Washpirg Fee Collection Agreement 2013-15
- PARTIES: This agreement is by and between The Evergreen State College (hereinafter College) and the Washington Public Interest Research Group (hereinafter organization), a private, independent, student-directed, nonprofit corporation.
- CONDITIONS PRECEDENT: In order for the College to bill and collect any voluntary student fee on behalf of an organization, as defined above, the following conditions must be met:
- REFERENDUM: Every two years prior to the end of spring quarter, the GSU will conduct a referendum among current students on whether or not, beginning the following fall quarter, the College should bill each student an optional fee (with an amount identified) to support the organization. If during this period the College is closed due to inclement weather or other unexpected reasons, the period for conducting the referendum will be extended to accommodate the voting process. The organization agrees to abide by referendum rules set forth by the Geoduck Student Union (GSU) the college’s recognized student government. For purposes of this agreement the student body shall consist of any person currently enrolled for credit during the quarter in which the referendum is conducted. Balloting will occur electronically via an authenticated on-line voting process. Results of the voting will be provided no later then one week of the closing of the ballot by the Director of Student Activities Administration. GSU election guidelines state that at least 25% of the eligible student voting population must vote on an initiative or fee to be valid. A majority of the 25% must vote in favor to pass the initiative or fee.
- BOARD APPROVAL: The Director of Student Activities Administration shall report referenda results to the College Board of Trustees which shall determine if the organization has sufficient educational merit before approving the collection of any voluntary fee. As required by law the organization agrees that the authority to allow billing and collection of any voluntary student fee is vested with the Board of Trustees.
- FEE IDENTIFICATION AND NOTICE: If approved by the students and the Board of Trustees, the organization shall be listed on one College e-billing statement preceding registration each quarter with payment of the proposed fee as being voluntary and optional. Students will be able to submit a request to waive the WASHPIRG fee on the College’s Student Account website. Paper waiver cards will be available at the Student Accounts Office. The College reserves the right to approve the text of any explanatory letter and/or other material and explain to students that the fee is optional. The parties agree that the College may explain to students that the organization is a nonprofit, politically unaligned corporation directed by students. Students seeking further information about the organization will be referred to the organization’s representative. Production and printing costs for any such waiver card and explanatory material shall be borne independently from administrative costs identified in this agreement by the organization unless otherwise agreed. If Student Financial Services prints the waiver cards or brochures, the costs will be deducted from the amount due to the organization.
- FEE BILLING AND COLLECTION: Beginning Fall Quarter of 2013 the College shall bill students for an optional $8.00 “WASHPIRG” fee to be collected each quarter (including summer quarter). The billing statement shall clearly indicate that payment of the fee is voluntary and optional. Students may waive assessment of the fee for the entire academic year (including summer quarter). Students may also waive or otherwise refuse to pay the fee without penalty during registration each quarter. The organization agrees to have informational materials and waiver cards available at Student Accounts and at new student orientation each quarter. Any WASHPIRG fees not paid by the sixth week of the academic quarter will be removed from the student’s account. Students who have paid the fee for a specific quarter may seek a refund from the College any time duringthat quarter. Following that time period, students will be directed to the organization’s representative to pay the fee or request a refund. The parties agree that the College will be responsible for providing the on-line waiver form and paper waiver cards each quarter.
- ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS: The organization agrees to defray the College’s administrative costs incurred for billing and collecting the fee, and for computer use. For the purposes of this contract, this is calculated at $5220/year or $1305/quarter, including summer quarter. The College shall deduct this sumeach quarter from the fees collected from students to support the organization. In the event of a shortfall, the organization shall pay the balance due to the College within six weeks after the beginning of the quarter. Any surplus shall be paid to the organization within eight weeks after the quarter begins.
- INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION: The organization is not an agent, servant or employee of the College, but rather is an independent contractor which manages its own affairs. The organization shall not hold itself out as being part of, controlled by, or acting on behalf of the College. The College is not responsible for the organization’s contracts or other acts or omissions. The College’s role as collection agent shall not be construed as approval or disapproval by the College of the goals or activities of the organization. No research or any other work published by the organization shall state that the views or recommendations contained therein are those of the College. The organization shall take affirmative steps in all of its recruitment, business, and other dealings with third parties (e.g. students and businesses) to explain its relationship with the College.
- USE OF COLLEGE NAME AND SYMBOLS: The College does not encourage the use of its name along with the organization’s name, but it will allow such use solely to reinforce the organization’s duties under this contract, PROVIDED that the organization takes whatever steps are necessary to prevent persons and organizations with which it deals from receiving the impression that the organization is part of, controlled by or acting on behalf of the College. The College suggests that one such step is for any use of the College’s name as part of the organization’s College chapter (if any) be in the form of “The WASHPIRG Chapter at The Evergreen State College” rather than “The Evergreen State College WASHPIRG Chapter.” The organization shall not use any marks, symbols, logos, mottos or indicia of the College without its express prior written consent.
