A number of club leaders have expressed frustration regarding how club money is appropriated and how much is made available to them after the Center for Student Programs left $40,000 in student activities fees unspent and unallocated last semester. The Center for Student Programs was left with a surplus of $40,000 when it underestimated the number of students, each of whom pay a $100 annual student activities fee, who would enroll this academic year. Half of the $100 annually collected fee from each student is put into an activities endowment and the university hopes to eliminate the student activities fee once the endowment has grown large enough. But several students expressed skepticism at the plan to save the money for future students, citing a need for more funding in their own student groups. Laura Andersen (NHS ’10), treasurer of Georgetown Women’s Club Soccer, said she was surprised the $40,000 surplus had not yet been put to use, adding that there are a number of projects that it could be used for, including renovation of Kehoe Field. “It’s strange that they just don’t use it now and use future students’ fees for their own activities,” she said. Jake Styacich (COL ’09), who is president of the Georgetown University Grilling Society, said he believes all student activities fees should benefit current, not future, student organizations. “If we pay a student activity fee, it should go to student activities,” he said. “And it should be used more efficiently to support present organizations.” Ryan Guptill (COL ’10), treasurer of the Georgetown University College Democrats, said that while he recognizes the need for an activities endowment, students need the money for student activities. “I understand it is important to save for the future,” he said. “But then again, students spend money for a particular year – that money should be spent for those students.” According to many student groups, funding problems emerge most frequently for larger-scale, infrastructure-related requests. Bill McCoy, assistant director of student organizations and Student Activities Commission adviser, said that SAC follows a standard process for appropriating funds to all student groups and that they are usually able to meet organization’s full funding requests. In response to some complaints about allocation problems McCoy said that organizations always have the option to reapply. “I hear concerns, but we don’t necessarily have a complaint process. Organizations just try to apply again and restate [their] case,” he said. “Each organization under SAC gets a general operating budget, which is comprised of money for decorating their Red Square tables, pizza for opening meetings – in the fall and the spring – and a social fund for activities within the organization. This, on average, is $190 per year.” Ron Lignelli, managing director of programs in performing arts, said he feels that funds are often stretched too thin in the allocation process. He attributed this to the large number of organizations requesting large amounts of funding. “The problem is that everyone is so interested in giving so many opportunities. Do we want to do more things in a poorer way or do fewer things but better? We need to consolidate to make things more enriching,” he said. When CSP receives the activity funds from the Office of Financial Services, it places half of it into an endowment for future years, while the other half is given to the GUSA Finance and Appropriations Committee. After this committee draws up a budget and receives approval from the GUSA Senate, it is allocated to five advisory boards: SAC, the Advisory Board for Club Sports, the Media Advisory Board, the Performing Arts Advisory Board and the Center for Social Justice. These boards are responsible for distributing the funds to the various student organizations that fall under their purview. In February of each year, student organizations develop a budget for the next school year. Each organization then submits its budget to its advisory board, which ultimately determines how much money should be given to each specific club. According to Sophia Behnia (COL ’09), chair of the Student Activities Commission, funding proposals for events throughout the school year that had not been a part of the initial budget occur in a similar way. “Treasurers of organizations are in contact with a commissioner. When there is an event, the organization will e-mail the commissioner and create a budget proposal: what is needed, where it will be, what it will cost. We will then discuss, deliberate and vote,” she said. While many have said the appropriations process is complicated and sometimes does not meet a club’s full needs, most students said that they were able to receive the funds they requested. “It’s a little burdensome . but we do pretty well. We get most events funded,” Guptill said. “[SAC is] pretty good about giving what groups want. Sometimes we need to cut funding, but not if it’s an event that’s good for the campus. We just want organizations to find the most economical way,” Behnia said. cCoy said a student organization’s allotment is in part determined by its revenue. “What an organization is allowed to spend depends upon the income they will bring in,” he said. “[If they need more money], the organization will need a detailed budget for the specific amount wanted.” Styacich said that SAC’s appropriation process is fairly effective, as GUGS starts with $600 at the beginning of the year, but revenue-generating organizations should have significantly more latitude. “I think on paper, it does look good and should work. It goes case-by-case and works fairly well for most clubs,” he said. “I think that groups that generate their own money should have more autonomy in spending that money.” Andersen said that it is somewhat of a challenge to receive the amount that they originally request from the Advisory Board for Club Sports. “We get the proper amount to function, though we always would like more money for equipment and uniforms,” she said. “We use old varsity uniforms which were great because they are free, but we’re running a little low on shorts this year.” The article “Some Clubs Demand More of Fee Pool” (THE HOYA, January 18, 2008, A1) mistakenly reported that Student Activities Commission Adviser Bill McCoy is the SAC chair. Sophia Behnia chairs SAC.