Photo by: Tommy Nagel
Almost $192,000 was allotted to student organizations by the Undergraduate Student Government this year. More than 60 student organizations are funded by the annual student activity fee, according to the Fiscal Year 2010 Student Activity Fee Schedule.
The fee was increased to $192 this year to account for more expensive Regional Transit District Passes. Students also pay a $129 sustainability fee, which goes toward sustainability efforts at DU.
This year, the total amount generated from these two fees is $1,454,033. The largest portion of this money was used to pay for the RTD passes.
“The student activity fee is intended to fund extracurricular activities that would include student organizations and RTD,” said Natasha Kiemnec, chair of the USG Finance Committee.
The largest percentage of the money is divided among only a few organizations. The University of Denver Programs Board received $200,000, Club and Intramural Sports received $75,000, Greek Life received $30,000 and the DU Shuttle Program received $15,000, this year.
In order to receive funding, groups must apply to become licensed student organizations, or apply for relicensing each year through USG Senate. After this process is completed groups can apply for funding.
Any organization that proves it is beneficial to the DU community is eligible to receive funding, according Kiemnec.
The applications for funding go through the USG Finance Committee, which decides the amount of money each club receives. The amount allotted to each organization depends on the quality of the application and how much money they request in their application.
The amounts these organizations receive are often based on their history. The finance committee looks at how much the organization has received or used in the past, according to Antoine Perretta, president of USG.
“The amount of money doesn’t usually deviate much from the year before, unless there is a lot of money the group didn’t use,” said Perretta.
After the Finance Committee decides how to distribute the money, the budget goes back to the Senate for approval.
Once the amounts have been confirmed, organizations may go through an appeals process if they do not agree with the amount of funding Senate decided to give them.
Organizations are divided into top-of-the-line and bottom-of-the-line organizations. They are split based on precedent and approved by the entire Senate.
Some of the top-of-the-line organizations include DUBP, Greek Life, USG Committees, the DU Shuttle and the Athletic Ticket Initiative. The ticket initiative enables students to buy $5 hockey tickets and have free admission to every other sporting event.
These groups are considered to be the most active groups on campus because they affect the DU community the most and put on large-scale projects, according to Perretta. Bottom-of-the-line organizations receive less funding.
“Most bottom-of-the-line organizations don’t ever use all of their money,” said Perretta.
Organizations that are given top-of-the-line funding are required to report where and how they spend their money. They must go to one of the weekly Senate meetings, which are open to all students.
“This is part of my goal of transparency so we and students know where our money is going,” said Perretta.
The last two years the Senate has set a goal to distribute more money to bottom-of-the-line organizations, according to Perretta.
“There are those organizations that do use their entire budget and we want to be able to give them more money if they are able to spend it,” said Perretta.
The bottom-of-the-line student organization that received the most funding this year was Alpine Club, which was given $30,000. The Alpine Club also is one of the clubs on campus that had its budget cut last year. They were alloted $11,000 less than what they asked for this year.
The Residence Hall Association received $20,000, the second highest amount allotted. Every organization was granted at least $100. The majority of those that apply receive an average of $2,000 to $3,000 according to the budget.
This year also was the first year that there was money set aside for new student organizations that become licensed throughout the school year. The budget set around $31,000 aside for new groups that were created after the licensing deadline last year. Organizations that benefited from this initiative include the Vietnamese Student Alliance, Students for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Exit 205.
The relicensing and funding process will take place May 13 to 17, and the finance committee will debate funding allocation on May 22. The 2010-2011 budget will be released on May 25.
