Article 4. Student Organizations of California Education Code >> Division 7. >> Title 3. >> Part 47. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 4.
The governing board of a community college district may
authorize the students of a college to organize a student body
association. The association shall encourage students to participate
in the governance of the college and may conduct any activities,
including fundraising activities, as may be approved by the
appropriate college officials. The association may be granted the use
of community college premises and properties without charge, subject
to any regulations that may be established by the governing board of
the community college district.
The governing board of the community college district may
authorize the students of a college to organize more than one student
body association when the governing board finds that day students
and evening students each need an association or geographic
circumstances make the organization of only one student body
association impractical or inconvenient.
A community college district may assume responsibility for
activities formerly conducted by a student body association if the
student body association is dissolved. A student body association
employee who was employed to perform the activity assumed by the
district pursuant to this section shall become a member of the
classified service of the district in accordance with Section 88020.
(a) If a student body association has been established at
a community college as authorized by Section 76060, the governing
body of the association may order that an election be held for the
purpose of establishing a student representation fee of two dollars
($2) per semester. The election shall be held in compliance with
regulations of the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges and shall be open to all regularly enrolled students of the
community college. The affirmative vote of a majority of the students
voting in the election shall be sufficient to establish the fee.
However, the election shall not be sufficient to establish the fee
unless the number of students who vote in the election equals or
exceeds the average of the number of students who voted in the
previous three student body association elections.
(b) The student representation fee authorized by this section
shall be collected by the officials of the community college,
together with all other fees, at the time of registration or before
registration and shall be deposited in a separate fiduciary fund
established per the California Community Colleges Budget and
Accounting Manual for student representation fees. The money
collected pursuant to this section shall be expended to provide
support for governmental affairs representatives of local or
statewide student body organizations who may be stating their
positions and viewpoints before city, county, and district
governments, and before offices and agencies of state government.
(c) (1) One dollar ($1) of every two-dollar ($2) fee collected
shall be expended to establish and support the operations of a
statewide community college student organization, recognized by the
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, with
effective student representation and participation in state-level
community college shared governance and with governmental affairs
representatives to advocate before the Legislature and other state
and local governmental entities. This subdivision shall only apply to
student representation fees adopted on or after January 1, 2014.
(2) The underlying goals of a statewide community college student
organization shall include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(A) Establishing a sustainable foundation for statewide community
college student representation and advocacy.
(B) Promoting institutional and organizational memory.
(C) Ensuring and maintaining responsible community college student
organizational oversight and decisionmaking.
(D) Strengthening regional approaches for community college
student representation and coordination.
(E) Promoting and enhancing student opportunities for engagement
in community college student issues and affairs.
(F) Providing for open and public transparency and accountability.
(d) Fees collected pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be annually
distributed to the Board of Governors before February 1. The Board of
Governors shall have custody of the moneys and shall, each year by
April 15, distribute the moneys to the recognized statewide community
college student organization if the recognized statewide community
college student organization satisfies all of the following:
(1) Is established as a legal entity registered with the Secretary
of State.
(2) Demonstrates compliance with all applicable state and federal
laws and reporting requirements.
(3) Exercises prudent fiscal management by establishing generally
accepted accounting controls and procedures.
(4) (A) Commencing after the first year it receives funding
pursuant to this subdivision, completes an annual independent
financial audit, the results of which shall be annually provided to
the Board of Governors for review.
(B) (i) Except as provided in clause (ii) and after the first year
funding is received, it shall be a condition for funding pursuant to
this subdivision that the results of the annual audit identify no
significant audit findings.
(ii) In no event shall funds be withheld from the statewide
community college student organization unless the statewide community
college student organization fails to address and correct any
identified exceptions, concerns, errors, or deficiencies contained in
the annual audit after being given a reasonable opportunity to do
so.
(5) Meets the obligations and addresses the goals described in
subdivision (c).
(e) Meetings of the recognized statewide community college student
organization shall be open to the public and shall comply with the
requirements of the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code) and the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing
with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the
Government Code).
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), a student body association
that adopted a student representation fee before January 1, 2014,
shall retain the authority to continue to receive the one-dollar ($1)
fee as authorized pursuant to this section as it read before January
1, 2014. The student body association may conduct an election
pursuant to subdivision (a) to adopt a revised student representation
fee. If an election conducted pursuant to subdivision (a)
establishes the revised student representation fee, then one dollar
($1) of every two-dollar ($2) fee collected shall be expended as
described in subdivision (c).
(g) (1) The chief fiscal officer of the community college shall
have custody of the money collected pursuant to this section, except
as provided in subdivision (d), and the money shall be disbursed for
the purposes described in subdivision (b) upon the order of the
governing body of the student body association.
(2) The community college district shall annually prepare a
summary of all revenue collected from the student representation fee
and the expenditures of the proceeds of the student representation
fee. The summary shall include the amount distributed to the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges each year. The
summary shall be presented at the community college district board
meeting each year and posted to the community college district
Internet Web site.
(3) The community college district may retain a portion of the
fees collected and deposited pursuant to this section that is equal
to the actual cost of administering these fees up to, but not more
than, 7 percent.
