TRUMAN STATE UNIVERSITY FUNDS ALLOTMENT COUNCIL
CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE I
NAME
Section 1
The name of this Independent Council of the Student Government shall be the
Funds Allotment Council.
ARTICLE II
MISSION
Section 1
The Truman State University Funds Allotment Council is dedicated to the intellectual and social development of students and to enhancing their entertainment opportunities. The Council expresses this commitment through the financial support of activities that are organized and sponsored by chartered student organizations. The council will strive to fund a variety of activities sponsored by a variety of organizations that will provide potential benefit to all members of the Student Association and the larger University Community. In order to accomplish its mission, the council will attempt to balance the many needs and desires that are inherent in a liberal arts and sciences learning community and provide a slate of activities that furthers the mission of
Truman State University.
ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 Total Voting Membership
A.
The total voting membership of the Funds Allotment Council shall consist of appointed and elected members.
B.
All voting members shall have the same rights and powers except for those explicitly designated in this Constitution or the By-Laws.
Section 2 Appointed Membership
A.
The appointed membership shall consist of six members.
B.
No more than three of the appointed Funds Allotment Council members shall be members of the Student Senate.
C.
During the general meeting of the Council following the Spring general election, the outgoing voting members shall elect new appointed members from the
Council’s existing membership.
Section 3 Elected Membership
A.
The elected membership shall consist of the Council Chair, Council Treasurer, and the Student Representative.
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B.
The Council Chair and Council Treasurer must have served at least two consecutive semesters on the Council.
C.
The requirements in Section 3B may be waived by a 6/9 vote of the Council.
Section 4 Affiliated Membership
A.
The affiliated membership shall consist of non-voting members of the Funds
Allotment Council who shall assist in the work of and are expected to perform the same duties as other members as defined in the Council Constitution and By-
Laws.
B.
The Council shall accept applications for affiliated membership at least once every academic year. Applications for membership must be well-advertised, and the deadline for submitting an application shall be no earlier than after the fourth week of the semester.
C.
An appointment committee, which shall consist of all three elected members of the Council, one appointed member of the Council, and three members from outside the Council (preferably members of either the Student Senate and the
Student Activities Board or, if members of those organizations are unavailable, students-at-large selected by the Chair) shall review all submitted applications.
The committee shall appoint a number of the applicants to affiliated positions on the Council. Newly appointed affiliates shall immediately begin assisting the
Council in its duties.
D.
After the first four weeks of the semester following their appointment, the newly appointed affiliates shall be subject to a 6/9 confirmation vote by the Council.
Newly appointed affiliates who are not confirmed shall be dismissed from the
Council. Following confirmation, affiliates shall be eligible to assume voting membership on the Council.
ARTICLE IV
RESPONSIBILITES OF MEMBERS
Section 1 Eligibility
A.
Any student, enrolled full time at Truman State University and meeting the requirements of the Constitution and By-Laws, shall be eligible to run for the elected positions or be appointed to serve on the Funds Allotment Council.
B.
Members shall, at the time of their installation and throughout their term of office, be enrolled as full time students.
C.
Members must maintain a minimum of a 2.5 cumulative grade point average throughout their term on the Council.
D.
Members must meet attendance requirements as specified in the By-Laws.
Section 2 Powers of Voting Members
A.
All appointed and elected members shall have one vote each for all appropriation and other voting decisions.
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B.
A special meeting of the Council must be called within 48 hours upon the submission to the Council Chair of a petition signed by at least three members of the Council.
Section 3 Length of Terms
A.
All six appointed members shall serve a term from the date of their appointment by the Council until the subsequent appointments are made by the Council the following year.
B.
Elected members shall serve a term from the date of their election until the subsequent Spring general election.
C.
Any member appointed by the Council to fill a vacancy as set forth in Article IV,
Section 4 shall serve the remainder of the term of the member who created the vacancy.
Section 4 Vacancies
A.
In the event of a vacancy of an elected seat on the Council, other than the Chair, the position(s) shall be filled by nomination from existing appointed and affiliated council members and an immediate majority vote within the Council.
B.
In the event of a vacancy of an appointed seat on the Council, the position(s) shall be filled by nomination from existing appointed and affiliated council members and an immediate majority vote within the Council.
C.
In the event of a vacancy of the Council Chair, the Council Vice Chair shall assume the duties of the Council Chair for the remainder of the term.
D.
In the event of a simultaneous vacancy of the Council Chair and Vice Chair, the
Council shall elect from its own membership a new Council Chair to serve the remainder of the term.
