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Correction appended

A redesign of the funding processes for student groups appears to many to have produced more balanced allocations than in recent years, but some student government members say the fall operational budgets are not quite fair.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council voted Tuesday to allocate nearly $58,000 from the Student Organization Operational Fund to 122 student groups for their fall quarter operational budgets.

The allocated funds are strictly for operational costs, such as officer stipends, supplies and advertising; programming funds must be obtained from alternative sources.

All groups that applied received at least some funding, with the exception of one group that failed to show up to its hearing before the Budget Review Committee.

The allocation of funding to all groups that completed the required application process is a dramatic departure from last year, when the council came under fire for denying funding to 42 student groups. In previous years, the council was also criticized for “playing favorites” in its budgeting process, as student groups that supported the majority slate consistently received the most funding.

USAC attempted to make the funding process more transparent this year by making sample score sheets available, so groups knew exactly how they would be evaluated. Also, any Budget Review Committee members who felt a conflict of interest regarding any student group were asked to not submit a score.

The application process includes the submission of a formal proposal as well as a 20-minute hearing. The purpose of the hearing is “to ensure each group fulfilled the university and USAC minimum criteria and BRC priorities,” according to Budget Review Committee guidelines. All allocations were determined based upon the group’s score from the hearing and proposal, which transformed the group’s approved request into a proportional allocation of all available funds.

Only six student groups received more than $1,000: the African Student Union, the Asian Pacific Coalition, Dance Marathon, the Darfur Action Committee, the Muslim Student Association and Samahang Pilipino.

Allocation amounts ranged from $15 for the Russia Club to $1,108 for the Asian Pacific Coalition.

The Budget Review Committee created a request cap at $4,317, which it determined to be the maximum based upon the limited funds available and the large number of groups applying.

Groups were allowed to request unlimited funds, but any proposal requesting more than the cap was adjusted. The requested amount was designed to represent a reasonable request including officer stipends, supplies and graphics, advertising and fees and travel for retreats and conferences, Budget Review Director Diem Tran said.

The cap is designed so people cannot make excessive requests, but it still allows groups with greater need to get proportionally more funding than those with less need, Tran said.

However, several councilmembers voted against the allocations or abstained because they said the cap resulted in unfair allocations for groups that requested less than the maximum.

General Representative Brian Neesby said it is in the best interest of all groups to request at least the cap, whether or not they truly need that amount, because they only receive a portion of what they request, depending on their scores.

Many student groups actually tried to keep their budget requests down, based on a previously announced cap of $1,100 that was later changed, said Joe Vardner, USAC facilities commissioner.

The groups that requested less than the maximum ended up with low allocations, Neesby said.

Because the system is proportional, groups with the same score receive the same percentage of their request, but consequently groups that requested more ended up receiving a larger allocation.

Other councilmembers maintained that the cap was effective in making the funding process fair, and that no student group has any incentive to request more or less than they actually need.

Unwarranted requesting would hurt a group’s score in the hearing and on their proposal, which would result in them getting a lower allocation, so arbitrarily requesting a lot of money wouldn’t help any student group, External Vice President Jeannie Biniek said.

This is the first set of student group allocations to be made under this new formula. Operational budget allocations will be made at the start of every quarter.