With 14 new clubs on campus this fall and existing clubs making big plans, students are knocking down the Student Government Association’s door looking for funds.
To get that money, clubs must present their case to the SGA’s Appropriations Committee. Whatever funds Appropriations allocates must then be approved by the SGA senate.
Until that final approval, clubs without sufficient funds in their budget-or any budget at all-can hardly function. That’s why it was inappropriate for the Appropriations Committee to take off when the SGA cabinet went to a conference in Washington D.C. last week. In the absence of the committee chair and SGA comptroller, the meeting did not need to be called off. Another member of the committee could have chaired the meeting, so clubs in need of funds could be heard.
One week of delay would not be terrible, except for the fact that the following week’s Appropriations meeting was immediately booked. Leaders were left with an unnecessary delay in getting their clubs off the ground.
There should not be a cut off for the amount of clubs Appropriations will hear from in a week. It is unfair to the SGA’s constituency.
Each week a club needs to wait before it learns how much money it has to spend is another week wasted. Opportunities to plan special events and bring in inspiring and controversial speakers will fall through the cracks of bureaucracy.