Section 5 Recall and Impeachment
A.
Impeachment a.
The Funds Allotment Council shall have the authority to impeach any of its members by a 6/9 vote. b.
In the event of an impeachment of a Council member, the Student Senate shall have authority to remove said member from office by a three-fourths vote as provided for in the Student Government Constitution and Standing
Rules.
B.
Recall a.
The Student Association has the power, by presenting signatures of fifteen percent of its membership, to recall a Council member. b.
The Student Senate shall hold a special election between the fifth and tenth days after presentation of said signatures, at which time the Student
Association shall decide whether to retain the member in question. c.
If a member is removed from office by this process, the vacancy shall be filled as provided for in Section 4.
ARTICLE V
MEETINGS
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Section 1 General Meetings
The Funds Allotment Council shall hold open general meetings on a regular basis as stipulated in the By-Laws and Standing Rules.
Section 2 Open Meeting Regulations
The Funds Allotment Council shall be allowed to close its general meetings to the public only to discuss internal personnel matters.
Section 3 Quorum
A quorum consisting of five voting members of the Funds Allotment Council shall be necessary to conduct business.
ARTICLE VI
FUNDING PROCESS
Section 1 Funding
A.
Each semester the Funds Allotment Council may take and approve applications for funding eligible organizations, which are in good standing with the University
Conduct System and the Center for Student Involvement, and not under sanction from the Funds Allotment Council.
B.
In order to be eligible to submit an application in the fall for spring funding, an organization must be chartered before the first day of that fall semester. In order to be eligible to submit an application in the spring for funding in the fall, an organization must be chartered before the first day of that spring semester.
C.
A Council General Account shall be set aside for all groups applying for funding for activities that do not fall under the Inter-Collegiate Activities guidelines, as specified in Section 1B.
D.
A separate Inter-Collegiate Activities (ICA) account shall be set up to fund groups applying for funding for Inter-Collegiate competition, performance, and/or exhibition.
E.
The Funds Allotment Council shall announce at a Student Senate meeting within the first four weeks of each semester the estimated total acquired funds (TAF) available to be allotted that semester.
F.
The total acquired funds (TAF) available to be allocated in the fall semester shall be the amount annually budgeted to the Funds Allotment Council, plus any money rolled over from the previous fiscal year, minus administrative costs incurred since the beginning of the fiscal year, minus the reserve account as specified in the By-Laws.
G.
The Funds Allotment Council shall make available to the Student Association a nonbinding timeline of the Funding Process developed in accordance with the
Council Constitution and Bylaws within the first four weeks of each semester.
H.
From the TAF available to be allocated, 20% to 40% may be allotted to the ICA account, depending on the relative demand for funding each semester.
Section 2 Funding Application Process
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A.
All organizations must submit a fully completed “Application for Funding” in order to be considered for funding by the Funds Allotment Council.
B.
A separate “Application for Funding” must be submitted by groups applying for funding from the ICA account, in accordance with the By-Laws.
Section 3 Hearing Process
A.
All organizational hearings shall be open to the public.
B.
Any organization which receives approval for eligibility for funding from the
Funds Allotment Council as specified in Article VII and submits its application for funding within the time frame specified in the By-Laws shall be granted a hearing by the Funds Allotment Council.
C.
All organizations are required to attend a hearing, and the Council shall provide for a secondary hearing time in case an organization fails to attend its first scheduled hearing.
D.
Failure to attend a hearing shall result in a rejection of the organization’s application for funding.
E.
The requirement in Section 3D can be waived by a 6/9 vote of the Council.
Section 4 Decision Process
A.
All Funds Allotment Council deliberation meetings shall be closed to the public.
B.
All decisions made by the Funds Allotment Council concerning event funding shall be made within the guidelines of the mission of the Council, including an emphasis on funding a wide variety of events.
C.
The slate of events shall be presented to the Student Association within two weeks of the final hearing. All organizations that applied for funding shall also be notified of the Council’s decision at that time.
D.
The maximum funds to be allotted to a specific event shall be $5,000.
E.
The maximum funds to be allotted to a specific group from the ICA shall be
$5,000 in an academic year.
F.
No organization shall receive more than $10,000 in an academic year.
G.
All funds must be dispersed in accordance with University procedures and state and federal laws.
Section 5 Grievance Process
A.
Any organization which is granted a hearing may submit grievances regarding the funding process to the Student Senate, which will in turn establish an investigative committee to determine the legitimacy of the grievances.
B.
