Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity
Beta Mu Chapter Financial Operating Policies
The George Washington University
Spring 2005

Article I. Purpose

These Financial Operating Policies represent the fiscal policies and procedures of the Beta Mu Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity. The policies presented herein shall be in effect provided that they do not contradict The Ritual, the National Constitution, the National Operating Policies, the National Interpretive Document, or the Bylaws and Chapter Operating Policies of the Beta Mu Chapter. Furthermore, the preceding documents shall have precedence over the Financial Operating Policies.

Article II. Amendments

These Financial Operating Policies may be amended either at an announced special meeting of the Chapter or a general business meeting by a two thirds (2/3) majority vote of the Active Brotherhood, provided the amendment shall have been submitted in writing to the Active Brotherhood during the preceding regular meeting.

Article III. Financial Accounts

  1. The financial accounts of the Chapter shall be held by a financial institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or an equivalent organization.
  2. The Chapter shall hold both a savings and a checking account at all times.
  3. The minimum balance of the savings account shall be that amount which is required by the financial institution. The minimum balance of the checking account shall be the sum of the minimum balance required by the financial institution and the current fine levied by the National Office of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity for absence of a delegate at Grand Chapter.
  4. The accounts shall be held in the name of the Chapter, with the current President and Treasurer as signatories to the accounts.
    1. Following installation of new officers, the new President and Treasurer shall be added as signatories to the account and the former President and Treasurer shall be removed as same.
  5. All drafts from the checking account shall require the signature of both the President and the Treasurer.
  6. Any proposals to use funds from the Chapter's savings account must be submitted to the Brotherhood for approval. A motion must be made and then tabled until the following meeting for a debate and vote. A simple majority is required for approval of the proposal.
  7. Detailed financial records must be kept by the chapter for a period no shorter than ten (10) years

Article IV. Dues

  1. All Members of the Chapter are required each semester to pay the National dues determined by the most recent Grand Chapter session of the National Fraternity, except as outlined in Section 4 of this Article.
  2. All Active Members of the Chapter are required each semester to pay Chapter dues, as set by the Brotherhood.
  3. Inactive Members of the Chapter are required to pay National dues and fines only.
  4. Members of the Chapter who are participating in a study abroad program are cleared of any dues obligations to the National Fraternity or the Chapter for the semester(s) in which they are abroad.
  5. Dues payments must be given to the Chapter Treasurer on or before the date declared by the Treasurer.
    1. The Treasurer shall notify the Brotherhood of this date at least two weeks prior to the date.
    2. This notification will be given via email as well as via an announcement by the Treasurer at the General Body meeting occurring no less than two weeks prior to the due date established.
  6. If a Brother is unable to pay in full the dues required of that Brother by the due date established, that Brother has the option of a payment plan to clear their financial obligation to the Chapter. The Brother has the obligation to contact the Treasurer prior to the date established to make appropriate arrangements for payment.
  7. All Members of the Chapter shall be considered Active and responsible for the dues obligations of this status if they have not followed the Inactivity Procedure outlined in the Chapter Operating Policies by the date established pursuant to Section 5 of this Article.
  8. Failure to pay dues or establish a payment plan on or before the due date established will result in the Brother being immediately declared an Inactive Member of the Chapter under Article IX, Section 1, Subsection C of the Chapter Bylaws
    1. Under this status, the Brother is barred from participation in any Chapter activities until payment of the Chapter dues has been made.
    2. In addition to the declaration of inactivity, the Brother shall be fined an additional five dollars ($5.00) per week or partial week during which the dues go unpaid, beginning with the day after dues are to be paid.
    3. All fines paid shall be credited to the savings account of the Chapter.
    4. The Treasurer shall be required to inform the full Brotherhood via email of the Inactive status of that Brother within 24 hours.
    5. While under this declaration of inactivity, a Brother may not fulfill semester requirements.
  9. Failure to make a scheduled payment of a plan negotiated between the Treasurer and a Brother under Section 6 of this Article shall result in a fine of five dollars ($5.00) per week or partial week which the dues go unpaid, the receipt of which shall be credited to the savings account of the Chapter.
    1. The delinquent Brother shall also be immediately declared an Inactive Member of the Chapter and barred from Chapter activities.
    2. The Treasurer shall be required to inform the full Brotherhood via email of the Inactive status of that Brother within 24 hours.
    3. While under this declaration of inactivity, a Brother may not fulfill semester requirements.
  10. Any Brother may contest a fine levied under Sections 8 and 9 of this Article by notifying the President and Treasurer by email of their desire to appeal.
    1. The status of the appeal shall be decided at the next regular meeting of the Executive Board following this notification.
    2. The Brother shall be permitted to argue their case before the full Executive Board present at that meeting.
    3. Following testimony of the Brother, a vote of the Executive Board under a period of executive session will determine if the fine stands.
  11. If, under the provisions of Sections 8 and 9 of this Article, a Brother is declared to be an Inactive Member of the Chapter for nonpayment of dues and a three week period passes from the date the inactive status was declared without a good faith effort from the Brother to resolve the situation, that Brother is to face expulsion charges pursuant to Article XI, Section 2 of the Chapter Bylaws.
    1. If there is no motion from the General Body to expel the delinquent Brother, the Treasurer is required to make the motion to expel.

