Frequently Asked Questons

Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) Clubs provide an atmosphere for sharing cultural, religious, social, spiritual or political interests, for having fun & meeting new people, and for gaining invaluable experience. Clubs sponsored by the SFSS have access to a number of services & advantages, including SFU room reservations, club email & webspace accounts, event planning assistance, and much more.

A variety of clubs are hosted by the SFSS, ranging from Accounting Association to Zombie Militia! Typical categories include religious, cultural, political, social and special interest, all of which must be open to ALL members of the SFU community. SFSS clubs with a recreational focus, however, are administered through Recreational Services & Athletics.

It’s pretty easy, really. All you need is a great idea and a minimum of ten SFU students who support it. A great way to advertise your club and get members is to attend Clubs’ Days, held during week 2 of every semester. Some time in week 3, your club would meet to vote for a minimum of 2 club executives, complete the registration package, create your club constitution and discuss plans for the semester. You would also assign delegates from your executive to attend the “New Club Meeting”, where you will learn invaluable information about club operation. Then, all that’s left is for you to register your club online by the third Friday of semester.

The registration process must be completed every semester your club wishes to operate.

Clubs are no longer expected to collect membership fees. However, they may decide to collect dues to raise extra money and/or to encourage a more dedicated membership.

All clubs will receive an operating grant. Grants are dispersed according to each club’s current SFU student membership, based on a sliding scale. Budgetary constraints may cause the sliding scale to vary from semester to semester.
The operating grant can only be used to cover club operational expenses, such as office supplies, photocopying, and meeting supplies. To obtain a reimbursement, club fund authorities must submit till receipts (rather than interact or visa slips) to the SFSS GO, where amounts under $50 may be reimbursed in cash and over $50 will be reimbursed by cheque.
This grant will be housed in each club operating account and can only be used within the semester it is granted. Any unused money will revert back to the club pool on the last day of exams.

Grants are available for all clubs who need extra money to fund an event, social, or project. To gain access to this fund, clubs must submit a Grant Request Form including a detailed budget projection to the SFSS GO well in advance of the event. Proposals can be submitted at any time during the semester and even a semester ahead to allow for advanced planning.
General Office Coordinators can approve proposed budgets under $500, whereas the Financial and Administrative Services Committee (FASC) must approve amounts over $500.
Once approved, the funds will be credited to the club’s grant account and may only be used for expenses incurred by the proposed event. Any unused money will revert back to the grant pool.
Grants via proposal may not be used for fundraisers or donated to off-campus organizations.

Any additional money acquired by the club through event revenue, fundraising or donations can be deposited into an SFSS hosted “trust” account. Funds in Trust accounts do not get reabsorbed at the end of each semester like operating accounts do, rather they carry forward as long as the club is in existence.

Only fund authorities designated in the club package can withdraw funds from operating or trust accounts. They must bring in receipts of purchase to the SFSS General Office (GO) to receive a reimbursement. Amounts under approximately $50 can be reimbursed in cash (dependent on money available), whereas amounts over $50 will be reimbursed by cheque. In the latter case, GO staff will have the fund authority fill in a “cheque requisition” form, which takes 1-2 weeks to process.

Sure, and it also has access to SFU webspace. When you submit your club registration package before the 3rd Friday of the semester, ask for a “Computing Account Request” form. Only the “Email Account Authority” designated in your club package may request, renew, and initially access the password for the account.

SFSS Clubs have the privilege of access to almost any space that SFU has to offer - this includes Harbour Centre, Burnaby SFU and SFSS rooms, recreational facilities, and open spaces (eg. Convocation Mall). Only “room booking authorities”, designated in the club package, may request rooms on the club’s behalf. Room request forms can be completed at the GO and take five days to process, so please plan in advance to avoid disappointment.

From weekly meetings to carnivals, the staff at the SFSS General Office can help you with most aspects of event planning. If you require furniture or audio/visual equipment, work order forms are available at the GO. Facilities Management forms must be submitted 7 days in advance for rental of furniture, like tables, chairs, display boards, etc. LIDC work orders for audio/visual equipment like data projectors, microphones, or PA systems, can also be filled out at the GO – they require at least 5 working days to process your request. Facilities Management charges a minimum of $60 for rentals, whereas LIDC does not charge for most A/V equipment - there is a fee for data projectors ($28) and PA systems ($15).

