Substantive changes have been made to the Spring Allocations process, effective March 2006. Please read the information below.

Each Spring, CSA Senate has the responsibility, with significant assistance from Budget Committee, to allocate a substantial amount of money for the upcoming academic year. This includes sources such as the Student Activity Fee, laundry, and vending revenues, and many of the funds go to student organizations. The following information explains the process. Please read this page completely.

Goals

• To minimize the impact that changes in group leadership will have on an organization's funding.
• To ensure fiscal responsibility of the Senate and student organizations.
• To increase the amount of programming funding available each academic term.
• To eliminate redundancy (groups receiving funding for the same program at multiple points during the year).

Step One

• Determine if your organization qualifies as a "Large Organization." Each year Budget Committee will determine a threshold funding level - if your organization is requesting money over that threshold, it is considered a "Large Organization."
• Check and make sure that the Officers of your organization, when logged in through the "Group Administration Page" on the right, can access detailed information about the organization. If they cannot, or would like others to have access, please contact one of the three Senate Officers.

Step Two

• "Large Organizations" must submit a two-year extended budget request and strategic plan (and may be subject to greater review than organizations which fall below the threshold). The CSA Vice President and Treasurer will provide guidance on how to complete this requirement.
• All other organizations will submit a budget request for the upcoming academic year for fixed and recurring costs ONLY (i.e., known publication costs, fees, etc).
  • No programming will be funded during Spring Allocations.
  • The weekly Special Allocations process through Budget Committee will provide programming funds during the following academic year, and will follow established procedures.
• All organizations may apply for up to $200 of discretionary funding. The usage of these funds must remain within CSA guidelines (available in the Bylaws).

Step Three

• Based on a number of factors, Budget Committee will make a recommendation on each request. This recommendation may be appealed to the Committee.
• Budget Committee will then submit a budget to Senate for approval. There will be a second opportunity to appeal any recommendations, if necessary.

Why have these changes been made?

• The previous Spring Allocations process forced organizations to request excessive amounts of funding without clear programming plans in place. These changes will allow groups to apply to Budget Committee as their needs arise, instead of attempting to predict them up to a year in advance.
• The new process gives all organizations the chance to design creative programming and be responsive to changes in the campus climate.
• This, in turn, allows Senate to retain a greater proportion of funds to be allocated each term for programming purposes (the money will be available in the general funds, rather than held in organizations' accounts who may or may not end up using it).
• Rather than predicting what CSA funds will be spent on for the upcoming year, the new process will make it much easier for the Treasurer and Budget Committee to evaluate the effects of funding guidelines on a term-by-term basis as the money is being allocated.

Questions? (bartramb) or (fritzp)

Instructions:

• Click on the "Group Administration Page" link on the left side of the page. Login with your Carleton username and password. All groups that you have access to will be displayed.
• If a group is not displayed, then you do not have access to it. You must be listed as a leader or other contact in order to access the group information. If you believe this is in error, please contact President Tim Singer (singert), Vice President Peter Fritz (fritzp), or Treasurer Rebecca Bartram.
• There will be a link referencing budget allocations for the upcoming fiscal year. This is where your group should enter their request. If you have specific questions about the form, please contact Treasurer Rebecca Bartram (bartramb).