While the Student Senate annual budget meetings for next year’s campus organizations are already well underway, this year unprecedented allocation recommendations were brought forward by the Finance Committee and are being considered. Some student organizations have been complaining about the budgeting process.

While the process is not new, certain allocation recommendations being brought forth this year have become more strict. “We have to make some sort of generalization to make it as fair to all groups and students as possible,” Sophomore History Major and Student Senate Finance Director Brandon Hirdler said.

This generalization is actually a recommendation for Senate not to fund any food, whether cultural or otherwise, for any campus organization where food is not directly related to the group itself (Russian Tea meetings would be an example of an exception). According to Hirdler, the Finance Committee voted 5-1 to accept the recommendation. Whether or not the full Senate will accept the recommendation for specific campus organizations is pending.

According to Hirdler, Senate already follows bylaws on food budgeting; the funding for food at events can not go above $300 for any organization.

However, some campus organizations are frustrated with the limited funding they have received for food in past years, and they worry about what the new recommendation will mean in the future.

Senior English Major Ryan McGinty, a co-president of Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society, said, “This past year, [Sigma Tau Delta] received very little funding for organized events and almost no money for food. As a result we had to fundraise extensively throughout the year just to put on our new member induction banquet. Also, we were forced to cancel a handful of events due to lack of funds. The events we were able to put on were sparsely attended.”

“I’m not sure if the decrease in member attendance was a direct result of our lack of funding, or if there were other more influential factors at work,” McGinty added.

With only $169,980 to be given away by Senate and $320,000 requested by campus groups, members of Senate explained that it can be difficult to determine how best to allot the budget. “Every year the requests [for funding by campus organizations] goes up, but the budget given to Senate for funding in recent years has not done the same,” Hirdler said.

“I’m not aware of any group that received as much money as they asked for from Senate, but considering the money Senate gives out is only half as much as the money requested, that’s to be expected,” Junior Political Science and Classics Major Nick Prince said, who is also a member of the Senate Finance Committee.

According to Senior Management Major and Student Senate Co-President Derek Holm, the process for alloting the budget begins when campus organizations send in requests for next year’s funding each spring. Holm explained that the Senate Finance Committee goes through each request line by line and based on the total budget makes recommendations on how much funding should be allotted for each group’s specific requests.

These recommendations, along with the original budget requested by the organization, are reviewed by the entire Senate. At this time, student organization members are welcome to come to the meetings and state their case for why their funding requests should be accepted. The Senate then votes on how much funding will be given to each group and for which specific items. Examples of items requested for funding include speakers, event food and transportation.

“It is possible that many organizations are at first displeased with their allocation, but every student must realize that with organizations requesting twice the amount we have available, significant cuts are to be expected,” Holm explained. “Overall, the process allows us to enable student organizations and their events to function, and we allocate all the money we have. Anything extra simply has to come from other sources, such as independent fundraising.”

Junior Political Science and Religion Major and Student Senate Co-President Elect Sean Tessmer agreed. “I definitely expect there to be a lot of people that will argue against [the recommendation], and there may be disappointment or anger toward Senate [from certain campus groups] for not getting this or that. But that’s every year.”

Hirdler, Holm and Tessmer all stressed that organizations are welcome to state their case at the Senate budget meetings, which began this past Monday but will continue in the coming weeks until all organization budgets have been allotted.

“At this point student organizations have an opportunity to speak to the whole Senate, and the Senators can then change whatever line-item they want. [It is these meetings where] the budget is ratified by a vote in Senate… that results in the allocation each student organization gets for the following year,” Holm said.

“This spring budget allocation process is not the only way student organizations can get funding from Senate, though. There is a separate process called mid-year allocations where organizations can come to Senate and request funds later in the school year,” Holm added.

Though the recommendation may result in many groups losing funding for food, Senate members explained that the funding will benefit campus groups and the Gustavus community in other ways. “With these allocations, we’ve recommended money for more speakers, so there will be a lot more things to stimulate the mind for the campus and explore more ideas in academia, which can be very beneficial to our campus,” Hirdler said.

“[This particular budget recommendation] will benefit students by bringing in more speakers of diverse opinions and thus cause more conversation on campus. The success of big speaking events, such as Building Bridges or the MAYDAY! Conference, causes a lot of dialogue and discussion, whereas events based in attendance on food do not necessarily create as much dialogue,” Tessmer said. “It is important in that it will further a student’s education, [whereas funding for food may not].”

Prince, who is also the treasurer for the Diversity Leadership Council, said, “Two key events which were left out [of our original budget recommendation], and [which] Senate truly needs to fund are the International Festival and Africa Night, two very well attended events.”

Groups affiliated with the DLC received minimal funding for cultural food.

“We take many factors into account when allocating money to student organizations,” Holm said. “Student Senate is given a lot of money to work with, and it is our view that students want that money spent mostly on their organizations, so this is the process we have set up to make that happen. The Senate budget has a lot of potential for many different types of allocation procedures, and this is our answer to the needs we are hearing from students.”

Students who are interested in representing groups or simply viewing the proceedings are welcome to attend the next Student Senate budgeting session on Monday, May 10 at 7:00 p.m in the Campus Center Board Room.

Correction: In “Student Senate changes food allocations” in our May 7, 2010 issue, Nick Prince was listed as a junior. In “Diversity Center hosts annual ball,” Prince was listed as a sophomore. Though Prince is listed as a junior in the Gribly, he is a sophomore. We apologize for the confusion.