ABC Update: Constitutional Revisions, Barnard Space Booking, Spring Club ReFuel

Happy new year! I hope that the past week has been pleasant and restful. In this newsletter, the most pressing item is the deadline to vote on our Constitutional Revisions, which is Jan. 20th, 2024. ...

January 02, 2024

Dear ABC Student Group Leaders,

Happy new year! I hope that the past week has been pleasant and restful. In this newsletter, the most pressing item is the deadline to vote on our Constitutional Revisions, which is Jan. 20th, 2024

There are additional updates related to Columbia Undergraduate Student Life Administration and Planning, the Barnard Student Experience and Engagement office, Spring Club ReFuel, Spring New Group Recognition, Columbia College Student Council, and the School of Engineering Social Media Ambassadors program. 

Lastly, I would like to thank my fellow ABC board members for their contributions and support throughout the past year. ABC could not function without them. I am excited and inspired to be working with such a talented group of individuals. 

Looking forward to 2024! 

Sincerely,

Theodore M. Nelson

ABC President


ABC Constitutional Revisions

On 12/6/2023, the Activities Board at Columbia voted unanimously to propose a series of constitutional amendments. The final version of the revised Constitution can be found at this address. The current version of the Constitution can be found on our website

The revisions are summarized in the voting form.

Please vote by Jan. 20th, 2024 to approve or deny the board's recommendations in this Google Form


Columbia Undergraduate Student Life Administration and Planning Event Follow-Up

Dear Student Group Leaders,

The Administration and Planning team thanks Theo Nelson, ABC President, for the invitation to present to you. We hope the information provided can help you throughout the academic year. For those who could not attend, no worries, you can access the presentation here.

Additionally, we want to reiterate best practices, particularly for the student leaders managing finances to apply as you navigate the year:

- Review your trial balance report routinely to ensure the correct charges, sponsorships, and revenue are posted.

- Check-in with FTF vendors to ensure they send invoices to [email protected] after a service is rendered.

- Ensure all fundraising/sponsorships deposits and drawdowns are submitted routinely.

- If your group has a P-card, submit the support documentation by or before the 20th of each month.

- Before accepting a good or service, ensure they are an existing vendor with the University. Otherwise, they will have to be set up as a vendor through PaymentWorks.

- Plan up to 2 months advance for events and trips to allow enough time for A & P and the University to review and handle your request.

- Refrain from reaching out to central University partner offices. When in doubt, reach out to your adviser!

Wishing you a successful academic year!

Administration and Planning


Barnard Space Booking

Hello, student groups!

Barnard College Event Management and Student Experience and Engagement (SEE) collectively invite groups recognized by Columbia governing boards to participate in Barnard EMS Training. The completion of Barnard EMS Training is required for student groups recognized at Columbia to have the ability and opportunity to request space at Barnard in Spring 2024. Please note if your group completed this requirement back in Fall 2023, you do not need to complete this requirement again and your group should have already been notified by SEE that you have completed this requirement. 

To complete the Barnard EMS Training, please watch the video and take the quiz via this link.

*SEE will review and grade quizzes every Monday and Wednesday starting Monday, Dec. 18th. (quizzes will not be reviewed between Dec. 25th - Jan. 2nd)

At least four members of your group's exec board must complete and pass the quiz via the link above. 

Columbia recognized groups that have yet to complete Barnard EMS Training will have until Monday, Jan. 22nd to complete the training linked above. 

Additionally, here is a link to Barnard's Event Policy for all groups to review.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]

Thank you, 

Catlin Michael Wojtkowski

Director, Student Experience and Engagement (SEE)


Spring 2024 Club ReFuel

Student groups on probation, or those who have execute board transitions in the calendar year, must complete Spring Club Refuel: https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/ClubReFuel 

The deadline to complete Club ReFuel for the Spring 2024 semester is Sunday, February 4th.


Spring NGR Timeline Release

We are excited to announce a timeline for the Spring New Group Recognition Cycle. Please keep an eye on this page for more details: https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/student-groups/recognition  

New Group Recognition webform opens: Monday, February 26th

New Group Recognition webform closes: Sunday, March 17th

USL meets with SGB/ABC to review NGR submissions: Friday, March 22nd

NGR Governing Board review: Monday, March 25th - Sunday, April 21st

Governing Boards share NGR recommendations: Monday, April 22nd

USL reviews Governing Board recommendations: by Friday, April 26th

Final NGR decisions: Friday, May 3rd

Student groups recognized by ABC in Fall, 2023 will need to submit the USL NGR webform by March 17th, 2024. All other requirements will be waived for these groups. 


Survey from Anand Chitnis, Vice President of Campus Life, Columbia College Student Council

CCSC wishes to conduct an audit of undergraduate student life and event management. To provide feedback and input, please fill out the following survey:  https://forms.gle/CdERGAjQDJixoHCW7


SEAs Social Media Ambassadors Program - reach out to promote your events! 

Good afternoon!

I'm Mercedes Moore, a communications media assistant for Columbia's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. I currently work under Michele Hoos and Beatrice Mhando and help run the SEAS Social Media Ambassadors program. 

For our recruitment efforts this year, we are looking to reach out to the social media chairs of Columbia organizations/clubs to 1) share recruitment information and 2) promote on-campus events hosted by these clubs. 

Thanks so much in advance and I look forward to hearing from you!

Mercedes Moore

[email protected] 


Columbia Bedework

Are you interested in planning events with the official Columbia events calendar? Email your advisor to set up a Columbia Bedework calendar (https://events.columbia.edu/admin/). 

Bedework allows for ticketing, in the same manner as EventBrite. However, there are two primary advantages: 1.) all ticket sales are directly collected within your group’s chartstring as revenue and 2.) ticket sales are subject to a 3% transaction fee, as opposed to 6% through EventBrite. 

Please reach out to your USL advisor to set this up for your group. 


E-Board Changes

If your leadership changes during the semester, please make sure to fill out ABC’s e-board update form to ensure a continuity in directly communications: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMLXlCNptwy8q4OdU6tnGmQ1nnKtQvHHZmwbav-d0dBJqDXg/viewform 

New leaders can receive immediate access to the newsletter by subscribing to the following listserv: https://listserv.cuit.columbia.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=ABC_LEADERS 


ABC Co-Sponsorships

We continue to maintain a co-sponsorship pool for the FY23-24 school year: https://forms.gle/VMhqEyYFEfKCHAmSA 

Your ABC representatives have the opportunity to present co-sponsorship requests during our weekly Wednesday meetings. Co-Sponsorships will not be reviewed during our spring town hall meeting (date to be announced). 

A notable difference from the previous year is a change in our co-sponsorship reimbursement process. ABC will provide award letters, which will be reimbursed directly to student groups once documentation and receipts for the program are received by both your ABC representative and ABC e-board ([email protected]), according to the exact amount within the receipts and relevant ABC spending guidelines. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. 


General Feedback Form

We’d love to hear from you! Please let us know any questions, concerns, or other pieces of support that we could provide in the following form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCCHoevEe5F5RSeFPNpbbYDnuFYngCgGPaLNKWPtLA0DvIvg/viewform 

Thank you for your input!