Student Congress' allocations explained
By: Liesl Goecker
Issue date: 5/2/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Show me the money! At least, that is what some student organizations may be thinking in the wake of Student Congress' release of the allocations list for the fall 2006 semester. Four organization received no funding after submitting budget proposals and several others received significantly less than previous allocation allotments.
Student Congress vice-president of finance, Ian MacLeod said that the reason some of the allocations are different from previous funding is the fact that many budgets were unspecific. MacLeod, who has served on the allocations committee for five semesters, that that this semester was "by far the least impressive as far as the quality of budgets."
MacLeod said the committee was hoping to give out $160-170,000 in allocations. Instead, only $119,397 was distributed. He said that the allocation decisions were not based on an organization's number of members nor its perceived success. MacLeod specifically mentioned organizations like College Democrats, Young Economists Society and United DePauw-organizations that in the past have enjoyed thousands of dollars in student funding. Other groups, MacLeod said, like Tiger Pep Band, demonstrated misuse of funds allocated from the previous semester. The Pep Band spent most of its funding on food for its members and the trip to Memphis, Tenn. The problem with this, he said, is that the money was not spent for the benefit of the campus.
Allocation money comes from the student activity fee paid by all students at DePauw. Because the funding comes from the student body, MacLeod said, it is wrong to spend it for members' personal use.
"I, personally, would not want so so much of their dollars spent on a trip I could not go on," MacLeod said.
However, he added, though the allocations for these organizations have been severely reduced, the groups will not be strapped for funding-many of these groups had a large amounts of roll over money from the previous semester.
However, James Patton, president of United DePauw, said this is not the case with his organization. He said that United DePauw has been working with very little money for some time.
Student Congress vice-president of finance, Ian MacLeod said that the reason some of the allocations are different from previous funding is the fact that many budgets were unspecific. MacLeod, who has served on the allocations committee for five semesters, that that this semester was "by far the least impressive as far as the quality of budgets."
MacLeod said the committee was hoping to give out $160-170,000 in allocations. Instead, only $119,397 was distributed. He said that the allocation decisions were not based on an organization's number of members nor its perceived success. MacLeod specifically mentioned organizations like College Democrats, Young Economists Society and United DePauw-organizations that in the past have enjoyed thousands of dollars in student funding. Other groups, MacLeod said, like Tiger Pep Band, demonstrated misuse of funds allocated from the previous semester. The Pep Band spent most of its funding on food for its members and the trip to Memphis, Tenn. The problem with this, he said, is that the money was not spent for the benefit of the campus.
Allocation money comes from the student activity fee paid by all students at DePauw. Because the funding comes from the student body, MacLeod said, it is wrong to spend it for members' personal use.
"I, personally, would not want so so much of their dollars spent on a trip I could not go on," MacLeod said.
However, he added, though the allocations for these organizations have been severely reduced, the groups will not be strapped for funding-many of these groups had a large amounts of roll over money from the previous semester.
However, James Patton, president of United DePauw, said this is not the case with his organization. He said that United DePauw has been working with very little money for some time.
Be the first to comment on this story