FiCom December 2009 Letter to the Community

Dear fellow members of the Hampshire community,

Thanks to those of you who recently filled out our feedback form and gave us input. We met for an extended retreat on Saturday afternoon and read through all of them. In light of recent events, it has become evident that we need clarify a few points about the way the Financial Committee (FiCom) operates.

Many of you raised concerns about the way FiCom funds “closed” student groups. In the past, funding closed groups was an exception to the official policy. On October 25th, 2009, we changed our policies, in order to ensure that FiCom will fund all closed meetings in the same manner in which we fund meetings for groups that are open to the entire community. You can learn more about the policy here: https://hampedia.org/wiki/FiCom_Open_and_Closed_FAQ This policy will officially go into place in the spring, and the informational form every group will fill out will reflect these changes.

It should be noted here that FiCom and COCA are two separate student-run bodies that operate under Community Council. COCA – the Committee on Community Activities – is solely responsible for planning and funding events; FiCom funds everything else, including trips, equipment, publications, and meeting food. While FiCom sets the SAF Guidelines, COCA makes funding decisions concerning events. There has been much confusion recently regarding recent events involving the QCA, the way they have been funded in the past, and the cancellation of the annual Drag Ball. FiCom would like to stress that the decision to cancel Drag Ball, whether or not it is finalized, is strictly up to the QCA, and the concerns over recent funding disputes regarding events sponsored by the QCA are strictly COCA’s responsibility.

It has always been FiCom’s policy to fund all requests that do not violate the Student Activities Fee Guidelines, and to actively cut costs wherever possible. We want to work with signers to get their requests approved while making sure there is enough money for all of the student groups. This semester, we saw an unprecedented number of student groups making an unprecedented number of requests. We have done our best to stay on top of them, but funding has tightened significantly for the end of this semester. For example, we are no longer funding additional meeting food for any student group, although we are still funding other types of requests to the best of our ability. We are actively taking measures to make sure such issues are not repeated. Your patience on the matter is greatly appreciated. We hope that this letter has clarified some recent issues for you. As always, you are welcome to email us or leave a comment on Zoho, our request system (http://creator.zoho.com/ficom.hampshire/funding-request/#Form:Comments_and_Complaints). Or, if you want to get more involved, come join us! Any student in the Hampshire community is welcome to join FiCom. There is no election process. You just need to begin attending FiCom meetings. We meet in the FiCom office, in the back of the Airport Lounge, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-7 PM. You are always welcome to come in and see how we operate.

FiCom loves you!

ficom@hampshire.edu

https://hampedia.org/wiki/FiCom