Procedures For Student Organizations

Recognized Student Organizations

In order to be considered recognized a club/organization must be approved by the Student Government Association (SGA). Only organizations that are recognized and considered active may use the College name or facilities for activities, petition SGA for funding, publicize events/activities on campus, or engage in fundraising activities. Organizations become recognized by submitting a request for charter and constitution for approval to the Dean for Student Services who forwards the packet to the Student Senate.

Steps for New Student Organization Recognition Approval

Meet with the Dean for Student Services to review the new student organization chartering process.
Using the SGA Constitution as a guide, develop a Constitution and By-laws for your club. Items that must be included in this document are:
1. Purpose of the club
2. Prerequisite qualifications of membership
3. Procedures for electing and removal of officers
4. Number of members for quorum
5. Duties of officers
6. Proposed meeting times
7. Proposed means of financial support of the organization
Information that must be provided on the chartering form are:
1. Detailed description of the club/organizations purpose
2. List of proposed activities for the first year
3. A list of officers (temporary or permanent)
4. The name(s) of the faculty/staff advisor to the organization
Additional information that must accompany the Constitution and Chartering Form:
1. Proposed budget
2. If outside affiliation is proposed, you must provide a copy of the governing policies of this outside organization
Return the completed starting a new student club packet with all the required materials and forms to the Admissions, Advocacy & Counseling suite McGee 134. Meet with the Dean for Student Services to review the submitted material.

The Dean for Student Services will forward the completed chartering packet to the President of the SGA for presentation and approval at the next scheduled Student Senate meeting.

Maintaining Active Status

Clubs/Organization must elect a student senate representative as soon as a club becomes recognized.
Every delegate, including organization representatives, of the SGA Senate must be an activity fee paying student of good standing at Carteret CC. They must carry at least eight (8) credit hours and maintain a GPA of 2.5.
After initial recognition, in order to be considered active, an organization must designate a representative at the beginning of each fall and spring semesters to attend Student Senate meetings and represent the organization. Organizations will not be considered active in any semester until their representative is designated and in attendance.
Three (3) non-excused absences by a club representative (or designee) from regular Senate meetings, as indicated in the SGA minutes from roll call or sign-in at the meetings, constitutes grounds for withdrawal of SGA sanction at which time the club will no longer be considered active. It is the responsibility of the SGA Secretary to monitor meeting attendance.

Responsibilities of Club/Organization

At the end of the Academic year a report summarizing the clubs activities and service projects will be submitted (along with the yearly financial report to the dean for Student Services. Failure to submit this report could make the club ineligible to receive funds for the following year and may affect the club’s status.
All clubs/organizations on campus will perform one on-campus or off-campus service project per year.

Financial Accountability

The Student Government Association (SGA) allocates funds to student organizations at Carteret Community College. These funds are generated by the student activity fee paid by all curriculum students. The following procedures have been established to govern all financial involvement of recognized, active student organizations.

I. Funding Eligibility

For an organization to request funds from the SGA, the club has to meet the following requirements

Have a constitution on file with the Dean for Student Services.
Be recognized as a student organization by the College.
Have two active representatives elected/appointed to the Student Senate.
One serves as an alternate in case the main representative cannot be at a scheduled Senate meeting. The representative’s names should be on file with the Dean for Student Services and the SGA Secretary.
Complete the procedures for requesting funds outlined later in this document. Any club that does not follow these procedures may not be eligible for funds.
Except for curriculum-based clubs, all Student clubs must be open to all students.

*NOTE: Student Interest Groups that limit membership are not eligible to receive funds.

II. Appropriate/Inappropriate Uses of SGA Funds

Appropriate Uses:

Attending a conference or convention.
Travel that supports the mission of the organization.
Activities that the Dean for Student Services deems to be social, community service, informational/educational, enrichment, or athletic related.
Items needed for a social event or performance. (decorations, costumes, etc.) General Supplies must be itemized.

*NOTE: If funds are used to purchase items such as decorations, they are to be stored so that they can be used for future years. (There is limited storage space available on campus. Contact the Dean for Student Services for more information.)

Inappropriate Uses:

The purchase of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances.
The purchase of any item or equipment that is to be used in a classroom setting.
The purchase of any personal items for personal use.
The purchase of uniforms or any personal equipment.
Money given to charities or items purchased to give to charities.

Inappropriate use of funds will result in the loss of future funding. If you are uncertain about a purchase ask the SGA Treasurer or Dean for Student Services.

III. Requesting Funds

For a club to receive funds, they must do the following:

Appoint two representatives who must attend any workshops scheduled by the Finance Committee. These names should be on file with the SGA Treasurer.
Submit a budget proposal.
Submit two copies of a tentative calendar of scheduled events with the budget proposal. This is to help the student organizations and the SGA work together in planning activities for the College’s students. The financial workshops provide training in this area. Additional assistance is available from the SGA Treasurer, SGA Vice-President, SGA Administrative Advisor or the Dean for Student Services.

