LEGISLATION PASSED

A Bill to Promote Student Engagement at the Start of the Academic Year

Allows student organizations to seek reimbursement for events held before the first finance committee session of the semester.

By Common Sense Carolina | Oct 1, 2025 | 2 min read

Summary

Under the old rules, student organizations couldn’t get reimbursed for events that happened before the Finance Committee’s first meeting of the fall semester. That meant any organization hosting welcome-week events, recruitment activities, or early-semester programming was stuck paying out of pocket with no path to reimbursement.

This bill creates an exception: events that occur between the first day of class and ten university days after the first treasurer’s workshop are now eligible for retroactive funding requests, as long as the request is submitted by October 1st.

Full Text

117th Student Senate of the University of South Carolina

Sponsored by Senator Whisenant

SECTION 1: Section 3-4-20 of Chapter 3 of the Student Government Codes is to be amended to read as follows:

Section 3-4-20(D):

  • (1) Allocation Requests for events that have already occurred will not be considered by the Student Senate Finance Committee;
  • (2) Exceptions can be made by the Student Senate Finance Committee under certain conditions:
    • (a) If payment for the event is required before the start of the fiscal year;
    • (b) If the event takes place prior to the 1st Student Senate Finance Committee session of the Fall Academic Semester;
    • (c) Unexpected advancement in competition;
    • (d) If the event occurs between the first day of class and ten (10) university days following the first official treasurer’s workshop of the fiscal year;
    • (e) An Allocation Request eligible under Section 3-4-20(D)(d) must be submitted by October 1st.
legislation funding student-organizations

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