Student groups submit spring semester budgets

Students who need money ask their parents. Student organizations that need money ask the… Students who need money ask their parents. Student organizations that need money ask the Allocations Committee.

Last Thursday and Friday, the Student Government Board’s Allocations Committee hosted budget hearings for student organizations in order to decide the organizations’ spring semester budget. The committee met with 17 student organizations over the span of two days. The organizations used this time to present what they would use the requested money for.

Michael Bane, chair of the Allocations Committee, said that many organizations are intimidated by the allocations process. To ease the tension, he said that the committee likes to use jokes and talk informally to contrast the formal discussion of the weekly Tuesday night SGB meetings.

“When [representatives] are speaking to a group of 13 people, it can be intimidating … I think most of the reason they are intimidated is that they are talking in front of us, not the allocations process,” Bane said. “We try our best to make them feel comfortable … We try to make it more like a dialogue and less like a presentation.”

The Rainbow Alliance, an organization that provides for the interests of the LGBTQ community, sent two representatives, Darren Pifer and Adam Dobson, to review the group’s budget with the committee during a 15-minute meeting on Friday. The duo stood before the committee as an overhead projector displayed their line-by-line budget.

The group requested $22,822.48 to cover the costs of two lectures, a conference, the group’s drag show and other events and materials for the spring.

The two took turns presenting justification for funding of the various line items to Bane and the others members of the committee. After hearing the group’s budget, the committee took turns asking questions, such as what materials could be reused and what the funding for the drag show would go toward.

The two responded that some of the money goes toward tipping the dragsters, and a few of the female committee members giggled.

All groups will receive the committee’s decision on their budgets today. From there, student groups can file an appeal if they disagree with the committee’s decision.

Pifer said that for some student groups, it can be difficult to formulate a budget, but working with the Allocations Committee helps ease the process.

“Sometimes people who struggle with their budgets don’t talk to [the Allocations Committee], and that’s part of the struggle,” Pifer said. “[But the committee members] care what you have to say. They listen to your arguments, they want to hear from you, and they want to help you.”

Each student organization is assigned a liaison from the committee who helps the organization review their requests before and after their final budget is submitted. Bane said that student organizations should discuss requests more frequently with their liaison.

“The liaisons are there as a resource for allocations requests, and I feel they are underutilized,” Bane said. “If [groups] are worried about the request or feel intimidated, it’s all the more reason for them to come up and talk to us.”

Liaisons, who make up the 12-member Allocations Committee, are required to attend weekly meetings, budget hearings and hold office hours each week. In total, liaisons commit 20 hours a month to the committee.

Allocations Committee applicants must fill out an application and submit a resume, and are chosen by a group comprised of the incoming and outgoing SGB presidents, the incoming and outgoing Allocations Chairs and the business manager of the board.

Bane said that the group looks for applicants who are involved on campus and have an understanding of the allocations process.

“We look for people who are good at working with others,” Bane said. “We want them to be interested in working with the committee.”

Kathleen Pulice, the business manager for Strong Women Strong Girls, said that during budget and supplemental request hearings, some of the committee members needed to be more active in the allocations process.

“It seemed like some of the people at the table didn’t want to be there,” Pulice said. “If you are a group of people responsible for what my group needs, you need to be actively involved.”

Pulice said that because of her experience with the Allocations Committee, she has applied for a position as a committee member to make improvements to the process.

Danielle Bissert, the business manager for Campus Women’s Organization, said that improvements can be made to the Allocations Manual.

“The manual has all the basics, but there are a lot of things that aren’t in the manual,” Bissert said, referring to the policies and precedents set by SGB.

Precedents for dispersing allocations are established on a Board-by-Board basis, so they are not standardized in the manual. Bane said he is constantly revising the Allocations Manual, and that he would like to see the precedents set by the Board, such as not funding club sports’ B-teams, included in the manual.

Tricia Dougherty, the President of the Rainbow Alliance, said that attending the weekly SGB meetings helped the group gain an understanding of the precedents that are not in the Allocations Manual.

“By the time we get to budget, we know what will be approved,” Dougherty said. “For our organization, allocations is something we do well.”