The student union’s cash register is running out of money

For the first time in recent memory, the Student Union (SU) will not have enough money to support additional funding requests from student organizations for the 2024-25 academic year, according to SU leadership. Some Treasury officials jokingly call this the “SU recession.” ”

Sources in the Treasury Department say this problem stems from last year’s budget committee allocating an excessive amount of money to student organizations and clubs that have requested more additional funding this year.

In one opinion On Sept. 30, Vice President of Finance and junior Meris Damjanovic said the budget and appeals account, an account that includes all appeals or additional funds allocated to student groups for the year, is currently $190,937.98 compared with $344,452.38 at this time last year. The remaining budget is expected to last until the beginning of the next semester.

“That is [enough for] “Six and a half sessions that would get us through the rest of this year and one session in the spring,” Damjanovic said.

According to Damjanovic, these low funds are partly due to the SU Finance Ministry’s budget committee restructuring its funding this year. On average, student groups were provided more money for their annual budgets at the beginning of the semester in order to minimize additional funding requests.

These requests, also called appeals, allow clubs to pursue programs beyond regular club meetings, such as participating in national tournaments or conferences and hosting speaking events, that would otherwise be outside their budget.

As the semester progressed, groups continued to ask for more money than in previous years. Their appeal requests totaled $382,940.36 this year – excluding initial funding provided as part of the general budget – compared to $207,244.00 at this time last year. However, SU does not accept all of these requests because SU has made an allocation So far this year, $252,396.83 has been allocated, while $172,144.23 was allocated at this time last year.

Due to the expected decline in appeal applications and additional funds for Spring WILDAt the start of the academic year, the budget and appeals account began with about $400,000 instead of the usual $480,000, which Damjanovic said exacerbated the problem.

Despite the SU Treasury Department’s current financial situation, the Treasury Department approved $28,318.91 in appeals yesterday, including an allocation of $10,000 to all SU-funded student organizations to fund WUGO card check-in swipers to monitor club visits.

Damjanovic said if the SU runs out of money next semester, student groups will not receive funding through appeals, so clubs should submit their appeals as quickly as possible to ensure funding for their events.

“Please submit your biggest events now [and] Get the money out of the way because in March, April we may not have the money anymore,” Damjonovic said. “I try to get this across early because if groups need to start fundraising, it needs to happen now.”

As for possible solutions, Damjonovic plans to withdraw some funds from the SU’s carry forward account, the money set aside for future fiscal years, to potentially expand the SU’s budget this year.

“I could use up the carry forward account completely and be fine for this year, but that is not my intention. I want everyone to know that I’m doing everything I can,” Damjonvic said.

Finance ministry spokesperson and junior Christine Ling said the finance ministry was doing its best to resolve the SU’s currency problems.

“I feel like we are all in a difficult situation, but everyone is doing their best to make the most of the available resources,” Ling said.

Katie Cho, a budget committee chairman and a junior, hopes to change the allocation of funds next year.

“I am meeting with the rest of financial leadership at the end of this semester to set upcoming caps and expectations for the upcoming spring budget cycle,” Cho wrote in a statement to Student Life. “We will fund groups through additional appeals closer to the date [of their events] So that student group events run smoothly and the SU Treasury doesn’t allocate too much funding.”

Damjanovic hopes to find a solution to this problem for the student body and clubs affected by the SU’s money problems.

“There cannot be a vibrant campus community if the SU does not provide funding for student groups,” Damanjovic said. “We’re going to take it slowly, we have to take it thoroughly and next year it shouldn’t be a problem.”