Articles V–VII

Article V. Committee on Appointments

Section 1. Members

The chair;
1. The student shall call and preside over all meetings of the committee.
2. The student shall receive all nominations for SGA offices, class offices, and select committee positions.
3. The student shall be elected in the spring all-college election. The student shall have been a member of the Smith Student Government Association for no less than one semester prior to the election.
4. In the event that the office of Chair of the Committee on Appointments is vacated, it shall be filled, for the remainder of the term, by the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Appointments.
5. The term shall begin at the last Cabinet meeting of the academic year following the regular spring election. It shall end on the last Cabinet meeting in that same academic year. The student shall be available for counsel to the successor for the remainder of the academic year.
6. The chair may run for and be elected to the same office for more than one term. However, if the student runs in the spring elections for an all-college position while chair, they must delegate their responsibilities as chair to the Vice Chair for the duration of the voting and campaigning process.
7. The student shall sit on SGA Cabinet.
The vice chair;
1. The student shall be elected by the committee, from its membership, at the first meeting of the committee.
2. The student shall sit on Senate as a voting member.
3. In the event that the office of vice-chair is vacated, it shall be filled for the remainder of the term, by a member of the committee, elected by a simple majority of the committee.
The secretary;
1. The student shall record all minutes of official Committee on Appointments meetings.
2. In case of absence, any member from the committee can take the responsibility of recording minutes or notes.
3. The student shall be elected by a simple majority of the committee, from its membership, at the first meeting of the committee.
4. In the event that the office of secretary is vacated, it shall be filled, for the remainder of the term by a member of the committee, elected by a simple majority of the committee.
Additional members to be chosen by the Senate from its membership and from the association at large. The number of the additional members elected shall be determined by the Committee on Appointments chair prior to elections.
The committee shall vote on each appointment and use their discretion when determining the fitness of a candidate for a position.

Article VI. Finance Committee

Section 1. Members

The Finance Committee shall consist of;

The chair:
1. The Vice President of Finance shall be the chair.
2. The student shall call and preside over all meetings of the committee.
3. The student shall be a non-voting member of the committee, except in the case of a tie.
4. The student shall be responsible for providing appropriate budgeting information, such as past funding applications, whether the org is in its zeroeth year, etc., about each chartered organization to each member of the committee.
5. The student shall be an advisor to the budgeting, fundraising, and chartering processes of all organizations through regular communication with the chair of Chartering Committee.
6. The student shall serve as a resource to all chartered organizations for all financial and event planning matters.
7. The student shall have the power to call for audits of organizations, and shall assist and advise organizations that are in debt.
8. The student shall have weekly office hours.
9. The student shall oversee the allocation of SAF monies.
10. The student shall sit on Cabinet.
11. The student shall have weekly meetings with the Director of the Office of Student Engagement.
12. The student shall present any changes of the bylaws to the SGA Senate.
13. The student shall be elected in the spring all-college election for a term of one year.
14. The student may be elected for no more than two terms.
15. The term shall begin at the last Cabinet meeting of the academic year following the regular spring election. It shall end at the last Cabinet meeting in the following academic year. The student shall be available for counsel to the successor for the remainder of the academic year.
16. The student shall have served on the committee for no less than two semesters prior to assuming office.
17. The student can be any class year as long as they meet the minimum time served of two semesters on the Committee.
18. The student may not hold a leadership position (Executive Board, Executive Council, etc.) in any campus organization.
19. In the event that the office of chair of the Finance Committee is vacated, the Committee shall select a student who meets the minimum time served to fill the seat for the remainder of the term.
  1. If no such committee member exists, the Committees on Elections and Appointments shall select a Chair of Finance.
The Vice Chair of Finance;
1. The Chair of Chartering Committee shall be the Vice Chair of Finance [see Article VI].
2. The student shall be a voting member of the committee.
3. The student shall be responsible for providing information on the status of each organization’s charter to each member of the committee.
4. The student shall assist the Finance Committee Chair in the training of the new Finance Committee.
5. In the event that the office of Vice Chair of Chartering is vacated, it shall be filled, for the remainder of the term, by a member of the committee who shall be self-nominated and elected by a simple majority of the committee.
Eight to ten members-at-large;
1. Four or five members of the association at large shall be selected through the Senate. All shall be elected for a term of one year.
2. Four or five members of the association at large shall be appointed by the Committee on Appointments in the spring. They shall be elected for a term of one year.
3. They shall attend all meetings called by the Chair and are eligible for impeachment after two unexcused absences.
4. In the event that a position of member-at-large is vacated, it shall be filled from the body of which the member was from.
A representative from Cabinet;
1. The student shall attend all meetings of the committee.
2. The student shall be a voting member of the committee at these meetings.
The SGA President shall serve as a non-voting member.