7. TAXES: The organization shall not use the College’s tax-exempt status in connection with purchases or sales by the organization, gifts to the organization, interest or other income of the organization, or any other activity of the organization.
8. INDEMNIFICATION: The organization shall indemnify and hold harmless the College, including its trustees and employees, from any and all claims, demands, suits or other proceedings, damages and causes of action, including negligence, brought by anyone seeking any claim or demand or bringing any suit or proceeding seeking to establish that the College’s activities in the assessment and/or collection of the fee is contrary to law or otherwise an improper or illegal function of the College. The organization understands and agrees that the College, State of Washington, and the employees and agents of either will not be liable for any of the organization’s contracts, torts, or other acts or omissions, or those by the organization’s directors, officers, members, staff or activity participants. The organization understands and agrees that neither it nor its directors, officers, members, staff, or active participants, are protected by the State of Washington’s insurance or self-insurance plans, and that the College and the State will not provide any legal defense for the organization or any such person in the event of any claim against any of them. The organization shall provide the necessary legal defense (including costs and disbursements necessarily incurred in connection therewith) of any such claims, demands, suits or proceedings.
9. CONTRACT TERM: This contract shall run from Fall Quarter 2013 through Summer Quarter 2015, inclusive. After the first year of the contract, if the organization fulfills the “Responsibilities of the Organization” set forth herein as determined by the GSU (no later than March 2014), the College may continue the contract under these same terms and conditions for the second year. If the GSU does not feel the organization has fulfilled its responsibilities, then the second year of this contract is voided and the GSU will have to request a new vote by the students. The GSU will provide thirty (30) days written notice to the organization at the address listed in 10.A giving the organization the opportunity to remedy any deficiencies in meeting their responsibilities (as stated in section 11) identified by the GSU. The organization has no automatic right to renewal.
10. TERMINATION: This agreement may be terminated by either party upon thirty (30) calendar day’s written notice. Such notice shall be deemed given when deposited in the mail, postage prepaid, and address as follows:
A. If to the organization: Director, WASHPIRG, 1402 Third Avenue, Suite 715, Seattle, WA 98101.
- If to the College: Director of Student Activities Administration, The Evergreen State College, Seminar I, Room 3161, Olympia, WA 98505.
For purposes of this agreement the GSU is required to hold a student referendum every two years in spring quarter in order to assess student interest and willingness to continue paying the optional fee. This agreement shall be automatically terminated on August 27, 2015 should the referendum fail to receive the necessary student support during the Spring 2015 student elections or if the organization fails to maintain its non-profit corporate status.
11. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION
- A. Quarterly Reports:By the third week of each quarter the state-wide organization’s representative and the College’s campus organizer will come to the College and meet with the GSU to inform them of what activities they were engaged in the previous quarter on campus, state-wide and nationally. This includes, but is not limited to, what positions were funded (campus organizers, lobbyist), and if there has been a paid campus organizer assigned to Evergreen’s campus.
- Annual Report: The organization will submit to the GSU, each year this agreement is in effect, a copy of its annual audited report at the conclusion of the organization’s fiscal year. Furthermore, the organization agrees to submit a report of the annual activities undertaken by the organization locally, state-wide and nationally.
- Campus Activities: It is the expectation of the College that there will be a campus organizer assigned to the College who will be active in meeting and working with students and student groups in support of the organization’s activities. The campus organizer will also solicit information from the College’s students on what they view as high priority issue.
- The organization will actively communicate with the College’s students using e-mail, posters, class visits and other appropriate means of communication concerning the organizations activities.
- The College’s students selected by the organization to serve on the organization’s Board of Directors will be reviewed by the GSU.
- One GSU member will serve as a non-voting member of the organization’s Board of Directors unless one of the GSU members is already selected as a voting member.
- If the organization owes the College for any expenses such as space rental, the College reserves the right to offset these expenses, if they become past due, against amounts due the organization.
12. SAVINGS CLAUSE: It is the belief of both parties that all provisions of this agreement are lawful. If any section of this Agreement should be found contrary to existing law by court opinion, formal Attorney General Opinion or College Legal Counsel opinion, the remainder of the agreement shall not be affected thereby, and the parties shall enter into immediate negotiations for the purpose of arriving at a mutually satisfactory replacement of such sections. The provisions of this agreement shall be subject to any future actions of or directions by the state legislature. In the event of conflicts between actions of or directions of the legislature and the provisions of this agreement during its term(s), the former shall prevail.
13. ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This constitutes the entire agreement and supersedes any previous agreements or understandings, whether oral or written, between the parties. This agreement shall only be modified in writing signed by both parties
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THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE WASHINGTON PUBLIC INTEREST
VICE PRESIDENT for FINANCE AND RESEARCH GROUP ADMINISTRATION CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS