CEA – Conference, Event, and Activity Funding

CEA Dates

Sunday, November 1^st 6:00 p.m. Student Senate Room (HUB 119)

Sunday, December 6^th 6:00 p.m. Student Senate Room (HUB 119)

The Finance Committee will hold initial meetings with requesting organizations two weeks prior to the Student Senate CEA meeting. In addition, a second meeting will be held one week prior to the Student Senate CEA meeting to finalize and approve any revisions to requests arising from the initial meeting. Organizations who do not attend the initial meeting (two weeks prior to the Student Senate CEA meeting) of the Finance Committee to put forward their CEA request may not attend the second meeting to put forward their request. They must wait until the next funding cycle. The second meeting of the Finance Committee serves solely to revise and approve CEA requests presented at the initial meeting. The following are the finance committee meeting dates for this semester:

Sunday, November 22^nd & 29^th 4:30 p.m. HUB Tower Room

Please bring 5 copies of your request to the preliminary meetings on Sunday evening.

CEA Proposal and Financial Forms

CEA Proposal Worksheet^{(Microsoft Word Doc)} This form must be filled out by all organizations for each conference, event, or activity. Complete this form, and then complete the appropriate form from below.

Conference Financial Worksheet^{(Microsoft Word Doc)} to be filled out if attending a conference.

Event Financial Worksheet^{(Microsoft Word Doc)} to be filled out if attending an event.

Activity Financial Worksheet^{(Microsoft Word Doc)} to be filled out if attending an activity.

Requirements for Groups Who Have Received CEA Funding

Groups that receive CEA funding must adhere to the following criteria or will render themselves ineligible for CEA funding for the following academic year.

CEA-funded organizations must sign a contract on the evening that they are awarded the funding (or within one week thereafter) that will be held on file in the Student Senate office. CEA funding will not be available to organizations until a signed contract is on file.
CEA-funded organizations must submit a typed report (see contract) to the Student Senate Treasurer within two weeks after the final day of the CEA. If the CEA occurs during Winterim, the report will be due within one week of the first day of classes in spring semester.
All reports must be on file in the Student Senate office by the last day of spring semester classes (prior to finals week) in May, unless the CEA is occurring over the summer months.
Summer CEAs will be required to submit a report within one week of the first day of classes in fall semester.
Notice will be kept in the student organization’s CEA file if the report was received late or if there were any other issues of compliance with the CEA guidelines. Compliance issues will be a consideration in determining the following year’s CEA request and, depending on their severity, could result in denial of CEA funding.
Groups that receive CEA funding and who are eligible for roll-over in their student activities account at the end of the year will have the amount of the CEA funding deducted from their account prior to any remaining roll-over being carried over.

CEA GUIDELINES & POLICIES

Provided by the Finance Committee of Student Senate 2007-2008 Edition (Revised)

What qualifies for a CEA request?

Due to the ambiguity surrounding the definitions of a conference, event or activity, the following descriptions and examples below are provided as a general guide.

Conference: A conference is any convention, workshop, or series of meetings on topics related to the interests and educational development of the individual or organization. Conferences usually, but not always occur at off-campus locations and require that participants register (either in advance or on-site) Examples include: COSGA (Conference on StudentGovernment Association), American Meteorology Society conference, etc.

Event: An event is any campus-wide program which is open to and for the enjoyment of the entire student body. Events are usually held on or near campus. Examples include theWellness Fair, Econ-O-Con, a major lecture, etc.

Activity: An activity is any project, program, or trip that does not require registration. Examples include retreats, camping trips, club sports tournaments, a facilitator for a workshop, etc.

Eligibility and Guidelines for CEA Funding Requests

Eligibility

You must be a recognized student organization through the Student ActivitiesOffice. If a recognized student organization you must hold an account through theStudent Accounting Office.
A full-time PSU student attending a conference individually. If requesting as an individual student, a temporary fund is setup through the Student AccountingOffice.
A non-recognized group through the Student Activities Office. An account must be held through the Student Accounting Office. An example would be the Drag-Fabulous Show utilizing the ALSO account. You must seek approval for the conference, event or activity through the Student Activities Office prior to yourCEA request and meetings with the Finance Committee.
1. The only reason a conference, event or activity should not be accepted is for an academic department course.
2. The discretion of approval initially is held in the hand of the Assistant Directors of the Student Activities Office. If for some reason they choose to not approve the request the Finance Committee will be notified on why the decision was made.
Organizations that are approved through the Student Senate are exempt from the“academic department course.” Examples include the Math Association, ScienceSociety, etc. These are not based through an academic course but a relation to the academic department.