The student organization will be notified in writing of the Senate’s decision no later than five (5) days after the meeting in which the submitted budget proposal is considered.

If an unexpected expense or reimbursement arises, a club may submit a special request to the Finance Committee.
Forms for special requests are available online from the SGA website.
The expense/reimbursement must be proven to be a required one. A reasonable explanation must accompany the request as to why it was not included in the student organization budget request.
If the request is for a reimbursement all original receipts need to be submitted with the request. Requests submitted without receipts will not be considered.
Submission of a request does not constitute approval of unexpected expenses or reimbursement from the Senate. At the end of the fiscal year, The Treasurers of all Student Clubs will submit a budget report to the Finance Committee documenting how the funds were spent and how much is to be reverted to the SGA General Account. All allocated funds not spent by the end of the fiscal year revert to the SGA General Account.

IV. Receiving Funds

Requisitions for budget approved activity funds need to be submitted to the SGA Treasurer two weeks prior to the activity. The Treasurer will than submit the requests to the SGA Administrative Advisor for processing.

All requisitions will need the signature of the student organization’s treasurer and their faculty advisor.
Requested funds will be released to the faculty advisor when made available by the business office.

It takes at minimum 10 business days to process the paperwork before requested funds are available.

V. Loss of Funding

The following actions will be taken if a club does not have a representative or alternate present at the scheduled Senate meetings.
1. At the first unattended meeting the organization will receive a written warning notice from the SGA Secretary.
2. At the second unattended meeting the organization will receive a written warning from the SGA Secretary outlining upcoming freezing of funds.
3. At the third unattended meeting the organization’s funding will be frozen until the representative is active again in the Senate.
4. The account will remain frozen until the organization’s representative or alternate attends three consecutive meetings.
5. If a representative or alternate is not present for three consecutive meetings after the account is frozen then the club forfeits their funding for that year.
6. If for some reason a representative or alternate cannot be at a Senate meeting, the SGA President needs to be notified before the meeting so he or she can approve/disapprove the absence.
7. A copy of the approval/disapproval from the SGA President must be submitted to the SGA Treasurer for the organization’s file. It is the responsibility of the Senator or alternate to make sure this is on file with the Treasurer.
The following actions will be taken against a club found using allocated funds for inappropriate purchase and/or use.
1. The club will lose the rights to their account for a period of one year.
2. The club will not be able to submit a budget proposal during this period of time; however, they may submit a request on an event-by-event basis to the Finance Committee for review. Submitting an event-by-event request does not constitute approval by the Senate.

VI. Loss of College Recognition

SGA has the right to withdraw official approval of any student organization by a two-thirds vote of the members present. Approval may be withdrawn for, but not limited to the following reasons:

Misappropriation of funds.
Not following established procedures for the expenditure of funds.
Failure to follow set school policy as well as organization constitution and by-laws and SGA constitution and by-laws.
Violation of local, state, or federal laws.

Carteret Community College holds the right to dissolve any club/organization for any one or more of the following reasons:

Inactivity of the club for three or more years.
If a club dissolves or remains inactive for three years, funds will be transferred/returned to a general organization fund.
Buying alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances with club/organization monies.
Failure to maintain a Carteret CC employee as an advisor.

VII. Fund-Raising

Student Club’s that hold fundraising events must submit a list of all fundraising events to the Dean for Student Services and the SGA Treasurer at the same time they submit the club’s budget.

A detailed plan for each fund raising event must be submitted to the Dean for Student Services for approval at least two weeks prior to the event.

The plan must include the following

A detailed description of the event – car wash, candy/other sale, auction, etc.
How will the sale/other items be acquired/paid for?
How will the money be collected and accounted for?
Who will be responsible for depositing the money and how often?
Who is responsible for payment of bills/invoices associated with the event?

Any money generated by fundraising events must be deposited and held in a college account separate from the student activity fees allocated by the SGA. Contracts and receipts for payment generated by the activity must be paid from the club account. Fund-raised money may be used to fund some activities not allowed with student activity fees. For example, gifts to charities.

Clubs may not actively solicit merchandise from local businesses since they are the principal contributors to the College Foundation.

VIII. Accountability

Student organizations will provide information as requested by the Dean for Student Services, SGA Administrative Advisor, SGA Treasurer, SGA Executive Board or the SGA Senate. This information will be used to account for the student organization’s financial situation and if the funds requested are deemed necessary and appropriate. Examples of requested information would be, records of money spent, records of money raised by fundraising etc.

