Opinions Editor
Last week, Michael Rama, the Student Government Association Vice President of Business Affairs, and his committee spent several hours a day for three days in the Richard B. Flynn Campus Union. The group was working with every student-run club on campus and dealing with thousands of dollars. Club allocations were in full swing.
“Allocations are when all clubs request a sum of money for the upcoming year,” said Rama. “They must extensively fill out a budget packet on what they want to do for the upcoming year, and then clubs must present in front of me and my Business Affairs Committee. After, my committee and I decided on the actual budget each club will receive. [It’s] based on their presentation, their progress (and) effort of the current year and the overall budget we have to work with.”
The budgets for each club vary in size. Some clubs require a large budget due to the amount of members and activities they participate in. According to Rama, SC Backstage and CAB usually have some of the largest budgets because of the amount of events they hold on campus. Other clubs may not need a vast amount of money.
Each club has to make a presentation and request a certain amount of money to be allocated to their club for the upcoming year. It is the job of Rama and the Business Affairs Committee to go over these budgetary requests and determine if the clubs deserve funding. This required a three-day effort with the committee working from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. Each club was given 10 minutes to present and the following 10 minutes were used for questioning by the committee.
The experience gives the Business Affairs Committee a chance to work in an environment that deals with real people and real money. Although the exact amount of funds that are allocated is not available for publication, it is in the tens of thousands. Vice President Rama, a business major, believes that the experience was beneficial to himself and his committee.
“I thought it went well for the most part,” said Rama. “Most clubs were very prepared which makes my life easier. It was a great experience, and I feel as if I gained a lot from it.”
These allocations will go into effect for the clubs next year. The allocation process is undertaken every spring, and each year, student-run clubs and organizations must present their budget and justification for the funds.
Josh Ernst may be reached at jernst@springfieldcollege.edu