Funding for club bill fails
After tabling a bill for several weeks that would allot $30,000 to student clubs and organizations, the ASUSU Tier II committee, which includes several members of ASUSU executive council, decided not to pass the bill at their meeting Monday.
The bill would have created an ongoing fund of $30,000 from Tier II tuition. The funds would have been dispersed to student clubs and organizations. Tier II tuition comes from students’ tuition rather than state and federal funding. The state dictates how Tier I tuition is spent, but Tier II funds are spent at the student leaders’ and university president’s discretion.
ASUSU vice president Brent Crosby said the bill was not passed because the funding would be better used in two other already existing programs. Those existing programs that may receive this funding are the Academic Opportunity Fund and the Graduate Student Senate Stipend Enhancement Award.
Both of these funds provide money for student organizations to attend competitions and other activities. Both funds were created in previous years as one-time allotments. The opportunity fund has been given $10,000 and the graduate award $12,000 in the past. This new recommendation would provide ongoing funding for both of these funds.
Kaho Fiefia, ASUSU diversity vice president and one of the original bill’s sponsors, said the original $30,000 club fund would have been beneficial to more students than the new recommendation, but he said he understands the reasoning behind the opposing arguments.
“I wish there was something we could do for the clubs, they really do need some other way of getting funding,” said ASUSU administrative assistant Keenan Nuerhing, another sponsor of the bill. “I am excited about the (Academic Opportunity Fund) monies that were allocated though because that is going to be so helpful to them, especially as an ongoing allocation.”
The new funding recommendation will go before the board of trustees Friday, and Crosby said he is confident the board will pass the recommendation. The board of trustees is a group of alumni appointed by the state governor.
Fiefia said the original bill might be revised and voted on again by next year’s executive council.
Under current legislation, the six to seven clubs under the International Student Council (ISC)are allotted $8,000, the five clubs in the Access and Diversity Center are allotted $9,000 and the other 100 active clubs are allotted $10,000. The original bill would have primarily supplemented the funds for the clubs that don’t fall under ISC or the Access and Diversity Center.
“I think clubs definitely need more funds but after discussion (this decision) is totally understandable,” Fiefia said.
He said it is a better idea to propose that the club fund be created from student fees rather than from Tier II tuition. He said even if the original bill was designated as ongoing from Tier II tuition, there is a possibility it could be cut in the future. He said creating the fund from student fees would ensure its longevity.
The original bill was first postponed at the council’s meeting Feb. 16 due to concerns about additional hours and responsibilities for the ASUSU executive council and advisers, and to clarify whether this fund would be available to distance education students and students at regional campuses.
The bill was tabled again at the council’s meeting before spring break. While the concerns over regional campuses had been resolved, some members of the council felt the bill was underdeveloped and its passage would be irresponsible. Other members felt that it was ASUSU’s responsibility to do something with Tier II tuition that would directly give back to the students.
Crosby said these concerns were largely resolved at the committee meeting Monday, but that they still decided it would be best not to go ahead with the bill.
“We could have worked out the kinks no problem,” Fiefia said, “I guess clubs will just have to undergo another year fighting for the little money they have.”
– rouchelle.brockman@gmail.com