IX. Funding Appeals Process

A Club that has issues raised by a Finance Committee decision, SGA Executive Board and/or the SGA Senate may request an appeal by the SGA Senate.

To request an appeal, the Club must submit a request in writing to the SGA Treasurer within one week after the decision has been received. The Treasurer will present the request to the next Executive Board meeting for review. The Treasurer will notify the organization of the Executive Board’s decision.
If the decision was to hear the appeal, the Club will have two weeks to prepare their grievances to present to the SGA Senate.
The Club will receive the Senate’s final decision in writing within five days of the Senate meeting.

Specific Duties of the Carteret CC Club/Organization Advisor

The success of a club/organization is directly related to the interest and efforts of the advisor. The advisor provides the basic orientation and motivation for the activities of the club/organization. The following duties are suggested:
Give guidance and direction to the club/organization.
Attend meetings on a regular basis and be a resource person for the club/organization.
Assist the club officers in preparing the semester financial reports as specified under the responsibilities of the club/organization, as well as an annual report.
Advise the designated officer of the club/organization in any financial matters.
Ensure that the officers practice generally accepted accounting procedures in their record keeping so that an audit trail may be followed for transactions.
Ensure that an annual financial report from the club officer is forwarded to the office of the Dean for Student Services within two weeks after the end of spring semester.
Schedule the college van/car through the Maintenance Department and drive students to events/activities off-campus.
Accompany the group on trips requiring overnight travel.
Promote the club/organization activities.
Ensure that all college policies and procedures regarding the use of facilities and equipment are followed; i.e., use of copy machines, classroom use, van use, etc.

Student Organization Travel/Professional Development

Limited SGA funds are available for clubs to use for travel/professional development activities. Requests must be made at the first meeting of the semester in which the activity will occur. The SGA shall have the authority to deny or to fund requests as determined by the finance committee per pre-published criteria.

To receive funds, the advisor, or designated representative, must accompany the students on their trip. If this person is not the club advisor, then he/she must be approved by the Dean for Student Services.
There is a $300 travel/professional development fund request limit for each club, each school year and a loan limit of $200 for each club each school year.
Loans must be paid in full by the end of the spring semester in the school year in which the loan was given.
If a loan is not paid in full, club status is suspended and no more funds will be released to that club until the loan is paid off.
When receiving travel/professional development funds from the SGA, the club/organization must submit a description of the travel and value to the members of the organization to the College Facebook page and a copy to the Dean for Student Services with a photo, if possible, within five (5) working days of the members return. Failure to submit this article could make the club ineligible to receive funds for the following year and jeopardize the clubs status.
All students who travel or engage in professional development activities that occur off-campus must submit a liability waiver before they leave campus.

Club Publicity Procedures

Utilize bulletin boards, Facebook and Twitter to present information and to publicize activities no more than two weeks in advance.
Place flyers in classrooms where the major course work in a specific program area is taught; i.e., Radiology students would post information in the Radiology classrooms.
Remove all poster, flyers, and literature within 24 hours after the event takes place. If publicity information is not removed, the privilege of posting information will be withdrawn.
Do not post information on glass doors, windows, or painted surfaces.
Do not use College letterhead stationery, except with express permission of the Dean for Student Services

All club articles for public release, whether placed in College publications, or public newspapers, need to be routed to the Dean for Student Services first and, then, on to proper channels for final release. These articles must have a cover sheet that states the following: the person delivering the article, the department they are from, and where the article is to be placed. All articles submitted must be typed.

Club/Organization Activities

A Club Activity Form is submitted to the Dean for Student Services at least two weeks prior to a proposed event. Proposal includes the following information:

Description of project
Purpose
Charge (if applicable)
Proposed date(s), time(s), and place(s)
Signature of organization president (if applicable)
Signature of advisor
Supervision by staff
Security involvement

The Dean for Student Services will designate a responsible party. All activities must be conducted in a manner that will be a credit to the College. Proposals are reviewed by the Dean for Student Services and the SGA Administrative Advisor before approval is granted.

Student Participation Form

When a student is involved in a school-related activity which would require missing a regularly scheduled class, lab, or clinical, the Student Participation form must be filled out and approved prior to the date of the activity. The director of the activity will initiate the Student Participation form, but it will be the responsibility of the individual student to have their instructor sign and date the form approving the missed class time. This form must be returned to the Dean for Student Services on or before the date of the scheduled event. If an instructor does not approve the student’s participation and the student attends the activity, the absence will be added to any other unexcused absences. Any student who does not attend either the approved activity or the scheduled class will be counted absent for the class.

Waiver of Liability and Release

Students involved in club/organization activities that occur off-campus must complete and sign a Waiver of Liability and Release form before they leave the campus. If the student is under the age of 18, a parent or guardian must sign the form. Completed and signed waivers are filed in the business office.