What types of organizations are sponsored by BOCC?
What are all of those abbreviations you use? It's like you're talking in code sometimes!
Who is supposed to sign SARs and travel forms?
How does a college council take advantage of its EALs?
How do we submit a budget for our organization?
Why is the budgeting process done in the spring rather than the fall?
What is the special request process?
How much money can be requested?
How often may a group make special requests?
Q: What types of organizations are sponsored by BOCC?
A: BOCC exists to serve the needs and interests of academic organizations. These are organizations that present on-campus programs to enhance educational opportunities or provide new ones, as well as sponsor travel by its members to conferences and events of academic interest. There are many other types of SG-funded organizations, such as social organizations, recreational organizations, or groups that serve a particular demographic or idealogical interest, but these groups are funded under different areas of SG. If you are considering starting a new organization but you are not sure which part of SG would best serve you, please do not hesitate to contact BOCC leadership or the Student Body Treasurer for assistance.
Q: What are all of those abbreviations you use? It's like you're talking in code sometimes!
A: Indeed it is. We use abbreviations to keep communications short and quick. As you'll see from the following list, sometimes a few letters can say a lot!
BEC = Benton Engineering Council
BOCC = Board of College Councils
CLASSC = Spoken as "Class C", stands for College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Council
EAL = Executive-at-Large
NRE = Natural Resources and Environment College Council
SAR = Student Activity Requisition, an important financial document
SG = Student Government, typically referring to the Senate and the Executive Branch
Q: Who is supposed to sign SARs and travel forms?
A: It depends upon the source of the funding. If a student organization is using its own funding which was generated through outside revenue and properly deposited with SG Finance, the organizational president and treasurer sign off on the paperwork. (Note that they must be "finance-trained" to do so, which requires completing the SG Finance Training CD and meeting with the Student Body Treasurer.) If the student is spending funds that it received via the budgeting process the prior year, the signing authority rests with the president and treasurer of the respective college council. Lastly, if the funding was received via a BOCC Special Request, the president and treasurer of BOCC must sign all relevant paperwork. If you are not sure, you may ask the BOCC president or treasurer, or ask someone in SG Finance.
Q: How does a college council take advantage of its EALs?
A: Executives-at-large exist to assist college councils in all aspects of operations and to serve as liaisons to BOCC. EALs are required to attend the general meetings of the college councils they serve, and as such serve as a diirect source of information for all groups within the college council. In addition, if an organization is making a BOCC Special Request, the EAL is available to help the group navigate through the process. EALs may also serve as advisors and counsel to college council leadership, and supervise college council elections if requested by the council leadership.
Q: How do we submit a budget for our organization?
A: The budgeting process takes place in the spring semester, and establishes budgets for student organizations for the following academic year. At the beginning of the spring semester, check the Budgets page for more information and descriptions of the process. In general, this is the process: a group completes the "SG Budget Disk", which is actually a downloadable Excel spreadsheet into which the budget request is entered. This organizational budget is then compiled, with other groups' requests, into a college council budget, and the college council budget requests are then compiled into the BOCC budget request. This request is reviewed by the Budget Committee of the Student Senate, which eventually votes upon the committee's recommendation. At this point, the process reverses as budgets are distributed. Note that this funding, the amount of which is determined in April, does not become available until mid-August.
Q: Why is the budgeting process done in the spring rather than the fall?
A: Because it takes so long for the budget requests and distributions to ascend and descend through the multiple layers of beauracracy. That way, at the beginning of the fall semester, student groups can hit the ground running without having to wait for the budgets for that year to be determined.
Q: What is the special request process?
A: In general, this is what happens: an organization determines an amount to request for a certain event or activity and makes a request from the appropriate college council. If the college council is unable to fund the event, the council leadership will then direct the organization to make the request from BOCC. The person managing the request for the organization then downloads the appropriate forms from the page linked to above and fills them out, and then sends the forms to the BOCC Vice President. The request is then reviewed by the BOCC Executive Board at its next Executive Meeting, and a recommendation is determined. This recommendation is then considered by the BOCC General Board at its meeting the following week, and the BOCC General Board will vote and determine the final funding amount. Because of the meeting schedule, the process of getting through the two BOCC meetings can take up to two weeks, and that is after any college council request process. It is recommended you begin to explore the process at least eight weeks before the event or activity so that enough time is allowed for the process to complete.
Q: How much money can be requested?
A: There is no limit as to the size of a request, but note that it is very rare for BOCC to approve a request in excess of $1000. If more funds are needed, special cases may be fowarded to the Senate Allocations Committee for additional funding, but this, too, is rarely determined to be appropriate. It is unrealistic to expect travel requests to be fully funded, especially when there are many students involved.
Q: How often may a group make special requests?
A: There is no limit as to the number of requests that a group may make.