Every year, each student is charged $425 for the student activity fee. Of the $425, $3.50 from each student goes to the his or her respective class (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior).
Therefore, when the Student Government Association hosts an event, students contribute whether they realize it or not.
The annual budget that is allotted to student activities is $500,000, which includes concerts, May Weekend and various other activities held throughout the year.
Student organizations are also budgeted from tuition money. Every year a Budgetary Process is held in the spring. At this time each organization budgeted by the Student Government Association hands in a projected budget for the following year.
The Student Government’s finance committee reviews the budget and makes a recommendation to the amount of money that should go to each of the organizations.
The most common uses of the money allotted to each organization are the Food Fair, the Organizational Showcase, conferences throughout the year and fundraisers.
Currently there are 32 organizations that are budgeted each year.
At the end of each month, the money that was not used by the other organizations is combined and clubs then ask for money to fund fundraisers and other events in a process called Special Appeals.
Not every organization on campus is given a budget.
“Only organizations that have been recognized for at least one year can be funded by the Student Government,” said Vagelis Perdikouris, vice president of Finance at the SGA. “But they are able to go through the Special Appeals process [anyway].”
Organizations that charge dues are also not funded by the Student Government. These organizations include fraternities and sororities.