Due to the Undergraduate Finance Committee's total decrease of $60,000 last spring, many organizations receiving funding have decreased programming and become more conscious about their spending.
All organizations funded by the UFC are within their budgets this year and have been spending responsibly, UFC chair Rohail Premjee '14 said.
"Every organization has done well with what they've been given," he said. "Right now, I foresee no problems for these organizations."
Premjee wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees in October requesting that the student activities budget provided to the UFC does not decrease relative to the percentage of total student body fees, allowing the UFC's budget to increase proportionally to tuition increases, Premjee said.
UFC's decreased budget resulted in less campus programming this year, according to the letter.
"Organizations like the Special Programs and Events Committee and Programming Board were hurt by their budget cuts," the letter said. "These cuts have forced them to accept fewer funding proposals."
Due to lower enrollment this year and the exhaustion of rollover funds from previous years, the student activities budget decreased to $980,000 from $1,040,000, putting the UFC in a "difficult position" to effectively allocate funds.
The Greek Leadership Council did not eliminate any of its usual events, but had to promote co-sponsorship among the organizations it funds due to the budget restructuring, moderator Duncan Hall '13 said. By pooling resources, organizations can cut costs.
Programming Board put on fewer coffeehouse concerts this year because its allocation from the UFC decreased by $24,000.
"We have instead put more of our money towards planning larger, more populated events in order to please a greater number of students," programming chair Chelsea Mandel '15 said in an email.
The Council on Class Officers' budget cut indirectly impacted the 2015 Class Council, vice president Justin Sha '15 said.
The council is hosting fewer events and focusing on low-budget programming. Sha said the council cannot afford any more budget cuts.
The council is trying to save funds for sophomore summer and senior year and will also fundraise for the summer, he said.
Kevin Cox '13, 2013 Class Council treasurer, said the council's decreased budget has not "concretely affected" programming.
"We try to limit how much we spend on events, and we are pretty budget conscious," he said.
Student Assembly president Suril Kantaria '13 said that the budget reduction has not affected programming since the Assembly agenda changes yearly and does not have a set expectation.
"Because there are discontinuities in leadership, a change in the budget isn't necessarily visible," he said.
The Assembly adjusted its spending plan due to budgeting reductions at the start of the academic year, but has not experienced any funding issues since, Kantaria said.
The UFC will allocate funds for next year and make policy decisions at a retreat in April rather than handle its procedures through weekly meetings in the spring, Premjee said. The UFC will hold two meetings prior to the retreat to review what organizations have spent in the past and how the student activities budget operates.
The UFC voted to restructure its meeting process on Feb. 18 due to uneven attendance at weekly meetings and the time lapse between organizations presenting their expected budgets and the UFC's deliberation on fund allocation.
"It's going to make the UFC process more continuous and organized and in that way it will make it better," he said. "But I can't foresee any major changes to funding the system."
The UFC voted last spring to allow organizations to co-sponsor events if both organizations and the UFC consent to the arrangement. Despite the change, some organizations have not abided by the rules for the past two terms, Premjee said.
