System Procedure 2.8.1 Student Life

System Procedures
Chapter 2 - Students

Part 1. Purpose
To provide guidance on student life activities, programs, committees, and operations.

Part 2. Definitions

Student organization
Student groups formally recommended for charter by the campus student association(s) and approved by the college or university president.

Student life activities
Programs, events, and other functions contributing to the co-curricular, extracurricular, educational, cultural, well-being of the student body as identified in Minn. Stat. § 136F.01, Subd. 5.

Part 3. Management of Student Life Activity Fee Allocations

Subpart A. Budget process
The campus student association(s) and the college or university president or designee shall jointly determine a schedule to ensure the budgeting process for the next fiscal year's student life activities budget will be completed in the spring. The schedule must provide sufficient time for the campus student association and the college or university to conduct a campus referendum for any proposed student activity fee increase of more than two percent relative to the previous academic year (Minn. Stat. § 135A.0434).

At the beginning of the budget preparation process for the next academic year, the college or university administration shall provide the student life activity committee with a copy of the previous year’s student life activity financial statement, current year-to-date budget and financial statement, and pertinent regulations and policies.

Supplemental budget information, including process notes and explanations, must be provided at the request of the student life activity committee.

The student life activity committee(s) shall present the student life activity budget, including the fee amount and allocation of revenues, to the campus student association(s) for review.

The association(s) shall make recommendations to the college or university president for approval.

A campus student association shall review and may recommend new funding requests or modifications during the academic year and submit the revised funding recommendation to the college or university president for action.

Funding decisions must be made in a viewpoint-neutral manner, meaning that funding decisions cannot be based on the particular group’s point of view.

Subpart B. Student organization accounts
Colleges and universities shall provide for the fiscal management of student organization accounts. A student organization that receives allocations of student activity monies shall deposit and expend all allocations through an account within the college or university activity fund. Student organizations that receive funding from sources (other than the college or university) may establish an agency account for such funds at the discretion of the college or university.

Subpart C. Annual report
Colleges and universities shall prepare a student life activity fee annual financial report including student life activity fund reserves and accrued interest. The report must be available to interested parties and provided to the student life activity committee and the campus student association(s). The campus student association(s) may request that the institution provide a detailed accounting or audit of the student life activity fund, which must be made available to interested parties. The cost of these audits must be borne by the college or university student life activity fund.

Subpart D. Carry forward and reserves
Except to the extent necessary to ensure that expenditures recommended by the campus student association and approved by the president are funded, expenditures from carry forward, including reserves, must occur only after receipt of a recommendation from the campus student association. The amount of these carry forward funds must be reported to the student life committee. Interest earned from the student life activity fund must be credited back to that fund. The committee may review and make recommendations regarding the investment policy for student life activities reserves.

Subpart E. Use of Funds
The student life/activity fee must fund only activities included under Minn. Stat. § 136F.01, Subd. 5, consistent with appropriate use and commonly accepted business practices. The college or university president or designee and the campus student associations(s) shall jointly establish guidelines on appropriate business practices for expenditures from the student life activity fund.
Student life activity funds must not be used to fund:

The purchase of alcohol,

Donations to college or university foundations or other external charitable organizations, or

Scholarships or grants to individuals.

Student leader tuition waivers and/or stipends must be funded by the student life activity fund upon recommendation of the campus student association and approval by the president. The college or university shall determine whether to withhold taxes from funds granted to student leaders. The student life committee may agree to provide funds for its own support through the student life activity budget process.

All revenue collected through the student health services fee and maintained in an account of the activity fund are subject to the finance board policies and system procedures.

System Procedure History:

Date of Adoption: 08/02/04
Date of Implementation: 08/02/04
Date of Last Review: 01/13/23

Date & Subject of Amendments:

01/13/23 – Full review, In Part 3, Subp. A, clarified the budgeting process and relocated a sentence to the end of Part 3, Subp. E.

03/26/18 - Full review, Relocated the viewpoint neutral definition and sentence addressing viewpoint neutral funding decisions from the policy to this procedure, updated definitions and made multiple technical amendments regarding formatting and writing styles.

No additional HISTORY.

System Procedure 2.8.1 Student Life

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