Systems and Procedures
A Division of The Office of Budget and Finance
A Division of The Office of Budget and Finance
This document serves as the guide for fiscal policies and procedures for Student Government Association accounts and creates a uniform standard across all campuses.
The amount of funds budgeted for financial support of recognized student organizations shall be determined by the Board of Trustees on an annual basis, upon the recommendation of the President after consultation with the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Student Fee Board, and the Chief Student Affairs Officer at the Commonwealth Campuses. In addition, a student-initiated fee is collected at all undergraduate campuses, except Great Valley and College of Medicine, from registered students during the fall and spring sessions. At selected campuses a summer fee may be collected. The use of the student-initiated fee funds must be in accordance with the University's Student Fee Board Handbook and the individual campus allocation committee policies and procedures.
The Student Government Association (SGA) and all affiliated student-run organizations at each campus are authorized to maintain both allocated and non-allocated accounts within Penn State University System for Integrated Management, Budget, and Accounting (SIMBA). The allocated account is to be used for all monies allocated by the University and the transfer from the University must be directly recorded into an account using a general fund or student-initiated fee fund. The non-allocated account is to be used for all non-allocated monies generated through dues, fundraisers, donations, etc. and must be directly recorded into an agency fund.
Solicitation activities shall be defined as:
Recognized student organizations and University-affiliated student organizations desiring to solicit funds for non-University charitable organizations that they deem worthy of support may do so subject to the following restrictions:
Solicitation in the resident halls is subject to additional restrictions as follows as well as the restrictions found in the Policies and Rules for Student Organization:
Solicitation in non-residence hall campus locations is subject to the following additional restrictions and is authorized by Student Affairs at Commonwealth campuses:
Two signatures are required for all transactions. There are six (6) authorized signatories:
In all cases, the signature of one organization office (1, 2, 3, or 4 above) and one campus administrator (5 or 6 above) are required for all transactions.
The following funds must be deposited into the allocated account:
Establish accounts for each allocation in the SGA general fund or student-initiated fee fund. The budgeted allocation should agree to the allocation voted on in the SGA minutes. Expenditures for this allocation should be recorded against the appropriate account to ensure that the expenditures do not exceed the university allocations.
The following funds must be deposited into the non-allocated account:
Create an account for the non-allocated funds for each club. Expenditures should be recorded against the account to ensure that the expenditures do not exceed the funds received.
The organization Officer or Treasurer Designee (can be a club member) will complete a Deposit Accountability Form (Exhibit B).
When the organization officer or treasurer makes a deposit, a University prenumbered receipt will be written and given to the organization representative as discussed in Policy FN01 Cash Revenues and Procedure FN2032 Processing and Controlling Prenumbered Receipts.
When tickets are used for an event where a fee is collected, they must be prenumbered for accountability. The ticket request form is to be used (Exhibit A). In these cases, a Ticket Accountability Form (see Policy AD75 University Events and Ticket Accountability for details) must be completed.
If Student Organizations receive a monetary gift, first contact your Development Office. If they don't need to be deposited through Development, then they should be deposited by the Finance Office into the SGA non-allocated accounts.
Food-related sales required prior approval from Housing and Food Services or the Director of Business Services. Merchandise sales using Penn State images or names must be approved by Penn State Licensing prior to the sale.
Student dues must be deposited into the SGA non-allocated accounts. Each campus may make their own policy regarding group deposits.
All or a portion of parking fines, as designated by the Chief Student Affairs Officer, in consultation with the Chancellor and Campus Financial Officer, must be deposited into the non-allocated accounts. SGA stipends are paid from parking fine money. Any remaining funds may be used to enhance student programs.
See Policy FN01 Processing Cash Revenues and Procedure FN2005 Processing Cash Revenues for full details.
All expenditures of the SGA funds, including both allocated and non-allocated funds, are controlled by the SGA Treasurer. However, the oversight and the responsibility for the proper use of these funds ultimately rests with the Chief Student Affairs Officer.
All contracts and agreements must comply with Policies FN11 Contracts and Leases and FNG02 Limited Delegation of Contractual Documents. See the Contract Information web-page on the Office of Central Procurement website for full details pertaining to contracts and agreements.
All suppliers of goods and services must provide the organization with an itemized invoice for goods delivered or services rendered. These invoices must accompany the Expense/Reimbursement Request Form (Exhibit C).
See Policy BS09 Initiating Purchases from Vendors Outside the University for full details.
Anyone wishing to be reimbursed for a purchase made with personal funds on behalf of a student organization must submit an itemized receipt from the vendor along with an Expense/Reimbursement Request Form (Exhibit C). The actual goods or services purchased will determine whether the reimbursement should be processed via SIMBA or SAP Concur.
Student Organizations should submit an Expense/Reimbursement Request Form (Exhibit C) with itemized backup to the SGA Treasurer. Requests may take up to 14 days to process. Organizations may indicate on the form whether the check should be mailed directly to the vendor or to the SGA Treasurer's office or designated area for pickup.
Student organizations receiving goods or services from another University department must process a journal entry to record the transaction. Expense/Reimbursement Request Forms (Exhibit C), particularly the signature section, should still be completed. The department providing the goods/service should initiate the journal entry with any supporting documentation uploaded to the transaction.
In the event a student organization is charging a department or another student organization for a service (such as an advertisement in the student newspaper), a journal entry should be initiated.
