Club Leadership Resources
Best Practices
All financial transactions should funnel through the club treasurer (or whoever is responsible for managing the budget). This will give the treasurer the opportunity to record the deposit or withdrawal.
Be sure you provide the correct funding information. Errors cannot be corrected. (ie. Using your IRA fund instead of letting us know this was meant to be a MESFAC purchase or a CP Connect purchase.)
Cal Poly is NOT tax exempt…meaning Cal Poly pays state taxes.
If a vendor requests a W-9, please ask Christine Haas for it.
Cal Poly’s fiscal year is July 1 – June 30
The financial database used to provide balances and transactions is Dashboards. You can request a trial balance or a list of transactions anytime via email. If you have questions about items listed in Dashboards, you can also email those questions to Christine Haas.
Submitting a Request to Register Form
The ME Department requires any club that is planning on competing or attending an event to complete a Request to Register form. This form needs to be submitted 2 weeks prior to the competition/event registration deadline. The request will be approved or denied through key persons in the department based on a series of logistical factors. The club contact will be notified via email whether or not the club has been approved to register for their competition/event.
Travel
Travel Pre-authorization form – This form is required for each traveler (minimum) 2 weeks before a trip.
Prohibited States – Effective January 1, 2017, AB 1887 prohibits state-funded travel to any states that have enacted a law that voids or repeals any existing state or public protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression or have enacted laws that have the effect of voiding or repealing any of these protections. States on the restricted list are: Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas
Travel advances – Can be requested on the Travel Pre-authorization form. The person requesting the travel advance will be emailed to pick-up their advance in 001-129 in the Payment Services Department. Photo ID is required to pick up the check. Travel advances are not reflected in the club’s budget until the travel claim is processed.
Travel Claim form – Each traveler who incurs expenses must complete a Travel Claim form within 10 days upon return of their trip. This includes those who received a travel advance. The department will complete the Travel Claim form for you. We ask that all original receipts are attached to the Reimbursement form found in the ME Office or through your treasurer.
Claiming Mileage – If you are using your own vehicle for a university-related trip, per the CSU-wide travel policy, you must claim mileage. As of January 13, 2017, the mileage rate is 0.545 per mile.
Your club has the option of using the CSU-wide travel agent, Giselle’s for airfare and vehicle rentals. Charges for airfare and vehicle rental(s) are billed directly to your club account. To use this option, simply email Christine Haas the following:
Name of each traveler (provide the full name that appears on their driver’s license or passport)
Each traveler’s date of birth
The departure date
The preferred time of day to depart
The airport you wish to depart from
The airport you wish to fly to …and the same for the return.
Your club has the option of using the CSU-wide travel agent, Giselle’s for airfare and vehicle rentals. Charges for airfare and vehicle rental(s) are billed directly to your club account. To use this option, simply email Christine Haas the following:
Name of driver(s)
Type of vehicle
Pick-up destination
Time of day to pick-up …and the same for the return.
The process for contracting a bus charter has recently changed. Your club may now directly book with the list of Bus Charters contracted with Cal Poly. The website to obtain this information is viewed on Contracts & Procurement’s website in the link below. https://afd.calpoly.edu/cprm/procurement/bus_requests
Please DO NOT pay for a bus charter yourself. Always have Cal Poly send a check for payment to the bus company on behalf of your club after the trip has been completed.
Department Vehicles & Drivers
Please note: If a club is reserving a department vehicle for competition or an event, the request to register form must be completed prior to submitting the Vehicle Reservation Request.
Vehicles that are available to reserve:
10-passenger Ford van – only to be used for trips within California
10-passenger Chevrolet van
4-5 passenger Chevrolet Silverado truck
Trailers that are available to reserve:
10-ft. trailer
24-ft trailer
Each Vehicle Reservation Request must be turned into Christine Haas (minimum) 2 weeks before the trip.
All department vehicles are reserved on a first come, first serve basis.
All driver’s forms need to be completed before the reservation can be confirmed. Allow 2 weeks for processing driver paperwork.
One set of driver forms are required for each fiscal year for each club member who intends to drive. Note: If you are a student shop tech, you do not need to fill out the forms again.
Vehicle keys can be picked-up from Jim Gerhardt in 13-128. Jim will check the vehicle calendar to make sure you have been cleared to take the vehicle(s).
If you have the vehicle(s) for more than 1 day OR the vehicle gets dirty, we ask that you please wash and vacuum the vehicle and must be dropped off with a full tank of gas, washed and vacuumed. The department reserves the right to charge the appropriate club for gas, vehicle wash or vacuum should any of the vehicles be returned empty and/or dirty.
