As one of their first acts of the new semester, SGA reallocated $20,000 from their reserves for club funding after exhausting their $150,000 budget last semester.
The first senate meeting of the spring semester was held on Jan. 23. Along with passing the Reallocation Bill, SGA confirmed the new director of finance and passed the Music on Tap bill.
The Reallocation Bill
SGA unanimously passed the Reallocation Bill, which will provide BAC with $20,000 from SGA reserves to be allocated as club funding for this semester.
At the final SGA meeting of the fall semester, previous Director of Finance Amanda Ford announced that BAC, the committee that allocates club funding, had run out of its $150,000 budget. Ford said it is not unusual for BAC to allocate all their funding in the fall and have to reallocate from reserves in the spring.
Last spring, SGA reallocated $54,500 from the reserves after running out of their $83,474.12 budget in Dec. 2023.
“We have already allocated $150,000 to clubs, and adding $20,000 is $170,000. Reserves probably could not take more allocation this year. They would be exhausted at that point,” SGA Advisor Noelle San Souci said.
Clubs are eligible for up to $4,000 of funding every fiscal year. San Souci said that funding is “first-come, first-served” and recommends clubs get their proposals to BAC as early as possible.
According to San Souci, the Carry Forward fund, SGA’s reserve fund, will have about $50,000 left after the allocation.
New Director of Finance
The Senate unanimously confirmed junior Robin Levisky to the director of finance position. The position became available after Ford graduated last semester.
According to the SGA constitution, the director of finance serves as the chair of BAC, assists student organizations with budget requests and reviews student organization accounts, proposals and budgets for compliance with SGA guidelines.
Levisky has served for three years with SGA. As a freshman, she served as a justice then spent the last two years as a student-at-large, a position that can proxy for senators at senate meetings and serve on committees.
“Last semester, Amanda trained me to be the director of finance, and recently, I’ve started networking with Student Life and the folks around there to help support that transition into the director of finance role,” Levisky said.
Music on Tap Bill
The Senate unanimously passed the Music on Tap bill, allocating $1,351.60 to fund a live music event at Clyde’s Gastropub on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 5 p.m.
The bill, presented by Senator-at-Large Bennet Mallot, allocated $654 for a live band and $697.60 for UCCS catering (including GAR). Mallot said that this event will be repeated at least two more times this semester, giving students a chance to connect with each other and UCCS bands an opportunity to get their names out there.
“Since this event is right after the men’s basketball game, this event gives students something fun to do after the game. This will be nice for students that aren’t of [drinking] age to go somewhere and hang out after the game is finished,” said Asher Early, senator of clubs, organizations and Greek life.
There was free food and drinks available for students, and alcohol for sale for attendees over 21 years old.
In other news:
- Senator of Innovation Isabella Polombo said she is temporarily disbanding the period products committee and considering disbanding the events committee, which Chief Justice Savoy Garey and Senator of the Arts Jordan Reynolds showed support for.
- Greg Abukar-Duru, senator of public affairs and the speaker of the house, facilitated a discussion about the Light the Spine event and what can be improved next year, including better communication between senators and forming the event’s own committee.
- On Feb. 17, the Monday following the one-year anniversary of the Feb. 16 double-homicide that occured on campus, there will be a student-led healing event in the Student Life lounge.
Graphic via The Scribe Archives.