Students are not able to process travel reimbursement requests and/or reimbursement requests. These reimbursement requests will be processed by a Student Affairs/Finance employee rather than the SGA Treasurer.
Student organizations planning an event that involves travel should seek more information from the Student Affairs staff regarding transportation options, financial planning, and travel policies. All recognized student organizations must register their travel experience with the University a minimum of 48 hours prior to their departure. This includes both domestic and international travel experiences. The University guidelines regarding travel can be found within the Penn State Travel Policies including TR01 International Travel Requirements and TR02 Penn State Travel.
The Non-Employee Travel Reimbursement Form is to be completed within 30 days following the completion of travel. When requesting reimbursement for meals, students should complete the Group Meal and Meeting Support Form and include a list of attendees along with their receipt. It is also important to note that alcohol is not a reimbursable expense, so it will not be included in the expense report.
Mileage for travel to and from a student organization event is allowed if the student uses a personal vehicle. Alternatively, students may wish to submit receipts for fuel and rental car expenses.
All travel reimbursement requests and receipts for an individual must be turned into Student Affairs at the same time. Only one SAP Concur report per person/per trip is allowed and it may only be submitted after the trip has taken place.
If a department wishes to request a purchasing card for Student Government use, they should contact their Financial Officer (FO) for further instructions. SGA purchasing cards are held to the same policies, rules, and procedures regarding purchases of regular staff cards. SGA purchasing cards may be used for goods, services, and travel but must be issued to an employee. If the cardholder is considered a travel arranger, the employee must submit all receipts through SAP Concur under their name. The Office of Finance and Business Services will set spending limits.
If one student organization wants to transfer money to another student organization, a journal entry should be processed in SIMBA. A journal allows the SGA Treasurer or designee to make detailed notes about why the money is being moved and creates a permanent record in SIMBA that is accessible to all budget reconcilers.
Student organizations wishing to seek financial support from the community should review eligibility guidelines and application instructions at Let's Grow State (see Policy AD90 Crowdfunding Solicitation for full details).
The spirit of the Student Government Association (SGA) funding is to create a vibrant community and contribute to the creative, social, and educational atmosphere on each campus. The process for requesting funding varies from campus to campus but additional information can be found by contacting the local SGA officers or Student Affairs staff.
The University allows a wide range of goods and services to be purchased with general funds. The Procurement Search Tool gives examples of those items, as well as additional guidance regarding the proper purchasing procedure. Additional information about general funds vs. donor funds is outline in Policy FN10 Other Business Expenses and Activities. All purchases must comply with the University Student Affairs Policies and Rules for Student Organizations.
After three (3) years of inactive status, any unused allocated funds available in that organization’s Internal Order may be returned to and re-purposed by the Student Government Association. Any unused non-allocated funds available to the organization must be maintained and sustained in the event the organization returns to active status in the future. If a student organization makes the decision to close or deactivate, they are able to re-purpose those funds following the guidance in the "Inter-club Transfers" section above.
See Procedure FN2002 Processing Returned Checks for complete details on this business process when a banking institution returns a check.
Violation of a financial policy and/or procedure should be reported to y our supervisor, unit manager, Human Resources representative, and/or office responsible for the policy and/or procedure. Where those resources are inadequate, you may choose to make an anonymous report through the Penn State University hot-line by calling 1-800-560-1637.
The Financial Officer is responsible for ensuring that procedures pertaining to the accountability and safeguarding of all cash receipts, cash funds, and other assets are established and followed in accordance with approved University policies and procedures. Regular audits relating to advances, cash, travel, equipment accountability, and other expenditures provide a means to protect University assets. The Financial Officer is responsible for collaborating with Internal Auditing when audits are being performed in the administrative area. Audits pertaining to sponsored activities or other audits performed by external auditors may also be performed. The Financial Officer is also be responsible for collaborating with the external auditor and/or a central University office related to these procedures.
University Records retention must be managed in accordance with Policy AD35 University Archives and Records Management, and Records Retention Schedules approved by the Records Management Advisory Committee, the Office of General Counsel, and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff. These records retention schedules are derived from - or based upon - federal, state, and local statutes or regulations, University Policy, industry standards, and business needs. All University Records must be maintained in such a manner to provide ease of access, establish a suitable audit trail for all transactions, and to be reviewed prior to disposition.
University Records and Transitory/Disposable Record are defined below. See Policy AD35, Definition of Terms for additional information.
Upon completion of the retention period, University Records must be disposed of via secure destruction or transfer to University Archives, unless an exception to the disposition process set forth below applies. If the disposition method for University Records states "Review by Archives" on the records retention schedule, the employees responsible for those records should consult the University Archivist for a final determination of disposition. For University Records that must be securely destroyed, units may arrange for shredding services by contacting the Inactive Records Center.
Exceptions to the disposition process are as follows:
To safeguard the privacy of individuals, records that contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII), as defined in University Policy AD53 Privacy Policy, or student records, as defined in University Policy AD11 Confidentiality of Student Records, must be destroyed beyond recovery. For additional information regarding privacy and the protection of an individual's personal information, see Policy AD53 Privacy Policy.
Additional questions may be directed to the Office of Records Management.
For questions or additional details, please contact the Financial Officer - Student Affairs
To request changes to this procedure, please contact the Office of Systems & Procedures by submitting a GURU Technical Support Request form.
December 11, 2024