Associated Student Government senators passed a code change Wednesday to prevent student groups using ground flyering from receiving publicity funding.

The code change will impact A-status and B-status groups in varying ways due to the differences in how they receive funding. The B-status finance committee will revoke publicity funding for the following quarter from groups that advertise with flyers on the ground. The A-status finance committee will withdraw publicity funding for any event that uses ground flyering, according to the A-status guidelines.

Vice president for sustainability Katie Mansur said though many groups use ground flyers for advertising, there are more sustainable options.

“As we encourage A-status and B-status groups to use other advertising methods, it’s kind of bringing general attention to the other existing alternatives on campus that aren’t being utilized to their full potential,” the Weinberg senior said. “So other groups will have the opportunity to follow their example.”

Northwestern allows ground flyers in designated areas on campus and requires student groups to remove them within five days of the end of the event. “Very few” groups follow those guidelines, according to the code change, leaving Facilities Management to clean up the flyers.

Parth Lalkiya, vice president for B-status finances, said at Senate that cleaning up the ground flyers costs Facilities Management “a huge sum of money” each year.

Winter Quarter will serve as a trial period for the policy, so the finance committees will issue warnings to groups in violation of the policy instead of retracting funding, Mansur said.

The sustainability committee, A-status finance committee, B-status finance committee and Facilities Management will have access to a list of ASG-funded student groups so that they can ensure all abide by the new policy, Mansur said.

“I’m excited to be working one-on-one with the groups that are still flyering during Winter Quarter to make sure that they have comprehensive, sustainable advertising policies for the spring,” Mansur told The Daily.

Mansur added that groups can use ASG’s Alternative Advertising Options pamphlet to find alternatives to ground flyering, including using banners, painting The Rock and putting flyers on bulletin boards around campus.

Earlier in the meeting, senators also increased funding to some B-status groups.

Lalkiya said the B-status groups requested a “record-high number” of about $45,000, but the finance committee could only afford to allocate about $22,000. To make cuts, the committee funded one event and one initiative to improve each student group, on average.

Initially, Quest Scholars Network requested $4,700, but ASG only approved $200 for an event because the group didn’t spend its full allotment last year, Lalkiya said.

Afterward, senators approved an extra $200 to provide a seating area for the group so members can hold office hours and improve their space.

Madisen Hursey, Quest’s senator, said they hope to make more improvements to the group’s offices this year.

“As we prove more responsibility with our board, I think we will be able to get more funding and improve things like our spaces and areas (so) that our community can exist,” the Weinberg junior told The Daily.

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