Yes, you can… but there are different procedures for different food events:

If you wish to have snacks at a club meeting or a potluck party for your members you can do so, but we strongly recommend that you have recipes on hand for those who have food allergies. For on-campus catered events, please use the SFSS Food & Beverage Services (please note: for catered meetings in SFSS administered space you must use SFSS services)

Whenever you are serving food to people outside your club membership you must have prior approval from both SFU Dining Services (AQ 2028, foodserv@sfu.ca) and SFSS Food & Beverage Services (MBC 2905) and a “Temporary Food Permit” granted by the Simon Fraser Health Authority. Food Permit Application forms are available at the GO and must be submitted at least 14 days prior to the event. It is necessary for at least one person from your club to have a Foodsafe Certificate, copies of which must be attached to the application form. Because safe food serving requires immediate access to sinks, the GO has a portable handwash station available for reservation for those events away from cleaning facilities (e.g. in Convo Mall). The sink can only be rented on weekdays during the GO’s open hours with a $100 deposit.

If you are having your community event catered by the SFSS Catering service you do not require a health permit or a portable sink... all you have to do is come to the GO in advance of the event and fill out a Catering Order Form

Bake Sales

If your club wishes to sell baked goods to raise funds for a charitable cause you must apply for a "Sale of Lower Risk Food" permit at least 14 days in advance of the event, and you do need to follow a few basic guidelines, including:

• obtaining all ingredients from approved sources
• only selling baked goods that are non-perishable
• protecting baked goods from contaminations (e.g. individually plastic wrapped)
• keeping a detailed list of people involved in baking plus all of the ingredients that they used

A Bake Sale package including the permit application and guidelines are available at the GO.

How do I promote my club and advertise events?

There are many ways for clubs to advertise information at SFU, including the following:

Clubs Tables

Located in the South AQ, clubs’ tables are a great way to promote your club to the SFU community. You can make a table reservation at the GO. Because space is limited and clubs are abundant, you can only have a table for a maximum of 5 days at time. 4 of the 7 clubs tables have a poster board behind them, which can be used by the renter to display club information only for the duration of their reservation.

Poster Boards

There are poster boards available all over campus to advertise events – the problem is finding them all! The GO can provide you with a map indicating all the SFSS boards and what day of the week they are cleared. Please only post one poster per board and do your best to respect other posters. When you print up your posters, remember that you have to include the SFSS logo.
If you would like to post in the Convocation Mall, please come to the GO with a couple of poster for us to stamp and put up on the relevant boards. These posters should remain up for a month or until the event is over.

Rentable banner spaces & display boards

There are a total of 10, 8-foot banner spaces/cases available in the ASB, Convocation Mall, and the Transport Corridor. You can book one space at the GO for a maximum of 2 weeks at a time. Banner supplies can be rented from the GO with a $20 deposit. Supplies include your choice of paints ($2 fee), a maximum of 3 brushes, and 8-feet of banner paper ($3 fee) – $15 of your deposit will be reimbursed upon return of the paints & brushes.
Two display boards, located in the WMC and East AQ, are available for reservation at the GO for a maximum of 2 weeks at a time.

Club email bulletin

Every Wednesday the GO sends a “Club Bulletin” to sfss-clubs@sfu.ca to notify club executives about important club administration information (i.e. Clubs’ Days sign-up, etc.) and to provide a venue for clubs to promote their events to the club list. sfss-clubs@sfu.ca consists of email addresses designated by clubs in their club registration package under “for General Office” use. To avoid extensive spamming, we ask that clubs provide an email that only reaches executives members. If you would like to post an event on the Club Bulletin, please email the information to sfssgo@sfu.ca.

ULife calendar - events.sfu.ca

This is an online events calendar where groups can advertise their events instantly, for free!
Feel free also to search the calendar for events hosted by other student groups and help build a better campus community through cross-promotion.

Make Buttons!

The GO has a button-maker available for clubs to rent! You can make your own 1 ¼” buttons to advertise your club, promote a cause, or just for fun. We require a $40 deposit for button-maker and buttons cost 10 cents each. Unfortunately, the machine must stay on campus and can only be used during our office hours.  Making buttons is easy... just check out this button making instruction form

What if this form doesn’t answer all my questions?

So, you have more questions, eh?! Well, if that’s the case, come to the SFSS General Office and we’ll do our best to help you out. Come in person to MBC 2250, phone 778.782.3870, or e-mail!