As the school year moves toward the end, the Student Government Association is busy allocating the necessary funds to various clubs and organizations on campus.
According to Erica Rider, treasurer of SGA, there is about $8,000 remaining in club funding. Rider said that since $7,000 will be requested during Thursday’s SGA General Assembly meeting, she suspects only $1,000 will remain in the budget for club funding after Thursday.
This year’s budget for all clubs was $48,000, Rider said. In order for a club to request money, each club must fill out a form that indicates what the money is for and follow all the funding guidelines.
The request then proceeds to the budget and finance committee. Clubs can for a maximum of $2,500 for the school year. Rider said if the request is passed, it then moves to SGA’s General Assembly meeting for approval.
Despite the different sizes of clubs, she said that clubs are not placed at different levels of importance.
“As long as the club is SGA-recognized, the money is encumbered on a first come, first serve basis,” the sophomore pre-med major said.
This year, SGA tweaked their policy a little regarding club funding. Last year, clubs could ask up to $2,500 for the whole year at any time. This year, however, clubs can only ask up to $1,500 for the fall semester and up to $1,000 for the spring semester.
Rider said that she and SGA are trying to make it so that there isn’t a rush in the beginning of the fall semester with requests where all the money is given out at once.
“We are also trying to make it more fair so that organizations that have their major events in the spring have a fair chance at receiving funding,” she said.
Clubs cannot exceed the $2,500 cap. However, Rider said clubs have been asking SGA for money a lot slower than they have before.
“The club funding is usually depleted by the end of the first semester, but we still have some money left in the budget,” she said.
KnightLife, an organization that puts on year-round events for students, requested the full $2,500 both last year and this year. Patrick Chounet, co-president of KnightLife, said it has received that requested amount both times.
Chounet said that the club uses all of the money they request from SGA.
“In order to put on the large events we do, we need every amount that we can get, especially when it comes to Get Rec’d,” the junior mathematics major said.
In addition, he said the fund allocation change that SGA made was smart, but the system could improve.
“There’s still funding available for clubs which is good that they are better allocating those funds,” he said. “However, it would be useful to have more money as we are an organization that puts on events for the entire student body.”
