Allocations Board
What is Allocations Board (A-Board)?
The Allocations Board (A-board) is the branch of the Brandeis University Student Union that is responsible for the governance, distribution and auditing of the Student Activities Fee (SAF) funds. A-Board is composed of 10 voting members: two co-chairpersons, a Senate Representative, two racial minority members, and five other members. The head treasurers will be observers and vote in the case of a tie. It is advised by the Department of Student Engagement and holds meetings at least once per week during the semester.
Role of A-board?
Allocations Board plans and runs the process of Marathon, Supplementary Funding and Auditing throughout the semester to distribute SAF funds. They reserve the right to review club budget applications and allocate the appropriate funding based on the demonstrated need, size & scale of the club's activities, their historical data and the availability of funding in that Academic year. Allocations Board is also responsible to keep the funding scope up to date and renew the policies as needed. The Allocations Board works under the supervision of the Budget Analyst at the Department of Student Engagement.
What is Allocations Board funding Scope?
Allocations Board Funding Scope is the document that outlines the policies of the Allocations Board covering the scope of funding for all clubs, it details all the activities that are eligible to be funded and the ones which are not eligible to be funded. This document also outlines limitations of funding for different events and activities, policies around travel, meals etc. Every club treasurer is required to go through this document and familiarize themselves with the funding scope before they request any funding from Allocations Board.
What is Student Activities Fee (SAF) ?
The Student Activities Fee (SAF) is collected as 1% of tuition. It also includes rollover funds from SAF that were not spent in the previous fiscal year. This fund is essentially the accumulation of contributions from each undergraduate student. Each semester, every undergraduate student pays $299 to this pot of money called the Student Activity Fee (SAF) funds. Depending on the number of students enrolled every semester, the student activity fee gets calculated, making the yearly approximate amount of ~$2.1 Million Dollars. As the name suggests, it's student activity fund, which means that students can request this money for running activities on campus. These activities must be inclusive and open to all Brandeis students aimed to enhance their community experience outside of the classroom. Such activities include but are not limited to club involvement, on-campus events, tournament participation etc. The A-Board strives to ensure that all funding is distributed with transparency, equitability, and accountability. Our policies are outlined in the Allocations Board Funding Scope.
How do Clubs request for funding from A-board?
There are 2 ways in which recognized clubs can ask for funding:
1. Annual Marathon
An annual marathon is a process of funding that takes place every year. A marathon has a specific Start and End date, during this period the clubs submit their Budget Request for the next academic year calendar.
There are two types of marathons based on the accreditation of a club. "Secured Club Marathon" & "Chartered Club Marathons", both of them takes place in the Spring semester at the same time. Probationary Clubs may not participate in the Marathon. The dates for Marathon are different every semester so pay attention to emails from the Allocations Board for more information. Every semester, an email is sent out to all the club leaders detailing the dates of the entire Marathon process which will include the start date and an end date for applications along the review period and final date for the results of the Marathon. Once Marathon Decisions are out, you can appeal any decisions made by the Allocations Board. The Appeals timeline will be included in the email sent out by Allocations Board. To be more likely to receive funding, it is highly recommended you speak with a member of the Allocations Board to determine the reasoning for the denial or partial allocation.
2. Supplementary Funding
Although 90-95% of the SAF funding is allocated during the marathon, there is a little portion set aside as supplementary funding during the semesters. As the name suggests, supplementary funding is the funding that is provided to clubs and organizations in case of any additional expenses that they might have that they could not have forecasted in the process of Marathon. Clubs are allowed to request additional funds during the semester through Supplementary funding requests. Supplementary funding usually starts from the second week of the start of the semester and ends 3 weeks before the last day of classes, the exact dates will be included in the email sent out by Allocations Board at the start of the semester. Supplementary allocations are generally used as a funding source for:
- Probationary clubs and organizations (as they do not participate in Marathon process)
- Newly chartered organizations that were formed after the Marathon process.
- Expenses related to a program that were not anticipated.
- Requests for which exact details were unknown during the Marathon process.
- New events funding may be requested (Limited*)
What is Reallocation?
If your club's plans change, you can request to move funds from an expense they were originally approved for to a different one. Reallocation is the official process for moving funds from one approved budget line to another. For example, if you were allocated $200 for "Event A" but now need to use that money for "Event B," you would submit a reallocation request. All requests are evaluated based on the criteria in the Funding Scope to ensure the new expense is an appropriate use of SAF. Please note that a reallocation is required if you intend to use allocated funds for a purpose other than what was originally approved. This includes:
- Transferring funds from one event to another (e.g., moving money from Event A to Event B) or
- Changing how funds are used within the same event (e.g., using money approved for food to pay for a DJ instead).