(h) The student representation fee authorized by this section may
be terminated by a majority vote of the students voting in an
election held for that purpose. The election shall be called and held
in compliance with regulations of the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges and shall be open to all regularly
enrolled students of the community college.
(i) A student may, for religious, political, financial, or moral
reasons, refuse to pay the student representation fee established
under this section. The refusal shall be submitted in writing to the
community college officials at the time the student pays other fees
collected by the community college officials. The refusal shall be
submitted on the same form that is used for collection of fees as
provided by the community college, which, as determined by the
community college, shall be as nearly as practical in the same form
as a model form prescribed by regulations of the Board of Governors
of the California Community Colleges.
(j) Any costs incurred by the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges to implement subdivisions (c) and (d)
shall be reimbursed by the statewide community college student
organization.
(k) If no statewide community college student organization that
qualifies for funding in accordance with this section is recognized
by the Board of Governors, the funds collected pursuant to this
section shall be held by the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges until a qualifying statewide community
college student organization is recognized, or shall be returned to
the source of funds.
A student who is elected to serve as an officer in the
student government of a community college shall meet both of the
following requirements:
(a) The student shall be enrolled in the community college at the
time of election, and throughout his or her term, with a minimum of
five semester units, or its equivalent.
(b) The student shall meet and maintain the minimum standards of
scholarship prescribed for community college students by the
community college district.
The governing board of a community college district may
authorize any organization composed entirely of students attending
the colleges of the district to maintain any activities, including
fundraising activities, as may be approved by the governing board.
The funds of any student body organization established in
the public schools of any community college district shall, subject
to approval of the governing board of the district, be deposited or
invested in one or more of the following ways:
(a) Deposits in trust accounts of the centralized State Treasury
system pursuant to Sections 16305 to 16305.7, inclusive, of the
Government Code or in a bank or banks whose accounts are insured by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
(b) Investment certificates or withdrawable shares in
state-chartered savings and loan associations and savings accounts of
federal savings and loan associations, if the associations are doing
business in this state and have their accounts insured by the
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and if any money so
invested or deposited is invested or deposited in certificates,
shares, or accounts fully covered by the insurance.
(c) Purchase of any of the securities authorized for investment by
Section 16430 of the Government Code or investment by the Treasurer
in those securities.
(d) Participation in funds that are exempt from federal income
tax pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and
that are open exclusively to nonprofit colleges, universities, and
independent schools.
(e) Investment certificates or withdrawable shares in federal or
state credit unions, if the credit unions are doing business in this
state and have their accounts insured by the National Credit Union
Administration and if any money so invested or deposited is invested
or deposited in certificates, shares, or accounts fully covered by
the insurance.
The funds shall be expended subject to procedures that may be
established by the student body organization subject to the approval
of each of the following three persons, which shall be obtained each
time before any of the funds may be expended: an employee or official
of the community college district designated by the governing board,
the certificated employee who is the designated adviser of the
particular student body organization, and a representative of the
particular student body organization.
In addition to deposit or investment pursuant to Section
76063, the funds of a student body organization may be loaned or
invested in any of the following ways:
(a) Loans, with or without interest, to any student body
organization established in another community college of the district
for a period not to exceed three years.
(b) Invest money in permanent improvements to any community
college district property including, but not limited to, buildings,
automobile parking facilities, gymnasiums, swimming pools, stadia and
playing fields, where those facilities, or portions thereof, are
used for conducting student extracurricular activities or student
spectator sports, or when those improvements are for the benefit of
the student body. The investment shall be made on condition that the
principal amount of the investment plus a reasonable amount of
interest thereon shall be returned to the student body organization
as provided herein. Any community college district approving the
investment shall establish a fund in accordance with the California
Community Colleges Budget and Accounting Manual in which moneys
derived from the rental of community college district property to
student body organizations shall be deposited. Moneys collected by
the governing board for automobile parking facilities as authorized
by Section 76360 shall be deposited in the fund designated by the
California Community Colleges Budget and Accounting Manual if the
parking facilities were provided for by investment of student body
funds under this section. Moneys shall be returned to the student
body organization as contemplated by this section exclusively from
the special fund and only to the extent that there are moneys in the
special fund. Whenever there are no outstanding obligations against
the special fund, all moneys therein may be transferred to the
general fund of the school district by action of the local governing
board.
Two or more student body organizations of the same community
college district may join together in making the investments in the
same manner as is authorized herein for a single student body.
Nothing herein shall be construed so as to limit the discretion of
the local governing board in charging rental for use of community
college district property by student body organizations as provided
in Section 76060.
The governing board of any community college district shall
provide for the supervision of all funds raised by any student body
or student organization using the name of the college.
The cost of supervision may constitute a proper charge against the
funds of the district.
The governing board of a community college district may also
provide for a continuing audit of student body funds with community
college district personnel.
Any student political organization that is affiliated with
the official youth division of any political party that is on the
ballot of the State of California may hold meetings on a community
college campus, and may distribute bulletins and circulars concerning
its meetings, provided that there is no endorsement of that
organization by the school authorities and no interference with the
regular educational program of the district.