Student Centre Staff
studentcentre@sfss.ca.

These are fellow SFU students who work for SFSS on a part-time bases and are extremely knowledgeable about SFSS policies and procedures

Some things they do for you are:

• Process your room bookings
• Accept and process your cheque requisitions
• Disperse your reimbursement cheques
• Provide information for general questions
• Sending out newsletters
• Process payments

Clubs Coordinators and Generalist

Ricky msc.clubs1@sfss.ca
Nancy msc.clubs2@sfss.ca
Melanie msc.clubs3@sfss.ca
John msc.generalist@sfss.ca

Melanie, Nancy, Ricky and John are full time SFSS staff dedicated to ensuring that clubs and student needs are met within the guidelines laid out by SFSS. They have helped create operational guidelines and ensure that they are easily understood and followed

A few of the things they do for you and the clubs are:

• Review and approve club grant requests
• Assist in applying for a grant if required
• Approve payment of club cheque requisitions
• Approval of new clubs
• Problem solve issues with bookings
• Communicate with SFU facilities
• Assist with club event planning

Surrey

Shelley msc.surrey@sfss.ca

Shelley is the face of SFSS operations in Surrey and if the club is operational there she will be your main point of contact.

Some things she can do for you and the club

• Process Surrey space bookings
• Accept cheque requisitions and hand out reimbursement cheques
• Answer general questions
• Assist with planning Surrey-based events
• She does NOT approve grant requests but can help with the request process and the status checks

Resources and Links

Canvas Course: https://canvas.sfu.ca/courses/41990

SFSS Website: https://sfss.ca/

SFSS Clubs Portal: follow links in the SFSS website

SFSS Member Resources Page

How do I ensure my club remains active?

• Minimum 10 active members
• 2 executives
• Hold regular meetings and events
• Yearly elections/interviews for executives
• Ensure your debts are paid and no money is owing to the SFSS
• Keep your membership list up to date

Co-Curricular Record

As a club executive, you can collect hours for your co-curricular record. Each semester you will be sent a web survey to fill out and send back to SFSS. SFSS will pass it on to SFU to show you did a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer work as an SFSS club executive.

All information for active clubs is kept in the Club Portal.

Depending on your role, the Club Portal will look different for you. For example, only executives with fund/facilities authority will be able to submit/view grants and see club funds (resource, trust, and petty cash). Please keep in mind that there are limitations to how many people can have for each authority:

• Fund/Facilities (max 2 people)
• Room Booking (max 3 people)
• Email Account (max 1 person)
• Membership (no limit)

If you want to change executive authority for a given area, a current executive must email the Student Centre with the requested changes. You must remain within the limitations, so please include any changes to previous authority as well.

Take some time to explore the portal and see how it works

Resource Funding

• Each club receives $400.00 at the beginning of the semester. This $400.00 is reset each semester and does not carry over.
• Resource funding can be used for printing (paper printing – posters, banners, worksheets) from a recognized print shop (must have an itemized paid receipt, SFU Library receipts are not accepted), venue fees and AV
  • SFU fees for venue and AV may and will be paid from resource funding (and deducted directly by SFSS) if a grant has not been approved to cover these costs.
    • Please track the use of your resource funds, as SFU billing can be delayed and if you do not have the funds available the difference will be deducted from your club Trust account. A negative Trust account balance results in a freeze on all SFSS clubs services

Petty Cash

• Each club receives $20.00 in petty cash per semester
• Petty cash can be used toward anything related to the club or the operation of the club
• To be reimbursed for Petty Cash expenses, fill out a Cheque Requisitions and include an itemized paid receipt

Trust

• A club’s trust account is a place to keep all funds raised in fundraising, sales or gained through sponsorship or donation. This money belongs to the club and is not reset, the funds remain in the trust account until withdrawn or until the club disbands. Club money must be kept in a trust or a club bank account as it is property of the club not an individual
• You can request trust funds to pay for SFU catering, venue, AV
• You may access money from the trust account by submitting a cheque requisition with the names of 2 executives approving the withdrawal and including itemized paid receipts
• You can deposit money into the trust account with a cheque written to Simon Fraser Student Society or in cash at the SFSS Student Centre or at the Surrey office
• If the club has money owing to SFSS, this will be deducted from the Trust account and if the account is in the negative the club will lose access to all SFSS club services

Grants

Grants are discretionary funding provided to clubs from SFSS. In order to receive grant funding you must submit a grant request and following operational guidelines clubs coordinators will determine the amount of money the club qualifies for:

• Complete, in detail, a grant request form, available through the Club Portal
  • Include as much detail about the event or project as you can
    • The more complete the plan, the better the coordinators can assess the needs and eligibility for the event
• Grant requests must be completed 10 business days before the event or the commencement of the project ( a minimum of 20 business days for requests over $1000.00)
• The grant will be reviewed by a coordinator who will approve it as is, adjust it and approve it, deny it or email you for more information
• You will receive an email telling you your grant is approved and the approval will show in the portal.
  • Be sure to check the portal, to review the amount you have been approved for, as it may not be the same total as your request.
• You WILL NOT be reimbursed for any monies spent before the date that the grant was approved.
  • The earlier you get your request in, the faster you will know the amount the club is approved for
• SFSS has guidelines restricting maximums granted in specific areas and for specific items, and ALL granting is discretionary
• General granting guidelines can be found on the SFSS website on the Club Resource page and on canvas
• We request that you submit your expenses for grant reimbursement within 15 days of the event or purchase
  • Include a cheque requisition
  • Original Itemized (lists what has been purchased) receipts indicating payment has been made
  • An event summary

If you have questions about how to fill out a grant request, what you are eligible for or the granting process in general contact the SFSS Student Centre, a clubs coordinator, or the Surrey coordinator

SFSS works on a reimbursement system for expenses. This means that you or other executive members will spend money and then submit receipts to SFSS and SFSS will reimburse you. We make these payments (in most cases) by cheque so a cheque requisition (cheque req) will be required from you for the reimbursement of the purchases.