The reallocation process will be managed through a centralized online form to improve efficiency and communication. Please be strategic and intentional with your requests. The new form is designed to make necessary changes easier, not to encourage constant budget adjustments. Repeatedly moving funds between the same categories creates confusion and administrative delays. Plan your budgets carefully and only submit reallocations when a genuine change in your plans makes it necessary.
When submitting a reallocation request, please keep the following guidelines in mind:
- Processing Timeline: Requests are reviewed by the Allocations Board within 72 hours (excluding weekends and holidays). You will receive an email once your request has been processed.
- Do Not Spend Before Approval: Spending funds prior to receiving formal approval is not permitted.
- Account Restrictions: Funds cannot be transferred between your Annual Budget and your Fundraising or Gift accounts.
- Submission Window: Requests may be submitted starting the second week of the semester and no later than three weeks before the last day of classes. The Allocations Board will announce the exact dates at the start of each semester.
- Evaluation Criteria: Requests are reviewed in accordance with the A-Board Funding Scope.
- No Expedited Requests: All requests follow the standard 72-hour review timeline. Expedited processing is not available.
- Submission Method: Requests must be submitted via the official reallocation form. Email submissions will not be accepted.
- Detailed Breakdown Required: A clear, itemized breakdown of the new intended use of funds must be included. Requests without this will not be processed.
- No Retroactive Requests: Reallocations for expenses already incurred will be automatically denied.
Note* : Reallocation is not guaranteed and may be rejected if the guidelines are not followed.
Where do I make a Budget Request to get funding approval?
Campus Groups is the official platform that provides access to different toolkits for the clubs and organizations to manage their members, events, communication, activities and finances.
This platform is used by all the club/ student organizations to manage their financial transactions. It is important that all the club officers, especially the club treasurers and presidents know how to navigate through their club finance pages, understand the financial policies, understand the financial processes on campus groups and know how to read and manage their budgets on campus groups.
When working with club money/ finance on Campus group, there are 2 most important concepts to understand:
- STEP 1 - Budget Request - A Budget request is a process to request for Funding
- STEP 2 - Payment Request - A Payment request is a process to request for payments.
Financial Misconduct
Misusing money allocated by A-Board is defined as using SAF money for any expenditure not approved by A-Board & Treasury. This includes buying supplies that were not specified at Marathon, buying items that were denied, or overspending. Example: money allocated for books may not be spent on a stereo. Any and all changes in the allocated budgets must be communicated to A-Board and receive re-approval through the process of reallocation requests.
In the event of noncompliance with the rules and regulations of A-Board and/or Treasury, A-Board and Treasury will withhold all reimbursements and future funding until an agreement can be made with the Treasury, A-Board, and the violating parties. These sanctions will continue until the situation is financially rectified and trust is restored.
In the most serious cases, A-Board will direct violations to the Student Union Judiciary, Brandeis Student Conduct Board, or the local authorities.
Finance Handbook
This Student Club finance handbook comprises all the financial policies and procedure in details at length for all clubs and organizations. All clubs are required to have their Treasurer and President to go thorough these handbook thoroughly before they start doing any financial transactions on behalf of a club.
Contacting Allocations Board
If you have any questions about requesting for Budgets for clubs, please reach out to aboard@brandeis.edu. Please note that, Allocation Board will get back to you within 48 hours from the receipt of the email, so kindly be patient once you have sent the email.
Responsibilities of the club Treasurer
- Club Treasurers are responsible for educating themselves about Brandeis Financial Policies in order to access funding.
- Any club violating any financial policies will be given warning, will undergo disciplinary action and in an egregious circumstance will be prohibited to access SAF funding.
- Club Treasurer must take full responsibility and ownership of all financial transactions for their club’s Budget.
- Club Treasurer must know how to make a Budget Request as a STEP 1 to access SAF funding
- Club Treasurer must know how to make a Payment Request as a STEP 2 to be able to spend the approved allocated funding.
Current Allocations Board Members
| A-Board Chair | |
| TBD | A-Board Chair |
| Aboard Member | |
| Aboard Member | |
| Aboard Member | |
| Aboard Member | |
| Leanna Zhao | Aboard Member |
| TBD | Aboard Member (Senate Representative) |