Section 2. Duties and Powers

To serve as a primary resource for chartered student organizations, individuals, and the SGA on subjects including, but not limited to, financial matters and event planning.
To assist individuals and organizations in the SGA funding process or in finding and advocating for other funding available related to their goals.
To have responsibility for all financial matters under the jurisdiction of the Senate.
1. To allocate monies to chartered student organizations requesting funds in their charters.
2. To advise organizations' treasurers throughout the year.
3. To allocate the monies from the five (5) funds (Student Organization Fund, Equipment Fund, Organization Conference Fund, Sawyer Fund, and the 5 College Organization Fund) as efficiently as possible.
To present the Student Activities Fee.
1. The Finance Committee, in conjunction with the director of the Office of Student Engagement, shall be responsible for determining the SAF and any potential increases, based on the rate of inflation, new line items added to the core of the budget, requests from the SGA Cabinet, and/or the results of the budgeting process earlier that year.
2. The Finance Committee shall be responsible for educating the Senate on the nature of the SAF, giving reasons for the increase, and assisting in the publicity campaign to educate the association at large.
3. Senate must approve the SAF by a two-thirds majority. Final passage of the SAF is contingent upon a vote by a majority (50%+1) of the students who vote in a special election held in the Fall semester before the end of November.
4. Should the student body not approve the budget, it will be returned to the Finance Committee for revision. The Vice President of the SGA and the Vice President of Finance reserve the right to decide further action. Students wishing to express a position concerning the entire budget may do so by circulating a petition to be presented to the SGA Treasurer if signed by 15 percent of the Association at large. This may only be done on occasions when the budget does not pass.
5. The Senate must be apprised of all funding policy changes made by the Finance Committee.
Appeals
1. Any organization wishing to appeal the decision of the Finance Committee must submit a request in writing within five days of notification of the decision.
2. Grounds for appeal include extreme bias on the part of the Finance Committee or violation of procedure. Appeals shall not be filed based solely on a disagreement with the decision of the Finance Committee.
3. An appeals board shall convene to reexamine the decision.
4. The Board shall consist of the SGA President, SGA Vice-President, SGA Secretary, and the Chair of the Finance Committee.
5. Any additional monies awarded to organizations in the appeals process shall be allocated from the appropriate fund and shall not decrease the allocation of any other organization. The Director of the Office of Student Engagement shall advise the appeals board.
Rights and responsibilities of organizations or those submitting a budget for a specific event to the Finance Committee include:
1. Submitting a budget proposal to the Finance Committee of Monday at 5pm for the Finance Committee to review the budget prior to the event
2. Organizations and individuals should be aware that they may be asked by the committee to fundraise a certain amount of their budget.
Rights and responsibilities of the Finance Committee:
1. The Finance Committee shall meet once a week to review all budgets submitted before the weekly deadline of Monday at 5 p.m.
2. The Finance Committee is responsible for enforcing all rules and guidelines regarding budgeting and funding procedures.
  1. This includes the confidentiality policy.
3. The Finance Committee shall be responsible for the elimination of bias within its members and the equitable allocation of funding across organizations and individuals, without regard to political bent or personal interactions.
4. The Finance Committee, with the approval of the Senate and the SGA Cabinet, reserves the right to deny funding to any organization that does not comply with the provisions of its charter, with the Finance Committee funding policies, or with the rules of compliance set forth by the Finance Committee in exceptional circumstances.
5. The Finance Committee shall have the responsibility of reaching a two-thirds quorum of the voting members of the committee at the occasion of any funding application.

