SMU Student Senate recently distributed more than a half-million dollars of student fees to 108 campus organizations. Five groups received $225,904, nearly 40 percent of the total. Four honor societies received no funding. Many organizations received a fraction of what they asked for.
“It’s really frustrating,” said senior Casey Ferrand, who is involved in the athletic ambassador program. The organization received only $90 of the $2,210 its members requested, or less than 5 percent.
“I think they play favorites,” Ferrand said.
Some members of the Student Senate acknowledge the problem but argue there is no way to fix it.
“It’s not a fair system,” Lauren Smith, SMU Students’ Association Comptroller, said. “There is no fair system. It is a guess how much the student body is going to benefit from the funding.”
Program Council, the organization that sponsors campus-wide programming like weekly movies, cultural events and Sing Song, received more money than any other group – $138,112. That is almost one out of every four dollars allocated and more than the total received by the other 91 organizations. On the other hand, Psi Chi, Eta Kappa Nu, Order of Omega and Tau Beta Pi, all honor societies, received no funding.
The money Student Senate allocates comes from the $55 it receives from the $3,230 total students pay in fees each year. This is expected to total nearly $900,000. Student Senate allocated $586,813 of this in the annual budget process for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The remaining money goes to other Student Senate funds and projects.
Program Council and a handful of other organizations get a disproportionably large percentage of the total allocation. Micah Nerio, Student Senate finance chair, said the finance committee allocates money to five of SMU’s larger organizations first because, since they have the largest budgets, it gives the committee a better idea as to how much money remains for other organizations. The “top five” organizations on campus received $225,904, nearly 40 percent of the total.
The committee reviews the budgets of these larger organizations – Student Foundation, the programming organization that hosts Family Weekend and Homecoming among other large events; Student Senate; Program Council; Students Promoting Awareness, Responsibility and Citizenship, a community service organization; and Leadership, Education, Activities and Development, an organization to develop student leadership through activities and programs such as Emerging Leaders and the Crain Leadership Conference – before reviewing the smaller organizations’ budgets. It then allocates remaining funds to the 103 other organizations. If there is money left, the committee goes back over the “top five” budget requests and allocates more money to those organizations.
“We go back usually to PC, Student Foundation and some of the big organizations,” said Nerio. “It’s just a good way to give that money out.”
Nerio said that, since records do not exist, he does not know why the finance committee has always considered the large budgets first.
The Student Senate Finance Committee considers many factors when allocating the money, such as how many students a program will reach. Program Council received $64,506 to host its annual spring concert, which the organization estimates 1,000 people attended last year. Another $33,656 of Program Council’s total allocation is for an annual comedian concert for the SMU community.
Nerio cited discretion as the reason for not funding the four honor societies.
“Based on how much we have already funded the group, their spending records, how much they were funded last year and for what, etc.,” Nerio said in an e-mail interview, “it wasn’t funded based on our discretion taking to account the things I mentioned.”
Seven other organizations received less than 10 percent of what their members requested. Catholic Campus Ministries, which got 3 percent of its total request, received $170 for a “Stump the Priest” program, but Student Senate did not fund any of the requested $4,000 for a leadership training seminar for the organization’s members at Notre Dame. The committee cited discretion as its reason for not funding the seminar.
The finance committee appropriated funds to the Honor Council for copying documents from cases. It did not, however, fund new member training, which the group listed as its top priority. The finance committee cited “low priority” as the reason for not funding the training.
Thomas Hailey, former Student Senate advisor, said part of the problem is that all organizations inflate their requests and ask for more than they need to fund a program. The inflated numbers on a budget request make the percentage allocated seem low.
“It’s as fair as it can be,” Hailey said. “The bottom line is everyone comes there and asks for more than they want. We’re not getting real numbers of what you really want.”
“I think funding depends on how well-known you are and what type of organization you are,” Ferrand said. “It’s probably easier to get funding if you deal with diversity or educational programming.”
Student Senate considers factors other than the number of students in an organization or those expected to attend an event when allocating money. Established organizations that show a good track record tend to get more money than newer organizations, and organizations that represent the SMU name outside of the school, like traveling sports teams, receive more consideration.
“Every group, no matter how big, is full of SMU students and should get a base of support,” Smith said.
