The Council on Student Organizations, which provides funding for dozens of campus groups, is currently discussing whether or not to extend financial support to selective organizations.
COSO currently denies funding eligibility for selective organizations. The Council will review the policy in the fall and decide whether or not to change it.
Director of Student Activities Kennedy explained that performance groups and honor societies constitute the organizations referred to as "selective." She pointed out that essentially it is the whole student body that provides the money that is distributed among campus organizations, and consequently COSO has affirmed that selective organizations are not eligible for funding because "everybody can't be in them."
According to Kennedy, this is not the first time the issue has come up. "It's an issue that arises periodically," she said. "We've discussed it and we've continued to make the same decision."
COSO is reconsidering funding selective organizations at the request of the performance group SHEBA, which made the proposal to review COSO's policy on funding.
She also said that COSO does facilitate selective organizations to a certain extent by providing them with Hinman boxes and other non-funding related benefits.
Paul Cathcart, who is currently the music director and former business manager of the Aires, said that having to be self-supportive can be a positive experience.
"It forces you to run a business," Cathcart said. "We've always operated this way, and I think it's been a better learning experience."
He added that an advantage of earning money independent of COSO funding is that the members of a self-supporting organization have freedom to use the money as they please.
When asked for his opinion on the issue of fairness involved in providing student money for groups that don't offer membership to all students, he replied that "just because a group is selective, that doesn't mean it doesn't benefit the entire student body." He also said that the line drawn between selective and non-selective organizations isn't very distinct.
Although Cathcart supports the idea that groups provide for themselves, he also pointed out that "there's also something to be said about providing opportunities for organizations that they wouldn't otherwise have."
Kennedy said that selective groups can look to organizations like the Programming Board and Bigger, Better and Later for "production money" -- that is, money that may be used to sponsor events. She emphasized that COSO funds the organization itself, which is an entirely different matter.
Cathcart also offered his perspective on the difficulties that a selective organization may encounter by raising its own funds, stating that the main problem comes "when the interest of the group, its members and the college aren't in line with the group's business interests."
He explained that an organization like SHEBA, which spends considerable time and money for one big performance event, might have a difficult time staying afloat financially because it performs so infrequently.
While the opinions and concerns of both selective and non-selective organizations will be heard, it is the COSO board that will ultimately decide whether or not to change its policy. If the policy were to be amended, the change would not take effect until fall of the next academic year.
A COSO meeting dedicated to discussing this issue further will be scheduled for sometime later this term.
