Department of Student Engagement

Treasury

What is Treasury?

The Treasury is the branch of the Brandeis University Student Union that is responsible for assisting Club leaders to spend their approved allocated Student Activity Fee (SAF) funds while ensuring compliance with Allocations Board funding policy, University financial policies,  State and Federal laws.  Treasury is composed of  two head Treasurers, eight Deputy Treasurers and 3 Assistant Treasurers. Treasury will conduct office hours every week to help facilitate buying processes and paying processes for all club Treasurers on appointment basis. Typically Treasury office hours open in the first week of the each semester and close 1 week before the last day of the classes. The exact dates for the treasury working hours will be sent out to all students via email at the beginning of each semester. 

Role of Treasury?

Student Union Treasurers work closely with the Club treasurers to help them process different kind of payments, as no club leader has direct access to their club's funding. Each club treasurer need to book an appointment with one of the Student Union Treasurers when they need to make a payment for their club expenses. The Student Union Treasurers get trained on how to use procument systems, ensure University compliance to financial policies, processes and Procedures to make purchase on behalf of the clubs. The treasurers have Credit cards, access to business account with vendors  and access to forms that facilitate the payment process.  The Treasury works under the supervision of the Budget Analyst at the Department of Student Engagement.

What is Scope of Treasury Work?

All approved allocated purchases need to go through approval from Student Union Treasurers. They will check the expenses against the allocated category and allocated amount and reserve the right to deny a payment request if any of the following reasons occur:

  • If the payment request is outside of the funding scope
  • If the payment request is different then the allocated item.
  • If the payment request exceeds the allocated budget
  • If the payment request violates any financial policies and processes
  • If the payment request is for a retroactive expense
  • If the payment request is not aligned with the allocated budget

How do clubs pay for their Club expenses from their approved Budgets?

Before any payment is made, clubs must ensure that they have approved funding from Allocations Board. Once they have checked that, they then have to make the appropriate payment request on Campus group and finally after that they need book an appointment with one of the Student Union Treasurer to seek assistance to process one of the following payment requests:

  • Payment for Amazon Orders - If a club  wants to purchase something on amazon - Treasury has access to the business account of Amazon, hence you must make an appointment with them to make your purchases via brandeis’s marketplace. 
  • Payment via P-Card Card/Credit Card -  If a club wants to make a payment online via credit card - Treasury has university credit cards and can help you make payments to your vendors in their office hours during the appointment.
  • Payment via Check - If a club has an expense that cannot be paid via Credit card and must be paid via Check then Treasury can help you process that payment during the appointment as they have access to the forms requesting for the checks. 
  • Payment for an Approved reimbursement - If a club has an approved reimbursement then the treasury can process the reimbursement request during the appointment as they have access to the forms requesting for the payment
  • Payment in the form of Honorariums -If a club has an approved honorarium which is within the maximum limit of $300 then the treasury can help process the honorarium during the appointment as they have access to the forms requesting for the payment
  • Payment for Contracts - If a club has a Contract Payment, they must work with Bridget Summit who is the Program Specialist for the contract Process atleast 3 weeks before the actual date of the contract services. 

Where do I make a Payment Request before meeting with the Student Union Treasurers?

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. 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 changed n 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 Treasury

If you have any questions about payment requests for club expenses, please reach out to  sutreasury@brandeis.edu. Please note that, Treasury will get back to you within 48 hours from the receipt of the email, so kindly be patient once you have sent the email and plan in advance as last minute approvals will not be granted. 

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. 

Important Treasury Documents

Current Treasury Board Members

Xan Maddock-Mark Head Treasurer
Lucy Zhang Head Treasurer
Mai Al Shaaban Deputy Treasurer
Syeda Aamna Zahra Tirmazi Deputy Treasurer
Krish Bhut Deputy Treasurer
Musa Albalakhi Deputy Treasurer
Sabrina Goldsmith Deputy Treasurer
Amaima Awais Deputy Treasurer
Chahana Budhbhatti Assistant Treasurer
Galina Kraytsberg Assistant Treasurer

Past Treasury Board Heads