One-time fund provides budgets otherwise unattainable by clubs, student organizations

At UW-River Falls, campus organizations and clubs are given the opportunity every so often to request funds that the Leadership Development and Programming Board budget does not cover. On March 24, the fund was approved for organizations to use this year.

“The one-time fund is an opportunity for organizations and clubs to obtain things that LDPB doesn’t provide. They’re capital purchases that these organizations can use for more than one year,” Student Senate Finance Director Dusty Pfundheller said.

Pfundheller is also one of the members of the Student Senate One-Time Funding Request Committee. Student Senate President Cindy Bendix is also involved with the one-time fund.

“Every couple of years, Senate evaluates the reserve account, and if there is more than is felt is needed by the staff who help monitor the account and the Senate, they will look into one-time funding,” Bendix said.

Two years ago, the Rodeo Club was approved for a new speaker and lighting system from the Committee and the Abbott Concert Hall was approved for sound equipment. Also, the Agricultural Ed. Society was granted parliamentarian equipment through the one-time fund in addition to other organizations.

Each organization or club will be notified of the opportunity, and each of the presidents will receive one of the request forms. After a request has been filed, the Committee will review all the requests. If the request is not in violation of any policies or laws, the contact person will receive an e-mail, phone call, or both.

At least one member of the group will be asked to appear at a meeting with the Committee and explain the request and answer any questions that there may be. The Committee will then discuss the request in a closed session and make their recommendation to the Student Senate Finance Committee.

Only tangible items can be requested for purchase, and these items must be something the annual LDPB budget does not cover. No individual can own the items of request, and they must be available for the whole organization to use; the object cannot benefit one or a few people. Requests that violate University policy and/or Wisconsin/federal law will be immediately disregarded.

Pfundheller said one of the most important things to understand about the one-time fund is that it is not the Student SenateÕs money being given away.

“This money is on reserve. It’s a collection of all the money every organization on campus has left over after fees,” Pfundheller said. “It builds up over years, just waiting for a worthy cause. The way I see it, it’s the students who are paying this money, so it should be used to benefit them. It shouldn’t just sit in the bank.”

Because this year’s fund was approved recently, the organizations will be able to start filling out request forms within the next couple of weeks.

Some things that may be requested this year include new uniforms for the club rugby team and new computers for the Student Voice office.

“Earlier this year, a member of the Student Voice staff made a comment to me that the paper’s office was in need of new computers,” Bendix said, “so I brought the idea back to the Finance Committee for them to look into.”

The request forms will become available for each organization’s president or head at the Involvement Center’s front desk.