After hours of deliberations, the Undergraduate Finance Committee voted May 10 on how to distribute $790,000 in student activities fees for the '05"'06 fiscal year. Six of the seven organizations receiving funding will have larger budgets than last year, with Student Assembly and the Council on Student Organizations securing more funding than in any previous year.
Activities fees increase incrementally with tuition costs, and this year the UFC's coffers grew by 4.6 percent, according to UFC Chair and Student Body President Julia Hildreth.
"That's why many groups were able to get an increase in their funding -- because we had more money to start with," Hildreth said.
The UFC draws its representatives from the Greek Leadership Council, the Collis Governing Board, the Council on Student Organizations, the class councils, the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, Programming Board and Student Assembly.
One candidate from each organization joins in deliberations with five representatives unaffiliated with student governing organizations.
The seven organizations each submit detailed proposals for funding and organization members present the proposals to the UFC. The UFC met for a total of seven hours over two days to hear presentations and come to a decision.
This year, the organizations requested a total of $900,000 in funding -- over $100,000 more than the UFC could provide.
"I think it's a really hard job when the requests are so much more than we have to allocate," UFC advisor and Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia said.
To avoid conflicts of interest on the committee, UFC committee member Steven Koutsavlis '05 said Sateia stressed to affiliated representatives that they should think holistically during the deliberations and not just about their specific organizations.
"All the students were supportive of one another's organizations, and I really believe that our student organizations become increasingly accountable financially with every UFC cycle," Hildreth said.
Koutsavlis said the groups were generally satisfied with the funding they received, including the Student Assembly, which received $90,000 in funding as opposed to last year's $80,000. Student Body President-elect Noah Riner '06 said the Student Assembly is excited about the increase in its budget.
"This is going to allow SA to follow through on and develop new projects -- everything from increasing the Collegiate Readership Program to developing Peer Academic Advising, which is still a new program, to finally getting DASH in the vending machines. We're going to put this money to good use," Riner said.
While most organizations were pleased with their boosted finances, the Greek Leadership Council was the exception to the rule. After submitting a proposal for $71,500, the GLC received $24,500 in funds to spend on informational speakers, charity events and entertainment such as the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity Block Party.
The amount still represents a $4,500 increase from last year, but GLC moderator Taylor Cornwall '06 said his organization was disappointed with the result.
"While our allocation did represent a decent relative increase, it still doesn't make sense that an organization that represents almost 45 percent of the student body at any given time and will, by the time they graduate, come to include 60 percent of students, is given only three percent of the students' activities fees," Cornwall said.
