University Student Senate Caps Funds for Student Groups
For the first time, the University Student Senate has imposed a cap on the amount of funds student groups can receive each semester — the result of increased demand from students for financial support from the USS.
At a meeting on October 20, USS Treasure Hajir Sailors told senators that the USS had already allocated more than 40 percent of its budget for the Fall 2011 semester, with approximately $44,000 remaining in USS coffers. Sailors noted that some student groups who already received substantial amounts of money from the USS, such as the Student Film Collective, had returned to ask for more funding.
To preserve the remaining funds for other student organizations, the USS unanimously approved a $5,000 limit on what student groups can request per semester.
Sailors explained that the cap was equally about maintaining the viability of the student activities fund, as well as helping organizations learn to fundraise without being dependent on money from the USS and similar groups.
“There’s so many organizations that want money,” Sailors said. “And in a perfect world we’d love them to have all the money they want.”
The USS will be helping student groups learn how to raise money from other sources. Sailors pointed to his own experience as the director of the New Light Opera, a performance group for Mannes students. The NLO received $4,900 from the senate, but was then able to raise an additional $15,000 by creating partnerships with other arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera.
Sailors said the cap was not absolute, adding that if a student group had a “really good reason” the senate would consider granting them more money.
At a meeting on October 20, USS Treasure Hajir Sailors told senators that the USS had already allocated more than 40 percent of its budget for the Fall 2011 semester, with approximately $44,000 remaining in USS coffers. Sailors noted that some student groups who already received substantial amounts of money from the USS, such as the Student Film Collective, had returned to ask for more funding.
To preserve the remaining funds for other student organizations, the USS unanimously approved a $5,000 limit on what student groups can request per semester.
Sailors explained that the cap was equally about maintaining the viability of the student activities fund, as well as helping organizations learn to fundraise without being dependent on money from the USS and similar groups.
“There’s so many organizations that want money,” Sailors said. “And in a perfect world we’d love them to have all the money they want.”
The USS will be helping student groups learn how to raise money from other sources. Sailors pointed to his own experience as the director of the New Light Opera, a performance group for Mannes students. The NLO received $4,900 from the senate, but was then able to raise an additional $15,000 by creating partnerships with other arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera.
Sailors said the cap was not absolute, adding that if a student group had a “really good reason” the senate would consider granting them more money.
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