. The Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee is made up of three representatives from each of the three
organizations it represents. These nine representatives have equal standing in the Student Activities Budget Advisory
Committee decision making and equal voting power. In addition, there is a member from the Graduate Student
Leadership Council.
3. The Student Government's representatives are the president of the Student Government, the comptroller, and the
chair of the Senate Special Committee on Finance; the Student Media Board's representatives are its two co-chairs and
one special representative elected from the Student Media Board; the Club Council's representatives are its chair, its
outreach director and its financial director.
4. These representatives may change either: by a change in personnel in said positions (e.g. should the president of the
Student Government resign, the next president is the new representative on the Student Activities Budget Advisory
Committee); or if there is a change to any of the three organizations' governing documents (e.g. if Club Council decides
to modify its governing documents to establish two chairs, it may opt to send those co-chairs as its Student Activities
Budget Advisory Committee representatives, rather than a co-chair, the outreach director and the Club Council
financial director.) In no event may any organization represented on the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee
have more than three voting representatives (see Article I, Section 2).
5. As the representative of the three groups which receive Student Activity funds, the Student Activities Budget
Advisory Committee makes recommendations on the allocation of the funds, stipends and other budgetary issues.
6. Meetings of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee are presided over by an unbiased chair who has no
vote and is nominally the Director of the Student Activities or his or her representative. Unbiased means the chair may
not actively exclude or silence any of the nine representatives of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee.
BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHARTER
Article II: Operation and Organization of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee
1. The nine members of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee serve one-year terms, as per the normal
operation of the Student Government, the Student Media Board, and the Club Council.
2. All official meetings of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee must achieve quorum: for any official
decisions to be taken by the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee three conditions must be met: the chair or
his or her representative must be present; a majority of voting members (i.e. five voting representatives) must be
present; at least one representative from the Student Government, Student Media Board and the Club Council each
must be present. The bylaws may be waived to circumvent the latter condition if permission is granted by a majority of
representatives of the given group which is absent (e.g. if an emergency meeting must be held at a time which makes it
impossible for any of the Student Media Board to attend, the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee may have
an official meeting and conduct official business if a majority of the representatives from the Student Media Board
consent.) The quorum requirement may also be waived for an upcoming meeting by a unanimous vote by all voting
members on a meeting-by-meeting basis.
3. All meetings shall be convened, presided over and adjourned by the chair at an agreed-upon time designated by the
nine voting members.
4. All decisions made by the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee shall be made under the principle,
“Majority of representatives; consensus of organizations.” In practice, this means decisions may only be made under
the following conditions: a majority of present voting representatives’ vote in favor of a proposal; and a majority of
present voting representatives from each organization vote in favor of a proposal. These decision-making criteria
constitute normal means.
5. Any of the nine voting representatives may send a voting proxy in his or her absence.
6. This charter may be amended by only normal means (See Article II, Section 7). The only exception is if there is an
internal change to any of the three groups which changes its representation on the Student Activities Budget Advisory
Committee vis-a-vis Article I, Section 3.
7. All meetings of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee are open to the public. The minutes of all
meetings must be taken and published within 48 hours of each meeting’s adjournment on a site or webpage devoted to
budget transparency. The chair may either take the minutes or delegate that responsibility; the note-taker does not need
to be a member of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee. BAC will maintain a social media presence and
publish the time and location of all meetings 24 hours in advance.
8. The chair is tasked with ensuring that the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee operates transparently and
is consequently encouraged to have an honest and active presence on social media and maintain regular contacts with
Student Media and any other relevant organizations for the purpose of ensuring the student body is informed on the
happenings in the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee.
Approved February 2015