RHA Bills and Funding Requests

It is recommended to have the cost per person within the range of $20/resident, per event. 

RHA will evaluate bill proposals by the following criteria, in no specific order. The inability to adhere to the below criteria could potentially impact the amount of funding received.

• The organization shows the ability to plan and effectively host the event or initiative.
• The program has a direct impact on the educational, professional, social, or leadership development of residents.
• The activity and program are open to all those who live in the residence halls regardless of race, age, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, socioeconomic status, genetic information, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.
• Funding is not used solely for the purpose of benefiting student staff members without a direct impact on fee-paying residents.
• The organization is encouraged to add the RHA name or logo to its event advertisements, and is required to do so if receiving more than $500 from RHA for the event.
• RHA shall, in funding any organization, expressly prohibit the use of funds for any activities prohibited by federal or state law, including but not limited to the following:
  • Colorado Revised Statute 1-45-117 provides that state funds cannot be used to fund political campaigns involving the nomination, retention, or election of any person to any public office. This statute also prohibits the use of state funds to urge electors to vote in favor of or against any state-wide or local ballot issue, referred measure, or measure for recall.
  • The Constitution of Colorado, Article IX, Section 7, prohibits the expenditure of state funds for any sectarian purpose, which would include but is not limited to, the activity of worship, devotion, prayer, meditation, or a religious service.
• RHA will not fund the operational costs of any organization. In addition, RHA will not allocate funds for fundraisers or activities associated with fundraising that are intended to solely benefit those of the organization.
• RHA cannot fund events/initiatives that require an entry fee or other charge from residents/attendees to participate.
• Only items on the approved Senate bill may be purchased with RHA funds.
• No bill under $100 will be accepted.
• No single bill may exceed the sum of $3,000 and should still aim to be within the $20/person guideline.

All funding requests must come in the form of an RHA Bill. You’ll need to download the bill template, edit the information, and then submit the completed bill to an RHA Senator to request sponsorship. 

Some things to consider when planning your event and writing the bill:

• What is the purpose of the event, and does it support the residential core goals/categories of well-being, connection, and awareness?
• How many people are anticipated to attend?  Is it reasonable/does it make sense?
  • Anticipated cost/person of the event?
• What is your marketing plan? 
• Is there enough time for the bill to be sponsored, seen and approved, supplies purchased, and marketing set up before the program takes place?  
• Is the vendor reasonable, tax-exempt, and do they delivery? (RHA recommends delivery and including delivery costs whenever possible.) 
• If you are providing food, do you have inclusive food options, i.e. vegan, halal, gluten-free, kosher, allergen friendly, etc.?
• What is your plan for managing risk and liability at the event?  If there is any risk of injury with the event an event waiver from the Risk Management and Insurance Office will be needed, have you reached out to them?
• If the event requires transportation, how are you providing it? (CAs cannot carpool with residents for events.)
• Did you include all of the event logistics, such as date, time, and location, in the bill?
• If the event is on campus, are you using campus catering? Any events in HDS event spaces must use HDS Catering for food unless HDS Catering approves outside food to be brought in for the event.
• If you want to show a movie, is it a public access movie and if not, have you included the movie screening rights cost in your bill? All events showing a movie must purchase screening rights. RHA uses SWANK for movie right quotes and purchases.

Before a bill is sent to the president, it must be sponsored by an RHA Senator, one of your RLP Liaisons, or your Regional Council Chair President. Send your drafted bill to the RHA Senator, RLP Liaison, or Regional Council President that you want to ask to sponsor it with enough time for them to review the bill, provide any feedback, and confirm sponsorship. Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) should reach out to the RHA President for sponsor requests.

Contact information is located on the RLP Cabinet page!

The purpose of a sponsor is to ensure that a bill is complete before being sent to the RHA President. A sponsor may ask questions for clarity or provide suggestions for changes to a bill before agreeing to sponsor it/before it is presented to RHA. Sponsorship is not an endorsement of a bill, and a potential sponsor may decline if they do not believe the bill is complete or meets RHA requirements. Failure to ask permission from a potential sponsor before submitting the bill will result in it being turned away. If corrections to the bill are requested by the sponsor, the corrected bill must sent to the sponsor for final agreement to sponsorship and prior to being sent to the RHA President.

Once sponsored, you may email the completed bill to the RHA President. Note that bills must be submitted by 5 PM on the Wednesday prior to the monthly Senate meeting.

The completed and sponsored bill should then be emailed to the RHA President at hds_rha_president@mail.colostate.edu by 5 PM on the Wednesday prior to the monthly RHA Senate meeting.

After you’ve submitted your request form, the RHA President will send you a confirmation email with a day, time, and place to present your bill to the RHA Senate along with the meeting agenda.

At the Senate meeting, bill authors will be given the opportunity to present. Presentations are intended to give authors time to elaborate on their request as well as answer questions proposed by RHA Senators. Please note that others may also be presenting bills, resolutions, or other business at RHA, so you may need to wait for others before your bill is seen.

• You will have 5 minutes to present, 5 minutes for Q + A, and the senate body will discuss for 10 minutes (QA and discussion is extendable)
• Voting will be tabled until the following RHA meeting, at which the Senate will vote whether or not to approve the request. Bill authors will be notified of the result within 48 hours.

How soon after approval may I make purchases?

After RHA approves funding, a CA/OA will coordinate with their Residential Coordinator for Community Development to make the approved purchases, and these purchases may be made after the bill author receives the approval email from RHA. 

Registered student organizations (RSOs) will work with SLiCE for most purchases and should allow 2-3 days for SLiCE to receive and process RHA funding information.

How do I make purchases when approved?

CAs/OAs should work with their supervisor on getting items purchased.

• Supervisors may use a University Housing P-Card to make purchases that can be made with a credit/debit card, and should follow the University Housing process for submitting receipts. RHA will send the signed bill and required SLiCE financial paperwork to the bill author and supervisor for this purpose.
• If a purchase requires an Internal Order (IO, LSC room reservations, LSC Catering, HDS Catering, campus marketing, any purchase made with a campus entity), send the receipt/invoice to the RHA Advisor and Director of Advocacy & Fiance after the conclusion of the event and RHA will arrange payment.
• If a purchase requires a purchase order (PO), the CA supervisor will work with University Housing financial staff to submit the PO request.

Registered Student Organizations

• Follow the P-Card checkout process through SLiCE for any purchase that can be paid for with a credit/debit card. SLiCE receives information from RHA within 2-3 days when an RSO is approved to use RHA funds.
• If the purchase is an Internal Order (LSC room reservations, LSC Catering, HDS Catering, campus marketing, any purchase made with a campus entity), the RSO needs to email the receipt/invoice to the RHA Director of Administration and Finance and the Advisor (amanda.dermer@colostate.edu) so that RHA may arrange payment of the bill, unless the RSO is working with SLiCE to make the payment.
• If a purchase requires a purchase order (PO), the RSO will work with the Advisor and provide the needed information so a PO request can be submitted utilizing RHA funds, or will work directly with SLiCE.

Marketing Requirements

If you/an individual/organization receives more than $500 in funding, they are required to include the RHA logo in all marketing materials and advertisements as RHA is assisting in sponsoring the event. Failure to do so may disqualify you/the individual/organization for RHA funding for the remainder of the academic year. View all of our logos.