Finance and Administration
Business Venture Policy
Questions about this policy may be directed to: SC Treasurer(s) or The Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance
A. Definition of a Student Business Venture: A student business venture is defined as a student or group of students (either Haverford or bi-co) representing a team, organization, club, or themselves, that wishes to sell or advertise a product or service to the bi-college community on the Haverford College campus on a recurring basis.
B. Students Selling on Campus for Personal Profit: No student or group of students can sell any item or service for personal profit on a recurring basis without proper authorization from the Students’ Council Budgeting Committee. The process for such authorizations is described in Section F of this policy. If the proposed business venture replicates, interferes or conflicts with services provided by the College, such as from the Bookstore, Dining Center, or Coop, authorization is also needed from the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance.
C. Students Selling on Campus for Clubs, Organizations, and Athletic Fundraising: Students may sell items and services to raise funds for student clubs, campus organizations, or athletic teams. A student representative must submit an application to the Budgeting Committee describing the fund-raiser and time length of fundraising at least two weeks before the start of sales or ordering of products, whichever occurs first. The process for such authorizations is described in Section F of this policy.
D. Outside Commercial Organizations: No commercial business or company with the exception of Haverford College and affiliated services may solicit customers or make sales on campus without proper authorization by the Students’ Council Budgeting Committee and without approval by the Dean of the College or Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance.
- Haverford College student agents may represent commercial companies for sales on campus for the purpose of the student earning money during the school year. The Students’ Council Budgeting Committee must review all such ventures and decide the conditions for sale accordingly. The process for such authorizations is described in Section F of this policy. If the proposed business venture replicates, interferes, or conflicts with services provided by the College, such as the Bookstore, Dining Center, or Coop, authorization is also needed from the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance.
- Haverford College organizations may sponsor commercial vendors on campus for the purpose of earning money for their organization. All such ventures must be approved by the Budgeting Committee. The process for such authorizations is described in Section F of this policy. If the proposed business venture replicates, interferes or conflicts with services provided by the College, such as the Bookstore, Dining Center, or Coop, authorization is also needed from the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance.
E. Role of Budgeting Committee:
- The Budgeting Committee should be composed of the Treasurer(s) of Students’ Council, the Officer of Academics, the Officer of Athletics, the Officer of Multiculturalism, the Officer of Arts, and the Officer of Campus Life.
- The Committee reserves the right to request progress reports of approved business ventures at any given time. Students must therefore maintain accurate and honest records related to the venture.
- The Budgeting Committee will prepare a semesterly report of all approved and denied applications for the Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance and the Dean of the College for review. Similarly, a report of non-student run ventures approved by the administration will be provided to the Budgeting Committee when appropriate.
- The Budgeting Committee, the Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance, and/or Dean of the College have the authority to review any student activity determined to be relevant to this policy.
F. Application Process:
- Applications for any student venture should be submitted to the Budgeting Committee for review at least two weeks prior to ordering items or to the start of sales, whichever occurs first. The application should include: name(s) of applicant(s), description of proposed business venture, purpose of fund-raising, potential quantity and price per item, proposed selling and delivery dates, proposed methods of advertising service or item, and location of sales.
- Applications must be reviewed by the Budgeting Committee within seven days of submission. No contracts or deposits for items or services should be made prior to approval by the Budgeting Committee.
- The Budgeting Committee’s decisions will be based on several considerations. Preference will be a combination of first come, first serve and to students fund-raising for student clubs.
- The appeal process for any applicant is as follows: the student may request a meeting with the Budgeting Committee to discuss the application; if an agreement is not reached, the student may appeal to the Students’ Council as a whole; a final appeal may be made to the Dean of the College.
- Advertising of student business ventures must follow the campus Posting Policy. No student business venture can be advertised outside of the bi-college community. Requests to advertise to the off-campus community must be approved by the Budgeting Committee. If the proposed business venture replicates, interferes or conflicts with services provided by the College, such as the Bookstore, Dining Center, or Coop, authorization is also needed from the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance.
- Applications for ventures that are proposed to take place within the first two weeks of either semester must be submitted at least one week prior to finals period of the previous semester.
- A list of approved business ventures will be located in the Student Engagement Office for reference. If a question were to arise over the legitimacy of approved ventures, the Students’ Council Treasurer(s) should be contacted.
- Changes to applications after approval must be submitted to the Budgeting Committee Chair(s). This should include, but not limited to, changes in selling dates, prices, etc. If necessary, the Budgeting Committee will review changes and evaluate accordingly.
G. Student Directories: Student directories are for the exclusive and personal use of students, faculty, staff, and administration of the College. They are not to be sold or distributed for use by non-college personnel.
H. Legality of Ventures: Under no circumstance can a student business venture be in violation of College, local, state, and federal regulations and/or laws. Any such violations are under the jurisdiction of the administration of the College.