SAFAC

What is SAFAC? SAFAC allocates funding to undergraduate student organizations that are registered with COSO At least 75% of membership must be undergraduates SAFAC only allocates funds for one fiscal year. A referendum is required for multi-year expenditures. Fiscal year ends at the end of May → all unspent approved SAFAC funds will go back to SAFAC We are here to subsidize an organization’s expenditures

SAFAC Liaisons Check online for who your liaison is Go to miami.edu/safac → “SAFAC Members” List of liaisons for Contact your liaison via to set up an appointment or walk into the SAFAC office in SAC 210H to meet with a liaison

Contacting Your Liaison Do’s Send an If there is no response after 48 hours send an to Don’ts Forget we are students too so we have jobs, exams, like all students Contact your liaison in his/her person space unless he/she explicitly allowed it Examples Calling Texting Knocking at our doors (especially late at night) While we’re at the gym

Requesting Funding

What does SAFAC consider when reviewing a budget? Guiding Principles Necessity of expenditure On campus and open to entire university community

Ensuring Fairness to all Organizations Guidelines General policies deciding how much we fund for certain items and which items we do not consider Ex: T-Shirts will be funded at $5 per member, Flights will be funded at $200, etc. Precedents Determined throughout the year as SAFAC makes decisions Fall Budget Precedents apply to Fall Budgets Supplemental Budget Precedents apply to Supplemental Budgets Vary from year to year

Types of Funding Fall Budget Request (can ask for one) Typically submitted during the spring semester of the previous year Only for expenses taking place up until last day of semester (December 17 th ) Money is removed from your account after the Fall Semester DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 7 th at 12PM Supplemental Funding (can ask for up to 2 per year) Funding in excess of Fall Budget Allocation Must make an appointment to present before the committee Capital items- Requests for equipment or items that will last more than three years SAFAC Committee will use discretion and decide whether a good is to be considered capital items or not

The Budget Forms Can be found online (with examples) at

Making a SAFAC Request 1. Meet with your Executive Board to determine what your organization needs 1. Your presentation should be before your events! 2. Fill out the Budget Request Form 1. Documentation is required for everything that is not explicit in Guidelines 3. Meet with your liaison and get a signature 4. Obtain signatures from advisor, president, and treasurer AFTER the liaison signs it

Submitting your Budget the ORIGINAL excel copy of your request to Subject line: Organization Name_Budget Request Type_ COSO_Supplemental Budget Request_ Submit the signed form with stapled documentation to SAC 206 Sign up for a presentation time No presentation is required for Fall Budgets, but you still need to sign up so that we know to reserve a time slot to review your budget Presentations for Supplemental requests are Wednesdays from 2:30 to 4:45

Presenting to SAFAC SAC Iron Arrow Room Wait outside to be called in by a liaison Bring quotes (just in case) or handouts (if needed) Treasurers must present Advisors are NOT allowed to present Room Layout SAFAC members will be in a “U” shape Your budget will be projected on the screen You will stand next to your screen and present your budget, line by line

Understanding Your Budget after it is Reviewed

After Voting: Cover Sheet

After Voting: Detail Sheet

Dealing with the Money Business Expense Reimbursement Form (BERF) Interdepartmental Requisition (IDR) E-Checks Purchase Orders Stipulated Funds – For these items, take a contract or invoice to Josh Brandfon (SAC 206), as that money is not put into your account Talk to your advisor for account balance inquiries, as SAFAC does not have access to your accounts Consult the Student Organization Handbook for more information on using funds

Reimbursements SAFAC does NOT fund reimbursements (not to be confused with BERFs) If you purchase anything before the Tuesday after you are eligible to present to SAFAC, it is considered a reimbursement and will not be funded ****************** PLEASE PLAN AHEAD! If an emergency arises – contact immediately *This is NOT to be confused with BERFs

New Travel Policy All trips must be registered by the group before traveling Individual waivers should be completed by each traveler  entire process can be completed via OrgSync This trip registration does NOT apply to FCS organizations FCS orgs do however have to comply with travel policies within FCS and Department of Wellness and Recreation

Travel policy continued.. Failure to register trip will result in any approved funding being rescinded All SAFAC funds for travel are now stipulated Proof of trip registration and expenses are required to receive funds into an organization’s account

APPEALS 1. First contact to set up an appointment to discuss your 2. If an agreement cannot be made, the organization must fill out the appeals form at miami.edu/safac under “Funding Request Forms” 3. Policy and Finance Committee will decide if the appeal will go through to Senate 4. Senate opinions go to the Vice President of Student Affairs

Appeals Timeline Allocation posted to OrgSync on Wednesday

Common Questions

What is a SAFAC account? Your SAFAC account will start with a 4 and will consist of funds provided by SAFAC. Your SAFAC account will clear at the end of the fiscal year (around the end of May) and will go back to SAFAC to be used for the next upcoming academic year. What is a donation account? Also known as a “gift” account. Not every student organization will have a donation account. The account starts with a 9 and consists of funds from everything that is not SAFAC - member dues, donations, fundraising, etc. This account will not clear at the end of fiscal year. Interested in getting a donation account? Please pick up the forms to apply for an account at SAC 206. How do I find out how much money is in my account? Your SAFAC liaison will NOT have access to your account. Only your advisor has access to your account. If your advisor is unsure how to check your account please

Help! I can’t see my budget on OrgSync! We will post your allocation by 5pm on Wednesday If you aren’t listed on the e-board of your organization you will not have access to see your budget. I was funded an event (venue, conference, competition, etc.), but I would like to go to a different one. Can I spend my SAFAC funds on the new event instead? NO! You must spend your money as allocated line by line. You must request permission from SAFAC to spend your allocation on different items. Contact your liaison for help. The price of an item has changed. Can SAFAC fund the difference? In certain cases, some items can be re-looked for a cost difference. You would need to resubmit the form. Put the item in question on the form with the amount SAFAC funded you in the income column and put the new amount on the expense column. Contact your liaison for help.

I accidentally put donation/fundraising money into my SAFAC account and it cleared when the fiscal year ended. How do I get that money back? Contact the SAFAC advisor Josh Brandfon at When can I ask for a UPrint card? Uprint cards can only be requested the Spring Semester of the prior year. They are typically due the day Fall Budget Requests are due in the Spring. Can I request for both mileage (gas) & a rental car? No, you must request one or the other. The price for mileage is $0.56 per mile. Can I spend SAFAC money on items I didn’t request? NO! You must spend your money as allocated line by line. You must request permission from SAFAC to spend your allocation on different items. Organizations could be potentially audited if there are any improprieties in the organization spending

Questions?