Grievances must be submitted to the Senate within two weeks of the presentation of the slate of events. If no grievances are submitted to the Senate in that time, the slate shall be considered final and binding.
C.
In the event that the investigative committee determines that said grievances are legitimate, the committee shall present its findings to the Student Senate, which may in turn veto the slate of events.
D.
The Student Senate shall have the power to veto the slate of events only in the case of a violation of the procedures outlined in this Constitution, the Council By-
Laws, and the Organizational Activities Fund General Guidelines.
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E.
In the event that Student Senate vetoes the slate, the Speaker of the Student
Senate shall submit within three days of the vote a written statement of the reasons for the veto to the Funds Allotment Council.
F.
The Funds Allotment Council shall, within one week of the veto, either correct any procedural errors which were committed and resubmit the slate as amended for final approval, or adopt the slate by overriding the Student Senate veto by a
9/9 vote.
Section 6 Verification Process
A.
All organizations which are allotted funding by the Funds Allotment Council shall submit a post event evaluation within two weeks after the event occurs in accordance with the procedure outlined in the Funds Allotment Council By-Laws.
B.
No organization will be eligible to reapply for funding until a completed post event evaluation is filed with the Funds Allotment Council.
C.
The requirements in Section 6B can be waived by a 6/9 vote of the Funds
Allotment Council.
ARTICLE VII
REGULATIONS
Section 1 Eligibility Requirements
A.
Any campus organization which has been granted a charter by, and is in good standing with, the Center for Student Involvement shall be eligible to apply to the
Funds Allotment Council for approval for eligibility for funding as outlined in the
By-Laws.
B.
The Funds Allotment Council shall deny approval for eligibility for funding only when an organization does not meet the guidelines specified in the Constitution and By-Laws.
C.
Any campus organization which has been sanctioned by the Funds Allotment
Council shall not be eligible for funding pursuant to the measures specified in
Article VIII.
Section 2 Event Requirements
A.
All events funded by the Council must take place on-campus, with the exception of ICA events.
B.
The Council can only fund on-campus publicity.
C.
The Council can only fund the purchase of food for an event if food is an essential part of the event.
D.
The Council cannot fund the purchase of any equipment that is of a personal nature including but not limited to prizes, uniforms, and trophies.
E.
The Council will not fund events that may be in violation of or promote the violation of the Student Conduct Code or federal or state laws.
F.
The determination of which items and events fall into the categories specified in this Section shall be left to the discretion of the Council.
ARTICLE VIII
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ORGANIZATION PUNISHMENT PROCESS
Section 1
The Funds Allotment Council may sanction any organization which has misused funds or in any other way violated the rules and regulations of the Funds
Allotment Council as stipulated in the By-Laws.
Section 2
If the Council finds an organization may have violated the FAC Constitution or
By-Laws, the organization in question must appear before the Council to explain the possible violation and the context in which it took place. After the organization appears before the Council, the Council will vote whether to sanction the organization.
Section 3
If the Council votes to sanction an organization the sanctioning period shall begin with the next funding period following the sanction.
Section 4
Organizations which are sanctioned by the Funds Allotment Council may appeal the Council’s decision to the Student Senate.
Section 5
Upon receiving an appeal, the Student Senate shall form an investigative committee to determine the legitimacy of the sanctions and shall vote either to uphold or to overturn the sanctions.
Section 6
The Student Senate shall have final authority in all sanction appeals.
ARTICLE IX
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
Section 1
The Funds Allotment Council shall be an independent council of the Student
Government, as defined by Article V of the Student Government Constitution.
Section 2
The Funds Allotment Council Constitution and By-Laws, and any other documents explicitly mentioned therein, shall be the only governing document of the Council.
Section 3 Longevity
A.
The Funds Allotment Council shall exist subject to the existence of the
General Guidelines of the Organizational Activities Fund.
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B.
The Funds Allotment Council shall be disbanded in the event that the
Evaluation Procedure of the General Guidelines of the Organizational
Activities Fund dissolves the fund.
ARTICLE X
AMENDMENT
Section 1
The Funds Allotment Council Constitution shall be revised and amended as provided herein and in the Student Government Constitution.
Section 2
Amendments to the Funds Allotment Council Constitution may be proposed by a
6/9 vote of the voting membership of the Council.
Section 3
The Chair, or an appointed FAC member, shall then present this proposed
Constitutional Amendment to the Student Senate
Section 4
Once approved by the Student Senate, the Constitutional Amendment shall be taken to a vote of the student body at the next Student Senate General Election according to the Student Government Constitution.
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