Editorial
Senate keeps single event fund as is, orgs should find viable alternatives
October 31, 2013
Student Senate recently voted down their motion of putting $4,000 into single event funding for student organizations.
This is money that is budgeted every semester and goes toward organizations that want to put on an event not planned out in their budget, or did not receive a budget.
First year organizations do not receive a budget at the beginning of the year, in order to make sure that the organization does not receive money and then fail after just one year.
One other important area of single events being important is because all students can go to these events put on by the organization. We always talk about and hear about how important it is for students to get involved.
Often times a student may be too timid to jump in and get involved in an organization until they go to a big event where they can bring friends and have less pressure put on them to join.
The original money set aside for single event funding has been depleted quickly. While there is still some money left in the account, it is only about a quarter of the original amount.
The money in the single event fund is allocated for the entire year. There are still more organizations applying for single event funding, naturally, but time is running out.
To add more money to the single event fund, Senate would have to introduce a motion at one of its meetings, and vote on the motion at the following meeting.
Would it have been nice for Senate to pass the motion adding more money to the single event fund now? Of course. Was it entirely necessary? Not necessarily.
Every organization should have been aware of how much money was in the single event fund for this academic year, as every organization had to attend the mandatory OrgSync meeting at the beginning of the semester. The total amount in the single event fund was brought up at this meeting.
Simply put, organizations both should have and still need to plan ahead better. Instead of waiting until the last minute, organizations could apply for single event funding ahead of time, not hope Senate will add money to the account halfway through the year, which may still happen this year.
Keep in mind, there are other ways organizations can raise money other than leaning on the single event fund. Bake sales are a popular option among some organizations as a way to raise funds.
Again, it would have been good for some of the organizations applying for money now to have had the motion passed. However, organizations can still raise funds on their own for an event, or request single event funding earlier in the year.