Guidlines

Student organizations, non-recognized groups or individual students may not use their CEA request to sponsor other recognized or unrecognized organizations on campus.
Student organizations, non-recognized groups or individual students may petition for and receive funds only once in a fiscal year (July 1-June 30), regardless of the funding amount of the CEA request.
Student organizations, non-recognized groups or individual students must have fundraised, personally contributed or encumbered from their Student Senate allocated budget a minimum of 25% of the estimated total cost of the conference,event or activity the Friday prior to the CEA Sunday Senate meeting.
Funding will not exceed 50% of the estimated costs associated with the CEA or$5000.00 total. (I.e. a CEA estimated at $3,000.00 will be eligible for up to$1,500.00 in funding; a CEA estimated at $12,000.00 total will be eligible for upto $5,000.00 in funding.)
CEA funding will not be allocated to cover costs associated with medical exams,vaccinations, or the procurement of passports.
CEA funding is only allowed for full-time undergraduate or graduate PSUStudents. CEA funding can not help fund Advisors or non-PSU students.

CEA Funding Process

The organization and management of CEA funding is the work of the Student SenateFinance Committee. The Finance Committee will schedule and hold initial meetings with student organizations, at which time the CEA funding requests will be presented to the Finance Committee. It is required that you attend BOTH pre-meetings. TheFinance Committee will ask questions, make revisions to the requests and determine their recommendations. The CEA requests will then be forwarded for vote by the fullStudent Senate at a meeting specifically devoted to CEA funding requests. The requesting organizations will make any required revisions and bring forward the revised request for final Finance Committee approval at a second meeting between the Finance Committee and the requesting organizations.

The Finance Committee will hold two pre-meetings with requesting organizations or student two weeks prior to the Student Senate CEA meeting.
At the first meeting the CEA Proposal forms should be completed for review by the committee. Any suggestions or changes will be stated at this meeting.Copies of the proposal should be available for members of the FinanceCommittee.
The Finance Committee will hold a second meeting with requesting groups to finalize and approve any revisions to requests arising from the first meeting.
The requesting organization or student must attend the CEA Senate meeting the following Sunday to present their request.
Only copies of the Financial Worksheet should be available for members ofStudent Senate.
It is required that requesting organizations or student attends all three of these meetings to be considered for CEA funding.

CEA Funding Request Timeline

There will be five (5) opportunities within each academic year, three in fall semester and two in spring semester, for student organizations, non-recognized campus groups andPSU students to petition the Student Senate Finance Committee for CEA funding.Funding requests will not be heard at any other time. The five scheduled opportunities areas follows, generally, and dates specific to each academic year will be distributed at theStudent Organizations Treasurers’ Meeting each semester.

Finance meetings mid-October -> Senate CEA meeting, last Sunday in October Finance meetings mid-November -> Senate CEA meeting, last Sunday in November Finance meetings mid-February-> Senate CEA meeting, mid-end of February Finance meetings end of February -> Senate CEA meeting mid March Finance meetings end of March -> Senate CEA meeting mid April

The CEA allocation for the year will be divided between the two semesters, with half of the CEA allocation available for CEA requests made in the fall semester and half available for CEA requests made in the spring semester. If any money remains in theCEA allocation after all fall semester requests are heard, the balance will be forwarded and combined with the spring semester allocation for use in funding spring semester requests.

CEA-funded organization or individual must sign a contract on the evening that they are awarded the funding (or within one week thereafter). The Student SenateTreasurer is responsible for completing the contract with the organizationsPresident or the individual who received CEA funding. CEA FUNDING WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TO ORGANIZATIONS/INDIVIDUAL UNTIL ASSIGNED CONTRACT IS ON FILE.
There shall be a copy of the signed contract on file in the Student Senate Office,the Student Activities Office and the Student Accounting Office. This is the duty of the Student Senate Treasurer to make available to the three offices.
CEA-funded organizations must submit a typed report (see contract) to theStudent Senate Treasurer within two weeks after the final day of the CEA. If theCEA occurs during Winterim, the report will be due within one week of the first day of classes in spring semester.
If a group chooses, they are eligible to request time on the Student Senate agenda to present their report to the Senate.
All reports must be on file in the Student Senate office by the last day of spring semester classes (prior to finals week) in May, unless the CEA is occurring over the summer months.
Summer CEA’s will be required to submit a report within one week of the first day of classes in fall semester.
Notice will be kept in the organization’s CEA file if the report was received late or not received or if there were any other issues of compliance with the CEAguidelines. If the report was received late or not at all the organization or individual is not eligible for CEA funding in the next fiscal year..
Groups that receive CEA funding must submit a financial report on the amount of funds spent on the trip through their CEA funds. Use original financial worksheet as a guideline to specify the amount of funds spent in each area. If there are any remaining funds it will automatically transfer back into the CEA account.

CEA Appeals Process

If an organization or individual does not accept the amount of their CEA request they are eligible to submit a written appeal to the Chair of the Finance Committee. That appeal will be brought forth to the Student Senate to be voted on.

Additional Information about CEA Funds

If there are any remaining funds in the CEA account after the third meeting of the spring semester, it is to the discretion of the Finance Committee to determine how the funds should be used. Any remaining funds should only be used to help fund other organizations or an individual for an emergency request in which they are contingent in needing funds to support the conference, event or activity.A purpose of this request is for unforeseen circumstances that arise after the first CEApre-meeting on the last CEA of the spring semester.

CEA Funding Contract (PDF)

Student Activities Office