• Available as fillable PDF on the SFSS Website or paper copies at Student Centre and the Surrey office
• An executive with funding/finance privileges fills out the Cheque Req and submits it to Student Centre or the Surrey office
• A Complete Cheque Req package contains:
  • Cheque Req form with the top half filled out including where the money is coming from (grant #, Petty Cash, Resource, Trust) and information about what the expense is
  • Original Itemized paid receipts (we do not accept debit card receipts/credit card receipts as they don’t show what was purchased and we do not accept order forms as they are not proof of payment).
  • An Event/Project Summary (for grants)
  • Any other supporting documents (contract, copy of printed material etc)
• Submit your Cheque Requisition package no later than 15 days after the event/purchase(s)
• Allow up to 3 weeks for cheque processing
• You may pick up our cheque from Student Centre or the Surrey Office (you will be emailed when it is ready for pick up) or have it mailed off-campus directly
• Student Centre can pay out cash for requisitions up to $50.00 and the Surrey office can payout up to $20.00 to the individual named on the form

Booking SFU Space

Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver are all done through the SFSS portal.

SFSS Managed Spaces (Conference Rooms/Forum Chambers)

Booking through the portal is the best way to get your request in the que, but you may email your request to the SFSS Student Centre. If you are in a pinich visit the SFSS Student Centre Office MBC 2270. The staff will try and assist you, based on availability and provided they have the time within their workday to process last minute bookings.

Surrey and Vancouver do not have SFSS managed bookable spaces

What food can we serve at our events and meetings?

Burnaby Campus

SFSS spaces (conference rooms, forum chambers) you may self-cater. Note: You may be required to have a  “food permit” as well as a copy of the “operating license” from the company that you are using to prepare your food.

SFU open spaces please ask , it depends on what the club event is, please contact the SFSS Student Centre for assistance.

All SFU ROOMS must use SFU catering there are NO exceptions

Please email all SFU catering orders to the SFSS Student Centre, this must be done at least 5 business days before the event.

Please look at this website for the Burnaby campus catering menu: http://www.sfu.ca/mecs/burnaby/catering1.html

Vancouver Campus

– all catering must be booked through MECS and is ordered through grant requests or emailing the SFSS student centre, make sure you have sufficient funds to pay for all catering. Please look at this website for the catering menu for Vancouver campus: http://www.sfu.ca/mecs/vancouver-main/catering.html

Surrey Campus

You may bring in food from professional registered caterers and restaurants, but will be asked in advance for what you are serving and from where to ensure all Fraser Health requirements are met. For large events and those on the Mezzanine MECS may ask that your club use one of their approved caterers.

For events in Burnaby and Vancouver, your first step would be Student Centre where staff can answer questions about space, catering etc. If you need more help with planning your event, you can request a meeting with one of the coordinators who can walk you through the process and answer your questions

For events in Surrey, email/call/or visit the Member Services Coordinator – Surrey, and she will refer you to resources or schedule a meeting to walk you through the process and answer your questions.

*It is best to create an event plan before booking space and beginning working on details. Your plan will be a living document and can be adjusted, and improved as you go on. PLEASE ask questions first and well in advance of the event, you are planning. Staff and Coordinators know the ins and outs of the process and can assist in making this as smooth as possible

The larger the event, the more planning and more advanced planning required.

For signature or yearly events – the process of planning for the next year can begin immediately after the event is held. While you may not be able to book space at this time, you can look at failures and successes and schedule the process of the next year

Clubs Days are held 3 times a year – Spring, Summer, and Fall semester at both Burnaby and Surrey Campus. Registering your club for a table is an excellent way to interact with the general student population and recruit members and promote your clubs and club events. Information on clubs days and how to register is sent out in the newsletter and by email to club executives

Tabling/Boothing in Burnaby – can be booked through the Clubs Portal

Kiosks in Surrey – There are 3 Kiosks in Surrey that can be used to promote club events at no charge to the club. These are located on the Mezzanine, the top of the escalator on the 3^rd floor and by the hot tub. Kiosks are booked through the Surrey Room Booking form in the Clubs Portal

SFSS Events Calendar – https://sfss.ca/calendar/ Fill out the form and we will list your event on the Calendar

SFSS Newsletter – SFSS will include your events in our news feed upon request

SFSS Social Media – tag us

Postering  – You may design and put up posters around campus (please review postering guidelines for specific campuses)

Other Clubs – talk to other club executives and attend their events, these are excellent networking opportunities

Classes – talk your club up to classmates and professors