**Sunset North Car Wash on 2110 Broad Street, SLO offers their Bronze level wash – vacuum and wash for $26.99
If a vehicle is being dropped off outside of normal operating hours, there is a key drop outside of 13-128. Please drop the keys there.
If you have club members who are driving their own personal vehicle, driving a vehicle rental or driving one of our department vehicles on state business, then that person will be required to submit driver paperwork. The following forms will need to be submitted no less than 2 weeks prior to traveling.
Note: These forms are submitted annually and only need to be completed once. If a student tech is in your club, then they do not need to complete the driver paperwork because they have already done so.
Authorization to Use Privately Owned Vehicles on State Business
Volunteer Identification Form
New Mandated Reporter
Request to Operate Vehicles on University (State) Business NOTE: A copy of your driver’s license needs to accompany this form
Club Accounting
If your club wishes to use Christine Haas’ ProCard, please email your order to Christine at cehaas@calpoly.edu, including the following details:
Vendor
Item numbers and quantities
Preferred shipping method
Funding information (club, MESFAC, etc.)
Any other important information to know when ordering
Note: It is preferred that the club treasurer or president make all the ProCard purchases in order to keep an accurate track of expenses.
The ProCard statement cycle is the 16th to the 15th of the following month. I do not reconcile my ProCard statement until the 17th – 25th every month – meaning, your club will not see ProCard transactions reflected in your expenses until the beginning of the next month.
Rules & Restrictions:
The ProCard is NEVER to be used for Ebay or PayPal purchases.
The ProCard cannot be used to make Amazon purchases.
If the Mechanical Engineering department already has an account with the vendor (e.g. McMaster-Carr, OnlineMetals.com, Aircraft Spruce), you must use this account to purchase.
The ProCard can be used for single purchases between $150 – $2,500.
Anything under $150 should be purchased with your own credit/debit card and submitted for reimbursement.
Anything over $2,500 needs to be processed as a purchase order. Please work with Christine Haas to do this.
Please use the reimbursement form provided in the office or you may ask your club treasurer to email the form to you. We will complete the forms for either.
All reimbursements should be approved by the treasurer. This will give the treasurer an opportunity to record the expense for the club.
Please submit original cash register receipts with your reimbursement. Photos/copies of cash register receipts have to be treated as lost receipts. The office can provide a Lost Receipt Form for you.
For all online orders or receipts that do not include the statement(s) “BALANCE $0.00” or “PAID IN FULL,” please provide a copy of the bank/credit card statement reflecting the charge as posted. Please highlight the relevant charges.
If food was purchased for the club or for an event, please be sure to include a list of those who attended the meeting or event.
Know your club account (aka fund #) number! If it is a MESFAC proposal, you need to know exactly which proposal number the expense needs to be designated to.
Per State Accounts Payable, purchases made during the quarter need to be reimbursed within the same quarter that the expense(s) occurred. They ask that you do not hold on to all your receipts for the entire year and then ask to get reimbursed in June.
With the exception of a travel advance check, all checks are sent to the ME Dept. Office in 13-254. You will be emailed (to your Cal Poly email) that your check is available for pick-up in the ME Office once we receive them.
Reimbursements typically take 2-3 weeks – depending on the quarter. In spring quarter, the reimbursement checks are sent to us within 3-4 weeks.
Your club treasurer or president should be the only person making a cash/check deposit.
Please schedule an appointment with me to make the deposit.
Be prepared to verify the cash and/or checks total with me.
Every March, the dean’s office sends out information to the clubs to remind them to renew their IRA. Detailed information, along with the forms, can be found through Academic Programs’ website: https://academicprograms.calpoly.edu/content/IRA/index
Work directly with your faculty advisor to complete the IRA renewal application.
Turn in completed applications to me. I will obtain the Dept. Chair’s signature for your club and submit them to the dean’s office for submission.
IRA allocations are deposited into your club’s fund in August.
If you receive a check donation to your club, you can simply bring the check to me and I will complete a gift form to have the check deposited into your club account.
If your club has been offered a physical gift, which is referred to as a gift-in-kind, then there is quite a bit more involved to receive the gift. Please contact me before you accept a physical gift.
If you would like a list of donors who have given to your club, please contact Cara King in advancement in the CENG Dean’s office (192-310) 756-5374 or cking29@calpoly.edu.
Contact
Eric Pulse, Mustang ’60 Machine Shop Supervisor
(805) 756-5634
epulse@calpoly.edu
197-117