Student Council unanimously passed a bill Tuesday night requiring all CIOs that receive money from the Student Activity Fund to conduct annual self-audits.
According to Council President Noah Sullivan, the audit is designed to track the financial assets, equipment and fundraising histories of student organizations.
"The hope is that this system will help us keep up with student groups in order to make things more efficient," Sullivan said. "It gives us a better picture of what CIOs have and what they will need."
Sullivan added that having records of CIO finances and equipment on an annual basis will be useful over time, considering the turnover rates in the leadership of most student organizations.
Council Vice President Rebecca Keyworth said the audit will improve the appropriations process.
"We think an increased emphasis on recording costs will help us allocate student money more efficiently," Keyworth said. "It will help them and us in the new appropriations process."
The audit will be administered by Council's recently appointed Board of Audit and Management.
The board will produce a form that CIOs will use to disclose information regarding their assets.
"The Board of Audit and Management has not really been around," Sullivan said. "I think it's exciting to get a group of students together who are going to make things more efficient for other students."
According to the bill, the Appropriations Committee receives requests for equipment purchases that are "currently untracked, year to year," leading to inefficient use of the SAF.
With the new bill, all CIOs receiving money from the SAF will be required to submit the forms by the end of the year.
"I don't know that it will be that big of a deal," Fly Fishing Club President Jason Green said. "It should not be too difficult, as long as it isn't too labor intensive. We're already working hard as leaders of our groups. I imagine that the audit won't be too difficult."
Sullivan said the process is not intended to be overly intrusive.
"The audit is not meant to be a negative thing or an investigative thing," he said. "It is just supposed to be a way for us to get a little more information."
While representatives from CIOs were not consulted specifically about the bill, Sullivan said the audit had been considered for some time.
"It's something that's been an issue in the appropriations process for a while," he said. "It seems like something everyone will think is good."
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