Associated Student Government will determine funding for the largest student groups on campus in the next few weeks. Despite discussion of an adjustment to the funding structure, change is likely about a year away, the ASG funding committee head said Sunday.
This week, the Student Appropriations and Finance Committee, formerly known as the Student Activities Finance Board, will review funding petitions for the 2009-2010 school year and interview leaders of A-status groups, the highest funded tier of student groups. Committee head Malavika Srinivasan said they would then make recommendations on allocations to ASG Senate on May 6. Senate will debate allocations May 13.
Funding decisions can affect the quality of some groups’ events. Mayfest Co-chair Diana Richter said funding is essential in organizing Dillo Day. Mayfest, the second-highest funded group on campus, received more than $200,000 for the 2008-2009 school year, she said.
“If we don’t get funding, it doesn’t happen,” the Weinberg senior said. “It makes and breaks us 100 percent. Students have come to expect a very high caliber Dillo Day. We want to give students what they expect.”
A-status groups are allotted funds from a pool of about 97 percent of the Student Activities Fee, which this year totaled $1.2 million, Srinivasan said. The remaining 3 percent goes to the Student Group Committee, which is in charge of funding for B-status groups.
The funding cycle for B-status groups takes place during Winter Quarter and a pool of about $30,000 was made available to the groups, said Srinivasan, a SESP junior.
Students inside and outside ASG have discussed the possibility of a change in the way funding is decided. ASG President Mike McGee said some discontent has been voiced by B-status groups saying they want access to a larger pool of resources.
“They want funding to be more fair,” the Communication junior said. “They feel constrained by the current funding system.”
There have been talks that the funding cycles and pools for A- and B-status groups might be combined, Srinivasan said. Though she said nothing has resulted in any concrete ideas yet, she emphasized that any change would be a lengthy process and would take effect next winter at the earliest.
“It would really throw the system into chaos,” said Srinivasan, who served on the committee for two years as a non-ASG member before being appointed to committee chair in February. “We’ve already allocated more than 90 percent of the Student Activities Fee. Once spring funding happens, you can’t go back – everyone knows this will be a slow process.”
Groups that wish to be upgraded to A-status can submit a petition to Srinivasan, which must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both the Student Appropriations and Finance Committee and the Student Group Committee.
Habitat for Humanity was upgraded to A-status in Senate on April 22 and group president Greg Go said Habitat requested the upgrade mostly because of the funding. Go said the group had been A-status from 1999 until 2006, when the group was demoted due to poor organization within its executive board. The group received $40 from the B-status funding pool this past winter.
“There’s just such a big difference between A-status and B-status funding,” the Weinberg junior said.
Srinivasan said the most important metric in upgrading a group is how many students attend their events, rather than the cause the group supports.
“Where do we make the determination that supporting minorities is more important than supporting community service?” she said. “As people, we should never have to.”
