Phone: 610-436-2117
General information: involvement@wcupa.edu
On this page, you will find resources, policies, and procedures involving funding for your organization and other things monetary.
Please read the following documents for the full policies and procedures. Below includes breif overview of the policies and procedures relevant to funding student organizations. For specifics on how money can be used, please refer to these documents as well.
SSI is a non-profit organization primarily designed to serve WCU students. SSI handles all financial matters for student organizations and campus activities at WCU.
SSI business office is located on the 2nd floor of Sykes Student Union in suite 259. The SSI service center is located on the lower level of Sykes Student Union.
SGA is funded via the Student Activity Fee. The Student Government Association Treasurer and Finance committee handles the following:
Check the SGA webpage for the schedule when it is released.
You must be registered for and attend at least one seminar in order to submit a budget request form.
Organizations approved within the previous spring or current fall semester are eligible to apply for up to $300 in funding for their first probationary year.
All SGA-funded student organizations must have a treasurer elected or appointed on
or before the fall semester budgeting seminar.
To receive consideration for funding, the club/organization must properly complete and submit the budget request to the SSI executive director and SGA treasurer. The deadline date for submitting a budget request will be determined by the SGA treasurer. SGA funded organization treasurers and advisors will be notified by the Finance committee about the budgeting process in the Fall semester.
Budget requests that are vague, incomplete or improperly prepared shall be returned to the organization submitting the request. That organization will need to resubmit a properly prepared budget request within the time specified by the SGA treasure to be considered for an allocation.
Budget requests shall include all anticipated gross income, expenditures, and carryover balances for the fiscal year.
The Finance committee may contact a club/organization’s treasurer during the budgeting process to answer questions concerning the budget request.
The SGA Finance committee and SGA treasurer will present the tentative budget for all organizations to the SGA Senate to be voted upon as a whole. After approval, the Finance committee will notify all organizations of their tentative budget allocations in The Quad newspaper.
Organizations may appeal their tentative budget allocations from the Finance committee by submitting notification of appeal, in writing, to the SGA treasure by the deadline set by the SGA treasurer and listed in the Quad newspaper.
Budget recommendations of the Finance committee are not final until approved by the SGA Senate, SSI Board of Directors, and the president of West Chester University. No club/organization will spend monies before approval by the president of West Chester University. The Finance committee may impose a penalty if money is spent or contracted before the final approval.
The following guidelines are to be used by the SGA Finance committee during the budgeting process. They do not govern the expenditures of student organizations, nor should they be used by student organizations to leave line-items out of their budgets. Organizations are encouraged to submit the full range of expenditures planned by the organization. Due to the large amount of funds requested, certain activities must take precedence during the budgeting process.
Any unused budgeted funds revert back to the SSI reserve account at the end of the fiscal year. There shall be no rollover unless reported and approved by the SGA treasurer and the SSI executive director on an annual basis.
A student organization recognized by the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement is eligible to apply for auxiliary funding. The Auxiliary Request Form (can be found on SGA's RamConnect page) should be used for an organization's treasurer to submit an auxiliary request.
Please take note of the following to consider before applying for auxiliary funding:
All requests for auxiliary funds must be submitted a minimum of ten (10) business days before the funds are needed to be disbursed. Exceptions will be made only on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the SGA Finance committee.
Once an auxiliary request has been submitted it will be reviewed by the SGA treasurer. Approval of this form does not mean the auxiliary request has been granted, but rather that the SGA treasurer has received and reviewed the submission. Once this form has been approved, the SGA treasurer will contact the organization's treasurer to schedule a meeting with the SGA Finance committee. The full Auxiliary Request Procedure can be found in the SGA Financial Policies & Procedures.
All monies raised, donated, or collected must be deposited in gross to the club/organization’s SSI discretionary account. Any organization found to have money in an off-campus depository will have their current year’s budget frozen and possible forfeiture of the current year’s budget as well as the following year’s budget.
Student Services, Inc. offers the opportunity for student organizations to accept money for events via Venmo and Credit Card.