Section 3. Student Organization Fund

Guidelines
1. Any chartered student organization may apply for funding from the Student Organization Fund with the exception of those that already are awarded percentage funding through the Finance Committee including Unity Organizations, Club Sports, Debate, and Model United Nations as determined by the committee.
2. Events funded may include on-campus or off-campus events, including 5-College events to which student organizations may want to contribute.
3. Funding shall be distributed as consistently as possible amongst the organizations that apply.
4. Any organization wishing to go to a conference that is necessary to maintain national affiliation may apply to this fund.
5. Allocations must abide by the Finance Committee’s funding policies.
6. Organizations not eligible for SAF support include:
  1. Organizations not consistent with the Smith College Rights Policy on Academic Freedom, the Social Code of Conduct, the Smith College Academic Integrity Code, and state, federal, or local laws.
  2. Organizations not chartered by the SGA.
  3. Organizations that do not adhere to the mission(s) or purpose(s) stated in their charters.
  4. Organizations not recognized for the current budgeting semester with the Office of Student Engagement.
  5. The chair withholds the right to ask an organization to reapply for funding if they and the Committee feel the event has changed significantly.
Procedures
1. The Chair shall make available the following documents at treasurer trainings in the fall and spring:
  1. Finance Committee Funding Policies
  2. Weekly deadline for budget
  3. Sample event budget
2. The Finance Committee will vote upon the allocations and will inform the organization of their decisions.
3. Fundraising money will remain with the organization as long as these funds are not needed to cover organization debt.
4. In reviewing requests for funding, the members of the Finance Committee should take into consideration the following questions:
  1. How much funding has this organization received in the last two years?
  2. Is the organization in good standing with the Controller’s Office?
  3. Has the organization accrued debt in the past five years? If so, to what extent and by what means has the organization worked to pay off the debt?
  4. How many members does the organization have?
  5. Does the organization sponsor many smaller events or have a few large events?
  6. What sort of history does each event have? Is it a new event? Has it been happening each year for many years?
  7. How many students and/or individuals will each event reach? How much money has been allocated for publicity? Does the organization do general programming that reaches a large number of students, or internal programming that affects only its members?
  8. How many other organizations will be planning similar events? Can the Finance Committee help these organizations in communication so that more joint events can be held?
  9. The committee is strictly held to all funding policies except in the event of exceptional circumstances.
5. Things to remember:
  1. Just because an organization wants to hold many events doesn’t mean that the Finance Committee can afford to support all of them.
  2. All organizations must be given an opportunity to hold events.
  3. All organizations that contribute to diversity at Smith should be supported.
  4. These guidelines shall apply to all organization funding.
Reallocations
1. Any funded organization that decides to use funds allocated for a different purpose than originally stated must inform the Finance Committee and receive approval from the Chair.
2. Funds may only be reallocated to something that was asked for in the original budget and must be in line with the funding policies.
3. Requests for reallocating funds to a new event must be approved by the Finance Committee, although they need not submit a new budget.
Audits
1. The Finance Committee may request to audit any organization at any given time by notifying them and the Office of Student Engagement via email.
2. The Finance Committee shall not exhibit bias when auditing organizations.
Zero-Year Organization Funding
1. Guidelines:
  1. A zero-year organization shall be any organization that has not been chartered for two semesters, including the semester they were chartered in and the following semester. An organization must be chartered before the final four weeks of the semester for a semester to count as their first.
  2. Organizations must have their charter passed and the Organization Recognition Form turned in to the Office of Student Engagement prior to applying to the fund.
  3. An organization must apply for funding for a specific event, programming supplies, or equipment.
  4. The maximum amount that an organization may be allocated is $200 a semester from any fund.
2. Procedures:
  1. Organizations must apply for these funds through the SGA Funding Application through the Smith Social Network.
  2. The Finance Committee will review the application, reach a decision, and inform the organization of that decision in a timely manner.
  3. The Vice Chair of Chartering will work with the Chair and the Director of the Office of Student Engagement to ensure that an account is set up at the college in the name of the organization.
Matching Program
1. Guidelines:
  1. The matching program allows organizations with significant debt to work with the Finance Committee to have ½ of their debt covered, up to $4000 of debt, by matching funds raised by the organization.
2. Procedures:
  1. Organizations must register for the matching program at any point during the academic year by submitting a matching program application through the social network:
    1. The reason for their debt
    2. Their plan for paying it down and anticipated timeline
    3. How they will be financially accountable in the future to ensure that this does not happen again.
  2. Organizations will hear from the Chair regarding their acceptance into the program.
  3. Once the organization has raised their 50% of the debt, they must contact the Finance Committee Chair to have the remaining 50% transferred to their budget.
  4. Any organization applying to this fund must apply through the Matching Program Application on the Finance Committee’s Social Network Page.

Section 4. Equipment Fund

Guidelines:
1. Any chartered organization may apply for funding from the Finance Committee Equipment Fund.
2. Funding requests must be for equipment that will last a minimum of five (5) years.
3. Orgs applying for equipment funding must present a list of all equipment requested and received through the equipment fund and the dates of these allocations.
4. Funding shall be distributed as consistently as possible amongst the organizations that apply.
5. Allocations must abide by the Finance Committee’s funding policies.
Procedures:
1. The chair shall record the amount of monies in the Equipment Fund budget and must inform the committee routinely of the balance.
2. Organizations must apply for these funds through the SGA Funding Application through the Smith Social Network.

