Student organizations requesting funds must go through an extensive, and sometimes confusing, process with the Student Fee Review Board. SFRB Chair and GPSA President Katie Richardson sat down with the Daily Lobo to explain how it’s done.
She said the organization does not have a specific rubric for allocating funds, which means student groups must meet with the SFRB to talk about their goals and financial needs.
“There is not a predefined metric that groups need to meet to get funding, but groups need to demonstrate that they are serving students on campus,” she said. “We have focused on groups that provide for the academic success of students as well as their recruitment, retention and well-being. The number of students served matters, but so does quality of service.”
Initial funding request forms are available this week and are due Dec. 9.
Richardson said both applying for funding and attending the subsequent hearings is vital to ensuring organizations obtain student fees.
She said representatives from student organizations will have the opportunity to speak with SFRB representatives during the hearings, which are tentatively scheduled for Jan. 20-22.
“Groups will have about half an hour to present their case for receiving student fees,” she said. “After the hearings there will be two deliberative meetings to decide how to allocate fees, and those meetings are open to the public.”
SFRB member Japji Hundal said the clearer an organization can address specific costs, the better. Hundal said providing a cost analysis for different activities, such as the cost of gas to attend an event, will help the SFRB see how the requested funds will directly serve students.
“At the end of the day it’s about how an organization can serve students, and I want to see how the fees are going to do that,” he said. “The more information I have, I can make a better decision on that.”
After deliberations the SFRB will submit its funding recommendations to the Board of Regents to officially allocate funding.
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