The $150,000 in funds set aside by SGA to fund clubs for this academic year has been exhausted. The funding pool typically runs out around this time in the past, according to Director of Finance Amanda Ford.
During a presentation at the Dec. 5 Senate meeting, Ford said that the Budget Advisory Committee, the committee in charge of club funding, often allocates all the club funding for the year in the fall. A smaller amount of money from SGA’s reserve fund, the Carryforward Fund, is then transferred to BAC for the spring semester.
Club funding presentation at SGA meeting
Club funds are attached to SGA’s fiscal year budget, which is created by BAC and passed by the Senate at the end of every spring semester. The funds are based on the predicted budget from the Student Activity Fee, which was raised last year from $16.06 a semester to $30.40 a semester due to decreasing SGA reserves.
Last fiscal year, BAC started with $83,474.12 in the budget, and the funds were exhausted by December, according to past Scribe reporting. At the beginning of February, the $54,500 that was reallocated from the Carryforward Fund to pay for additional club funding in the spring was exhausted.
Ford said that she has determined that the amount that could sustainably be reallocated from the reserves this spring would be between $20,000-$25,000. She estimated that the Carryforward fund has about $70,000.
While it was planned to present the reallocation bill to the Senate at the Dec. 5 meeting, the bill was postponed to the next meeting on Dec. 12 because Speaker of the House Greg Abdukar-Duru was absent due to illness.
Ford said that club funding is “first come first serve,” so while clubs are eligible to receive up to $4,000 annually from BAC, this funding can only be secured through proposals. “Funding goes quick, especially in the spring … clubs have been notified that they will be able to apply for the reallocated funding in January when the form opens up,” Ford said.
According to Ford, part of why funding was exhausted is because club activity increased this semester. Club life has seen a spike in events, with 293 club events from 73 different clubs in October alone, according to past Scribe reporting. The number of registered clubs has also increased.
“For that $150,000, we have approved 90 club funding proposals … 90 club funding proposals for the fall alone is insane. We have had eight to 12 clubs come to BAC each week, which is, in my opinion, pretty good,” Ford said.
Pause for Paws Bill
The Senate unanimously passed the Pause for Paws Bill at the meeting, approving funding for the therapy dogs from K9to5 to come to the library for finals week of both the fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters.
The bill approved $545 to pay the volunteer service as an honorarium, thanking the company for giving its time to UCCS since 2015.
“This group brings in the dogs a lot. They came in after the shooting, even though we didn’t ask them to … The work they do is super important for campus because they will be here in a moment’s notice to support students,” said Senator at Large Hayley Crist.
In other news:
- The director of finance position is opening up because Amanda Ford is graduating at the end of this semester. The application for the position can be found on SGA’s Mountain Lion Connect Page.
- Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health and Wellness Benek Altayli and Assistant Director of Wellness Promotion Chrissie Bailey asked SGA for their advocacy in supporting the Wellness Center’s programming such as the monthly walk-in STI clinics.
- Senator of Commuter Students Brittany Iheomamere asked for SGA members on a committee designed to focus on planning SGA events to be more active, saying that every member is in school and has responsibilities, but only a select few participate.
- There is a tailgate for the blackout basketball games on Thursday Dec. 12 at 3:30 p.m. in the upper plaza. The women’s team will play at 5 p.m., and the men’s team will play at 7 p.m. The first 500 people to show up will receive a free T-shirt. Student Life will also be giving out leftover socks from the Friendsgiving event.
- The final Senate meeting of the semester will be held on Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in UC 303.
Photo from The Scribe archives.