The words of student association life
Student union, discharge, special register, CVEC, waived expenses: the terms every student association board runs into, defined simply.
A
- Abandon de frais (waived expenses)
- A volunteer's decision to give up the reimbursement of an expense they incurred on behalf of the association. Recorded in writing and backed by a receipt, it is treated as a donation and may give entitlement to the tax reduction provided for in article 200 of the French general tax code (code général des impôts), if the association is eligible.
Reimbursing expense claims - Association loi 1901 (French 1901-law association)
- An agreement by which at least two people pool their knowledge or their activity for a purpose other than sharing profits (French law of 1 July 1901). Once declared at the prefecture and published in the Journal officiel, it acquires legal personality: it can open a bank account, sign contracts and receive grants.
Setting up a student association
B
- BDA (bureau des arts, arts board)
- The student association that runs the cultural and artistic life of a school: shows, concerts, workshops, outings. It works like any association under the French 1901 law on associations, with its members, its budget and its board.
Software for the BDE, BDS and BDA - BDE (bureau des étudiants, student union)
- The student association that organises campus life in a school: welcome events, parties, the gala, services for students. The BDE is most often an association under the French 1901 law on associations, elected each year by the students, and the school's main point of contact for student association life.
Software for the BDE, BDS and BDA - BDS (bureau des sports, sports board)
- The student association in charge of sport in a school: teams, training sessions, university competitions, sporting events. In particular, it handles sports licences and travel to away fixtures.
Software for the BDE, BDS and BDA - Board (bureau)
- The body that runs the association day to day. It generally brings together a president, a treasurer and a secretary, sometimes vice-presidents and heads of division. Its composition and its powers are set by the bylaws, not by the law.
Managing members and the board - Bylaws (statuts)
- The founding text of the association: name, purpose, registered office, membership conditions, governing bodies, voting rules, amendment and dissolution. The French 1901 law on associations leaves great freedom in drafting them; the bylaws then have the force of law between the members.
Bylaws, minutes and legal documents
C
- CVEC
- Contribution de vie étudiante et de campus, the student and campus life contribution paid each year by students in initial training before they enrol. Its proceeds fund social, health, cultural and sporting support for students; part of it supports the projects of student associations, under arrangements specific to each institution.
Applying to your school for a grant
E
- Expense claim (note de frais)
- A request for reimbursement of an expense advanced by a member on behalf of the association. It can only be reimbursed on presentation of a receipt and after approval by an authorised person, other than the one who spent the money.
Managing expense claims
F
- FEC (fichier des écritures comptables)
- A standardised file, the accounting entries file, that contains all the entries of a financial year. It is the exchange format expected by chartered accountants and, for the organisations subject to it, by the French tax authorities in the event of an audit.
Treasury for student associations - FSDIE
- Fonds de solidarité et de développement des initiatives étudiantes, the solidarity and student initiatives development fund. In French universities, it funds projects led by student associations as well as social assistance, after the applications have been examined by a committee.
Managing a school's grants
G
- General meeting (assemblée générale, AG)
- The meeting of all the members of an association. It approves the accounts, votes the budget and elects the officers. The French 1901 law on associations sets neither its frequency nor its quorum: the bylaws do. The ordinary general meeting deals with day-to-day management, the extraordinary general meeting with serious decisions such as amending the bylaws or dissolving the association.
Organising the general meeting - Grant (subvention)
- Aid awarded by a school or a public authority to an association for a project or for its running costs. Above 23,000 euros a year, a grant from an administrative authority requires an agreement to be signed (article 10 of the French law of 12 April 2000).
Managing grants
H
- Handover (passation)
- The transfer of responsibilities from one board to its successor: accounts, bank access, archives, contracts, logins. It comes with the declaration of the new officers to the greffe des associations (the associations registry), to be made within three months (article 5 of the French 1901 law on associations).
Getting the board handover right
M
- Membership fee (cotisation)
- The sum a member pays to join the association, in the amount and at the intervals laid down in the bylaws or voted at the general meeting. It is not compulsory in law: an association may choose free membership.
Online memberships and membership fees - Minutes (procès-verbal, PV)
- The written record of a general meeting or a board meeting: date, people present, agenda, resolutions and results of the votes. Signed by the president and the secretary, it is the proof of the decisions taken, requested by banks and by the prefecture alike.
Bylaws, minutes and legal documents
P
- Partnership agreement (convention de partenariat)
- A contract between an association and a company or a school, which sets out what each party brings and receives: amount paid, visibility granted, duration, conditions of termination. In particular, it distinguishes patronage (mécénat) from sponsorship, which are taxed differently.
Finding sponsors and signing an agreement - Patronage (mécénat)
- Support given without direct consideration by a company or an individual to a cause of general interest. It entitles the donor to a tax reduction (article 238 bis of the French general tax code for companies) when the association meets the eligibility conditions.
Patronage or sponsorship: choosing
Q
- Quitus (discharge of the board)
- The vote by which the general meeting approves the officers' management for the past financial year. It covers what was presented to the members: it does not cover facts that were concealed from them.
Organising the general meeting
R
- RNA number
- The registration number in the répertoire national des associations, the French national register of associations, assigned when the association is declared at the prefecture. It starts with the letter W followed by nine digits and identifies the association in its administrative procedures.
Setting up a student association
S
- SIRET number of an association
- An identification number assigned by INSEE, the French national statistics institute. An association must apply for one when it requests a public grant, employs staff or carries on an activity that is subject to tax.
Applying to your school for a grant - Special register (registre spécial)
- The register in which an association records the amendments to its bylaws and the changes of its officers. It keeps the association's legal memory from one term of office to the next.
Bylaws, minutes and legal documents - Sponsorship (parrainage)
- Support given by a company in return for proportionate advertising consideration: logo, stand, speaking slot. Unlike patronage (mécénat), it is a commercial service, and it is formalised by an agreement.
Finding sponsors and signing an agreement - SSO (single sign-on)
- A mechanism for signing in to several services with a single account, here the school's. It relies on standard protocols, SAML 2.0 or OpenID Connect, and spares students one more password.
SSO for schools
W
- WEI (week-end d'intégration, welcome weekend)
- A trip organised at the start of the year by a student association to welcome new students. It is the most exposed event of the year: transport, accommodation, alcohol and the prevention of hazing (bizutage), which is a criminal offence (articles 225-16-1 and following of the French criminal code).
Running a welcome weekend without incident
Your next term, without spreadsheets
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