Section 5. Sawyer Fund

Guidelines:
1. Any student or organization may apply for the Sawyer Fund for funding for free and open on-campus events.
2. The funds shall come from the Sawyer Fund Endowment. The funds may change significantly from year to year depending on the success of the endowment.
3. Funding shall be mostly reserved for large events on campus for which the Student Organization Fund is unable to cover.
4. Allocations must abide by the Finance Committee’s funding policies.
Procedures:
1. Anyone applying to this fund must apply through the SGA Universal Funding Application on the Smith Social Network.

Section 6. Five College Organization Fund

Guidelines:
1. Any student who is a member of a funded student organization or group associated with Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, or University of Massachusetts Amherst may apply for funding from the Five College Organization Fund.
2. Its purpose is to cover qualified expenses throughout the year covered by the affiliated institution for its own students, but unavailable to Smith students.
3. If there exists a student organization at Smith that has the same or similar purpose as the Five College organization, funding will not be provided at the discretion of the Finance Committee.
4. Allocations must abide by the Finance Committee’s funding policies.
Procedures:
1. The Finance Committee shall determine how much is available at the beginning of each year from the Student Organization Fund.
2. Anyone applying to this fund must apply through the Universal Funding Application on the Smith Social Network.
3. Finance Committee will review retroactive applications for this fund under the condition that they are submitted within the same academic year the expenses were incurred.

Article VII. SGA Treasurer

Section I. Eligibility

The student shall have weekly meetings with the Director of the Office of Student Engagement.
The student shall sit on Cabinet as a voting member.
In the event that the office of SGA Treasurer is vacated, it shall be filled, for the remainder of the term, by the Committee on Appointments.
The student shall be elected in the spring all-college election for a term of one year.
The student may be elected for no more than two terms.
The student shall sit on Cabinet and provide budget updates to the Cabinet weekly.

Section II. Responsibilities

The student shall supervise the operational finances of the SGA.
The student shall prepare the SGA operating budget for the following year.
To work with the Cabinet and the appropriate administrative body to oversee and manage the SGA reserve account and all other rollover funds.
The Treasurer shall also oversee the SGA Grant Application process:
1. The SGA Treasurer shall make a portion of SGA’s funds available for distribution as grants to recognized student organizations. Use of these grants is intended to be a collaborative process between SGA and student organizations on campus.
  1. In special cases, these grants can be given to offices or departments on campus if the purpose benefits students. This is up to the discretion of the SGA Cabinet and the applications must be submitted by a student organization.
2. These grants will be available for a one-time usage or repeated appropriation for a long-term project (minimum two years, maximum determined by the student organization and the SGA Treasurer).
3. All applications must contain:
  1. An explanation for how the grant will be used for an initiative which a) benefits the vast majority of the Smith community, and/or b) an underserviced portion of the community.
  2. A confirmation that financial support for the initiative cannot be found from any other aspect of campus (including but not limited to SGA club funding, departmental funding, etc.)
    1. An exception to this can be made at the discretion of the SGA Cabinet if only some funding (but not the majority) can be found elsewhere on campus.
  3. A detailed breakdown of the exact request for funding and the specific use of funds for the project.
  4. For long-term projects, a plan for sustainability to guarantee the project will be maintained over time.
  5. A definition of success and failure by which effective and ineffective use of the grant funds can be measured.
  6. A confirmation of sponsorship by a member of Cabinet. This Cabinet member must then recuse themselves from the voting process.
4. A ⅔ majority of the SGA Cabinet must approve the grant application for it to pass. The SGA Cabinet will vote to approve these grant requests based on how they fulfill the criteria above, but ultimately have the power to accept and reject at their discretion.
  1. During the deliberation process, the sponsoring member of Cabinet can bring at any given time a single member of the requesting student organization to answer Cabinet’s questions about the grant application.
  2. SGA Cabinet reserves the right to table the grant application and send it back for improvements or modifications during the deliberation process.
5. If a grant application is approved, the SGA Treasurer shall remain in contact with the student organization to oversee the use of the grant. This includes reporting back to the SGA Cabinet on the progress of the project at least monthly and conveying Cabinet’s suggestions and feedback to the student organization.
  1. If a student organization’s grant application has been approved, they cannot receive any additional SGA grants for the next three academic years, unless by unanimous consent of the SGA Cabinet.
6. If a grant application has been rejected, the student organization who applied may meet with the SGA Treasurer and sponsoring Cabinet member to discuss alternative options.
  1. This conversation should remain confidential between the liaison from the student organization and the aforementioned members of Cabinet.
  2. This conversation should be a general overview of the application’s weaknesses and should not name any individual members of Cabinet’s objections.
7. The grant application will be open during the Fall semester of each academic year and must be applied for by the end of J-term for the following academic year. SGA will evaluate the applications during Spring semester and shall send out final verdicts before the SGA Spring election ends.
  1. Every year, during the Fall semester, SGA Cabinet shall review previous long-term grant allocations to determine the current status of the project.
  2. If a long-term project has failed or is not on track to accomplish their stated goals, SGA Cabinet shall vote to determine whether to continue appropriating the grant or to terminate the grant.
  3. SGA Cabinet also reserves the right to propose modifications to the project’s methods during this annual review to ensure they can better accomplish their goals. These modifications will only be implemented with the consent of the partner student organization.

