Mandatory Fee Committee Members
Faculty/Staff |
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Students |
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Purpose of the Student Fees Advisory Board (SFAB)
The Student Fees Advisory Board (SFAB) at Clayton State University is established to 1) review all budgets for allocation of mandatory student fees and make recommendations regarding support, modification, or non-support prior to submission to the Board of Regents; 2) review all proposed changes in mandatory fees and make recommendations regarding proposed changes prior to submission to the Board of Regents; and (3) review all revenues and expenditures for each mandatory fee according to accountability guidelines outlined below.
A subset of members of the SFAB (composed of at least 50% students) will review all proposed budgets and recommend distribution/allocation of the portion of the student activity fees designated each academic year to registered student organizations and make recommendations to the Vice President of Student Affairs. The Vice President may support or modify the budgets before submitting it to the President with the recommended budget.
Composition of Committee
The Student Fees Advisory Board (SFAB) is a standing committee of Clayton State University’s Division of Student Affairs. The composition of the Board is 50% students and 50% faculty/staff.
- Eight (8) students are appointed to the committee by the President of the Student Government Association, as required by BOR policy. Student members must have completed a minimum of 24 semester hours at CSU with a grade point average of 2.5 or higher. Student members should be full time, degree-seeking, undergraduate students. Student members are appointed for one-year terms but may be reappointed by the Student Government Association. No student will serve more than two terms.
- The Associate Vice President of Student Affairs in consultation with the Vice-President of Student Affairs will appoint five (5) faculty members to the committee, one from each school/college. Faculty members will first be advised of the possible appointment and of the requirements of serving on the SFAB. Those who cannot make a commitment to serve will be bypassed in favor of those who are able to make a commitment. Recommendations from the Provost and Dean’s Council may be solicited in order to identify possible faculty members to serve on the SFAB. Faculty members will serve two-year terms and following a one-term break in service may be reappointed.
- The Vice President of Student Affairs will identify administrative staff members to fill two (2) staff positions on the committee. Staff members will serve two-year terms and following a one-term break may be reappointed.
- SFAB is chaired by the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs. The chair will maintain records of all committee actions, monitor compliance with all policies and procedural requirements associated with mandatory fees, advise the SFAB on these matters; and work with the CSU Budget Office to implement the procedures related to the mandatory fees on campus.
- Term of service is July 1-June 30 annually or bi-annually.
SFAB Attendance Policy
Attendance at SFAB meetings is expected; therefore, the time commitment needed should be considered when making the decision as to whether or not to accept appointment to the board. Prior notification of absence due to legitimate conflicts should be sent to the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs at least 5 days prior to the scheduled meeting. Board members are allowed three absences from scheduled meetings during any academic year. Any member who has more than three absences will be asked to leave the committee. Quorum and voting: A minimum of 3/4s of the members of the SFAB should be present to establish a quorum at any meeting. Members must be present to vote. Proxy voting will not be allowed. A simple majority (one more than 50 percent of the votes) is required for any vote taken at the SFAB meetings.
Procedures for Mandatory Student Fees
During fall semester, the Board of Regents provides financial data forms for each mandatory fee to the Budget office at Clayton State University. The data forms are completed by the Budget office and/or fee budget manager for each fee. If an increase or a new fee is proposed, additional information is requested and provided to the SFAB. This information is in the form of a written proposal and includes the following information:
- Amount of the fee request
- Intended uses of the fee
- Effect on operations if new fee or fee increase not obtained
- Trend analysis associated with fee over the last 10 years and how any increases to date have been utilized
Fee budget managers may also provide attachments with financial data to support requests for new fees or fee increases.
Meetings are scheduled for SFAB to review each proposal related to new or fee increase requests. The fee budget manager from each area provides a brief presentation related to the requests and answers any questions from SFAB. In addition, the financial data forms for each mandatory fee budget are provided to SFAB for review.
In order to make the financial data form categories more illustrative for how the fees are used, additional and more detailed information may be requested from each fee manager if there are any categories that are not as descriptive as needed to provide information to the SFAB in order for them to make their recommendations.
SFAB votes to recommend each fee budget and any requests for new fees or fee increases. The votes are recorded on the Mandatory Student Fee Participation form, signed by the committee chair and the Chief Business Officer, and forwarded to the vice Chair of Fiscal Affairs at the Board of Regents by the Budget Office at Clayton State University within the timelines provided by the Board of Regents.
Accountability and Usage of Mandatory Fees
Internal controls over usage of mandatory fees shall be sufficient to ensure proper fiscal accountability. After the close of each fiscal year, the Student Fees Advisory Board (SFAB) will meet to review the actual revenue and expenditures for the mandatory student fees as compared to the proposed budget for same fiscal year noted on the Financial Data forms reviewed the previous fall semester. This meeting will occur no later than September 15th of each year. Minutes of the meeting(s) will be taken, and the minutes along with any recommendations will be forwarded to the SFAB and the fee managers for review.
Specific details for each fee manager to use for reporting revenue and expenditures will be developed to include the following:
- Actual vs. projected revenues
- Actual vs. projected expenditures in the categories as listed on the Financial Data forms reviewed during Fall semester
- Description of variances in any category greater than 10% and a written explanation as to reason for variance
- Statement of amount in reserve for each mandatory fee and any updated information as to how the reserve will be used
Records Management
All mandatory fee forms and minutes of the meetings will be maintained by the Budget Office for a period of 5 years.