SSI has set up a general Venmo account for students to utilize. STUDENTS SHOULD NOT UTILIZE THEIR OWN VENMO OR OTHER SIMILAR ACCOUNTS FOR COLLECTING ORGANIZATION MONEY. If student organizations are accepting Venmo at an event, we ask that all individuals send their funds directly to our Venmo account (wcu-ssi). When sending money to the account, SSI requests that individuals write in the description box the organization's name and number and the reasoning behind the money being sent. This way when funds are reconciled SSI will know which organizations the funds are to go to and why.
In order to request to use the Credit Card option student organizations will be asked to sign out one of the iPads offered in the SSI Business Office. The iPads both have the Credit Card services as well as the Venmo App. After an iPad has been returned to the office, funds earned for that prior event will show up at months end in the organization’s account balance.
**Please keep record of how much money is coming in the day/night or the event for your own records! This way you will know the estimated amount that should be entered into your account at the months end
In order to obtain a cash box and start-up money for an on-campus event (e.g. – bake sale, fashion show, dodgeball tournament, etc.), your student treasurer should notify the SSI Service Center (lower level of Sykes Student Union, 610-436-2266) at least one hour prior to the event but preferably 1-2 business days in advance.
The Cash start-up must be paid back the following business day. The funds that were raised from your event will then be deposited to your SSI account (minus the cash start-up).
Any funds received by an SSI organization should be deposited at the SSI Service Center (located on the ground floor of Sykes Union) as soon as possible. This deposit slip may be downloaded and is also available at the SSI Service Center or the SSI Business Office.
Once a deposit has been made, it will take at least a week to show in your organization's account balance.
*All monies raised, donated, or collected must be deposited in gross to the club/organization’s SSI discretionary account. Any organization found to have money in an off-campus depository will have their current year’s budget frozen and possible forfeiture of the current year’s budget as well as the following year’s budget.
Funds can only be transferred to other SGA recognized organizations with SSI accounts. Funds transferred to other SGA recognized organizations can be used to support service initiatives but cannot be used as a direct donation to any philanthropic or community-based charity.
All monies transferred or donated from one (1) club/organization to another must be approved by a majority vote of the donating club/organization.
A Completed SSI Payment Voucher must be submitted to the SSI Business Office (2nd floor of Sykes).
Student organizations can use the SSI credit card to make purchases. A Credit Card Request Form must be filled out with advisors' signature, submitted, and approved to use the card. All purchases will be made in the SSI Business Office by a staff member, the SSI credit card does not leave the SSI Business Office.
Minimum amount: $100
Maximum amount: $1,500 - Any purchase over that amount must be approved by the SSI Executive Director.
Cannot be used for rental purchases or deposits.
When paying a vendor or an individual person for a service, vouchers for these individuals must be filed out with their address, date of birth, and Social Security Number in order to process through our payroll department.
In order for a check to be ready for individuals performing a service, the voucher must be submitted two weeks prior to the service.
Both treasurer and advisor need to sign voucher before turning in.
Receipts for purchase need to be attached to voucher.
Make sure to write a detailed description of what is being purchased and why. Please also include the organization's name and organization's number. Your organization's number can be found here.
Turn-around time for a check to be cut is 2-3 business days
An advance is typically made payable to an individual
Minimum amount: $100
Maximum amount: $350
Turn-around time for a check to be cut is 2-3 business days
The initial ADVANCE request does not require documentation, but receipts must be submitted back to the SSI Business Office within 5 days.
If less money is spent than initially requested, it must be returned with the receipts. If more
money is spent, an additional voucher can be submitted for reimbursement
For any services from an outside vendor at your event, you must have a contract. STUDENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO SIGN CONTRACTS WITH AN OUTSIDE AGENCY.
All contracts and/or agreements with outside agencies for on or off campus events and programs must be approved and signed by the SSI executive director.
All contracts and/or agreements with outside agencies for on campus events and programs must be signed by the executive director of SSI if the amount is over $300.
All contracts and or agreements with outside agencies must be signed by the organization's faculty/staff advisor if the amount is $300 or under.
Aramark, Krapf’s Bus & Coach along with Kelly’s Sports will not process any order until they receive a Purchase Order from the SSI Business office. Once a purchase order request (link) is filled out and returned a purchase order will then be generated. Payment to the vendor will be submitted with the Purchase Order approval.
West Chester University
700 South High Street
West Chester, PA 19383 610-436-1000