Article VIII. Chartering Committee

Section 1. Member

The chair;
1. The chair shall be the Vice Chair of Finance.
2. The student shall be a rising sophomore, junior, or senior, elected in the spring all-college election for a term of one year.
3. The student shall be enrolled and on campus for the full year. A student either studying abroad or graduating early is not eligible to run for this position.
4. The student shall have served on the committee for no less than two semesters prior to assuming office.
5. The term shall begin at the Cabinet meeting following the regular spring election. The term shall end on the last Cabinet meeting in the following academic year. The student shall be available for counsel to the successor for the remainder of the academic year.
6. The student shall sit on Cabinet as a voting member.
7. The student may be elected for no more than two terms.
8. The student shall have weekly meetings with the Director of the Office of Student Engagement.
9. The student shall have weekly office hours with the Chair of Finance.
10. The student shall call and preside over all meetings of the committee.
11. The chair shall only vote in Chartering Committee in the event of a tie.
  1. The chair shall be responsible for any and all communication regarding organization chartering, organization recognition, and constitutional or charter amendments to organizations.
    1. The chair shall be responsible for ensuring that the primary contact of any organization wanting to be recognized or chartered or update their constitution understands the process and has access to the example charter.
    2. The chair shall respond to emails in a timely manner.
12. The chair shall be responsible for providing information on the status of each organization’s charter to each member of Chartering Committee.
13. The chair shall act as an advocate for all student organizations who bring a charter before the Senate.
  1. If in any case the representative from an organization cannot attend a Senate meeting to present their charter, the chair can present the org in their place.
14. The student shall present any changes of the Chartering Committee bylaws to the SGA Senate.
Members-at-large;
1. There shall be no fewer than six members-at-large in the Chartering Committee.
2. Three to six members of the association at large shall be selected through the Senate. They shall be elected for a term of one year.
3. Three to six members of the association at large shall be appointed by the SGA Committee on Appointments. They shall be appointed for a term of one year at the end of the spring semester.
  1. Experience in a Smith College student organization will be highly prioritized by the SGA Committee on Appointments for these positions.
4. All shall serve as voting members of the committee but shall not vote on any issue pertaining to an organization with which they are affiliated.
5. All shall attend all meetings called by the chair, and are eligible for impeachment after two unexcused absences.
6. In the event that a senate-elected position is vacated, it shall be filled from Senate.
7. In the event that an appointed member is vacated, it shall be filled from appointment.
8. A vice chair shall be elected from among the membership.