Article V. Payments to the Chapter

  1. Any Brother wishing to participate in a Chapter activity for which there is an associated cost must pay the Chapter via the Treasurer.
  2. The Treasurer shall provide Committees with a list of Brothers who have paid for and are eligible to participate in Chapter activities.
  3. Any Brother whose check is returned to the Chapter for any reason is responsible to the Chapter for the original amount of payment as well as any returned check fees which are incurred by the Chapter.
  4. If a Brother's check for payment of dues is returned to the Chapter for any reason after the date established, that Brother is responsible for the charges, in addition to any retroactive fines which would have been incurred under Article IV, Sections 8 and 9 of this document, had the attempted payment of the dues not been made.

Article VI. Budgetary Process

  1. The Treasurer of the Beta Mu Chapter shall have the responsibility of preparing a budget for the Chapter for each semester.
  2. The prepared budget shall be presented to the Executive Board of the Chapter, and then submitted to the Active Brotherhood for debate and vote at a regularly scheduled meeting or a special meeting which had been previously called in accordance with the Chapter Bylaws and Chapter Operating Policies.
  3. For the fall semester, the budget shall be prepared and presented by the Treasurer no later than the second regular meeting of the Active Brotherhood and shall be debated and voted upon by the third regular meeting.
  4. For the spring semester, the Treasurer and Treasurer-elect shall prepare the budget jointly during the transition period. This spring budget shall be debated and voted upon by the last meeting of the fall semester, with presentation of the budget occurring at the penultimate regularly scheduled Brotherhood meeting.
  5. Any Officer or Committee Chair of the Chapter may submit a request for budgetary funding from the Chapter. Funding requests must be submitted to the Treasurer by the announced date in order to receive funding for that semester.
  6. All requests for budget funding must include an explanation of how the requested funds will be used.
  7. Income for the Chapter shall consist solely of expected Chapter dues to be paid by Active Members of the Chapter.
  8. Budgeted deficits are prohibited unless approved by a two thirds (2/3) vote of the Brotherhood on a motion presented at a regularly scheduled business meeting or special session which is called specifically for the purpose of debate on and/or approval of the budget.
  9. In accordance with the national policies of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, no budgetary requests for the purchase of alcoholic beverages shall be approved.
  10. In order for the Chapter budget to be approved, a two thirds (2/3) majority of the Active Brotherhood present is required.
  11. In order for any budgeted funds to be accessed, the proper reimbursement procedure must be followed, as provided in Article VII of this document.
  12. In the event that a Committee or Brother wishes to use funds from another Committee or Brother with a previously designated budgeted amount, the Chair of the requesting Committee or Brother must, in conjunction with the Chair of the funding Committee or Brother, submit a request to the Treasurer in writing with an explanation of the reason for the request. Authorization for these internal transfers must be given by the Treasurer and President of the Chapter in order to be approved.
  13. If at the close of the semester a Committee or Brother has not spent the allotment of funds which have been awarded to them by the budgetary process, those funds shall be rolled into the Chapter savings account, unless a motion has been made and approved by a simple majority to forward these funds to the Committee's account for the following semester.

Article VII. Reimbursement

  1. No Chapter funds may be released without submission of a proper reimbursement.
  2. All requests for reimbursement by the Chapter must be accompanied by an itemized receipt and explanation of the purpose of the reimbursement being requested. This documentation must be given in the form of the reimbursement form which is appended to this document.
  3. Records for the reimbursement forms shall be numbered sequentially, with a prefix indicating the semester in which the reimbursement is requested. These Reports shall be kept on file by the Treasurer for a period of no less than 5 years.
  4. Any reimbursement request over the amount of twenty dollars ($20.00) for which authorization by budgetary process was not given must be approved by the General Body.
  5. In the event that it is not possible to obtain the approval of the General Body for an otherwise unauthorized expense within a necessary window of time for that expense to be made, approval may be given by the President or Treasurer. In this event, the Brotherhood is to be informed at the next General Body meeting.
  6. Any reimbursement check lost by the recipient will be reissued minus the cost of cancellation. In the event that the check is smaller than the cost of the cancellation fee, the check will not be reissued.

Article VIII. Fundraising

  1. The Standing Committee for Fundraising shall be tasked with planning and executing fundraising ventures for the Chapter.
  2. All fundraising events held by the Chapter must be held for a specific purpose.
  3. Requests for proceeds of a fundraising event must be submitted, in writing, to the Fundraising Committee Chair. Approvals for these requests and assignments to events shall be granted by the consensus of the Fundraising Chair, the Vice President and the Treasurer.
  4. Fundraising may not be included in the budget of the Chapter as an income account.

Article IX. Scope

  1. All former Financial Operating Policies or parts of Financial Operating Policies inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

 

Beta Mu Financial Operating Policies - Word Document