Important Financial Update: Registered Student Organization Debt Elimination

Hello Student Leaders,

We hope the message finds you and your families well and excited for the start of a new academic year! We want to send an important update regarding Registered Student Organizations (RSO) finances as we enter the new fiscal year. 

When the prior years’ debt was uncovered it took many by surprise, and is not indicative of how we expect our student leaders to manage University resources, or, how the University, through its offices and staff, provide oversight of those resources. We share this with the understanding that the debt some RSOs amassed caused a level of stress and anxiety that made it difficult to execute the primary role of student organizations - to create community and affinity at JHU.

As a result of your feedback and advocacy, we set out on a plan to reimagine how RSOs engaged with the University, manage their finances, and student leader’s abilities to effectively run their organizations. In spite of the pandemic, and its related financial implications, we were able to launch a new engagement platform with a more robust financial, budgeting, and purchasing features to provide student leaders with the information and transparency student leaders were seeking. The final part of the plan was to attempt to eliminate the outstanding debt.

We are happy to share that we are in a position to provide a one-time debt elimination to all Registered Student Organizations financially supported by Student Life. These organizations include SGA, GRO, Programming Boards, FSL, Cultural and Identity, Religious and Spiritual, Homewood Arts, etc.). This one-time debt elimination occurred as a result of intentional strategies deployed throughout last academic year to achieve this goal.

As a result of eliminating the RSOs debt, RSOs will not be expected to produce a repayment plan or put any new allocation towards an old debt in order to continue functioning while in a deficit.

Critically important, we want to reiterate and make sure there is a shared understanding - the plan and execution of eliminating previous RSO debt is one-time only. Spending will be appropriately monitored and managed by Student Life staff. If for some reason a RSO overspends their allocation, their accounts will be frozen and the RSO will be placed in a provisional status until the end of the academic year until the funds are recouped. If the funds are not repaid by the end of the fiscal year, the organization will become inactive until the funds are repaid.

Now, RSO leaders will have the ability to manage their purchases and budgets through Hopkins Groups.

Starting on Monday, September 21,2020, the funding/purchase request process for RSOs, specifically those that get their funding from SGA, will resume. RSOs that receive funding from the Dean of Student Life can begin to submit purchase requests immediately. 

Please note the following as you begin to plan for organization spending:

1. RSO operating accounts will be frozen at $0, meaning the University will not make any purchases until the RSO has identified the funding source.
2. Student Life staff will monitor and ensure expense tracking to mitigate deficits through the Hopkins Groups financial module with oversight from financial analyst through SAP
3. All expenditures will be rejected until any new deficit is remediated. Staff will schedule meetings with affected groups. RSOs will be placed in a “Provisional Status” with the University which will limit what resources the organization can access. Staff will communicate expectations of repayment schedule prior to the resumption of purchases.
4. If funds are not repaid by the end of the fiscal year, RSOs will be placed in an “inactive” status until account balance is positive.

We hope that this step will help in alleviating the stress of student groups who had to bear the burden of debt from previous years. If you have questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact Student Leadership and Involvement at SLIFinance@jhu.edu or at 410-515-4873.

Sincerely,

Smita Ruzicka, Ph.D.
Dean of Student Life

Laura R. Stott, M.Ed.
Executive Director, Student Engagement

Calvin L. Smith Jr., M.B.A.
Director, Student Leadership and Involvement

Kia Harris, M.Ed.
Administrative Manager, Student Life

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