Section 2. Duties and Powers

To read and review all charters of organizations wanting to be recognized or chartered or have their charter amended.
1. The organization’s members have the ultimate decision in the content of their charter. It is not the duty of the Chartering Committee or the Senate to interfere with the wishes of the organization, so long as those wishes are consistent with Chartering Committee, SGA, and Smith College policies.
2. The Chartering Committee will check for proper grammar and spelling, consistent language, punctuation, and syntax.
3. The Chartering Committee will check that the charter contains the following sections:
  1. Name
  2. Purpose
  3. Goals
  4. Membership
  5. Includes the Hazing and Non-Discrimination Clauses
  6. Removal
  7. Meetings
  8. Executive Board (or equivalent)
  9. Includes an officer with the role of primary contact and an officer with the role of treasurer
  10. Organization Advisor (optional)
  11. Elections
  12. Method to Impeach Officers
  13. Funding
  14. Ratification / Amendments
  15. Affiliations
4. The Chartering Committee will check that the charter is consistent with the Smith College Rights Policy on Academic Freedom, the Social Code of Conduct, the Smith College Academic Integrity Code, and state, federal and local laws.
5. The Chartering Committee will communicate recommendations for the charter to the organization, and the Chair of the committee will meet with the organization to review these recommendations as necessary in a timely manner.
To approve or deny the formation of recognized organizations with a majority vote within Chartering Committee.
1. In the event of a tie, Chartering Committee will bring the organization to Senate to be voted on.
To approve or deny amendments to charters of recognized or chartered organizations.
1. In the event of a tie, Chartering Committee will bring the proposed amendment to Senate.
2. If the proposed amendment comes from a chartered organization and the committee feels the amendment is significant enough to substantially change the purpose of the organization, Chartering Committee will bring the proposed amendment to Senate.
To approve or deny bringing organizations wishing to be chartered to Senate.
1. These organizations may or may not be recognized. If they are recognized, they must have been recognized for at least two semesters before beginning the process of becoming chartered.
2. A two-thirds majority vote of the SGA Senate is required to charter an organization.
To bring organizations and amendments to Senate in the situations described previously.
1. The organization will present to Senate one week.
2. The next week, Senate will vote.
3. Senate has the power to deny, recognize, or charter organizations, and to deny or approve amendments to organization charters.
4. Chartering Committee can make a recommendation to Senate prior to the vote.
To meet once a week.
1. Chartering Committee will review all charters submitted to the Chair before that week’s meeting.
2. Chartering Committee shall reach a two-thirds quorum of the voting members of the committee at the occasion of any vote.
Chartering Committee shall be responsible for the elimination of bias within its members, without regard to political bent or personal interactions.

Section 3. Chartered and Recognized Organizations

Responsibilities of organizations
1. All organizations must be consistent with the Smith College Rights Policy on Academic Freedom, the Social Code of Conduct, the Smith College Academic Integrity Code, and state, federal, and local laws.
2. No student organizations may exclude any members for any reason except for on the basis of measurable skills.
3. Membership in any student organization shall be open to all students in good standing currently enrolled at any of the Five Colleges regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national/ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, or with regard to the bases outlined in the Veterans Readjustment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
4. In order to retain active standing, chartered organizations must submit an Organization Recognition Form through the Smith Campus Groups each year, and their primary contact must attend Treasurer training each semester.
5. All organizations must update their charter every three years, in which their status will be reviewed by Chartering Committee.
Rights of organizations
1. Active, recognized and chartered organizations are entitled to:
  1. A table at the Organization Fair.
  2. Use of SGA Vans.
  3. A number of free copies from the SGA Office as determined by the SGA Office Manager and the Director of the Office of Student Engagement.
  4. Apply for storage space in the Resource Room.
  5. A Smith College email account for the organization.
  6. Space on the Smith Social Network.
  7. Reserve space on campus.
  8. Use of the Smith College name and logo.
2. Chartered organizations are additionally entitled to apply for funding through Finance Committee.
Amendments to charters must be approved by Chartering Committee.
1. Amendments must be submitted to the chair of Chartering Committee to be brought to Chartering Committee for voting. They must comply with the Method to Amend article in the organization’s existing charter.
Becoming recognized or chartered
1. The organization cannot fulfill the same purpose as any other existing organizations.
2. The organization must provide a demonstrable benefit to the Smith community.
3. There must be demonstrated student interest for the organization.
  1. Organizations wishing to be recognized must submit a list of 10 interested members to the Chartering Committee when undergoing the recognition process.
  2. New organizations wishing to be chartered must submit a list of 15 interested members to the Chartering Committee when undergoing the chartering process.
4. An organization wanting to become recognized or chartered must
  1. Draft a charter and submit it to the chair of Chartering Committee to be brought to Chartering Committee for voting.
  2. If not a currently recognized organization, submit a list of interested members to the chair of Chartering Committee.
  3. Respond to emails from the Chartering Committee.
  4. If wanting to become chartered, present to Senate after being approved by Chartering Committee.
5. A newly recognized or chartered organization must file recognition forms with the director of the Office of Student Engagement to become active.
6. Once active, a newly chartered organization will be subject to a trial period in which they are a "zero-year organization."
  1. A zero-year organization shall be any organization that has been chartered for less than two semesters, including the semester they were chartered in and the following semester.
  2. Zero-year organizations will be limited to receiving $200 from Finance Committee per semester.