Seton Hall clubs face increased pressure to fundraise due to changes in the Student Government Association (SGA) budget policy.
While the changes apply to this 2017-2018 school year, the decision for the change in budget was not made this fall.
“Budgets are calculated in May when all spending is completed for the year,” said Maggie Bach, assistant dean of Students for Leadership Development.
That means that the process for determining funding for the 2017 to 2018 year was decided in May of 2017, before the start of the school year.
[caption id="attachment_20492" align="aligncenter" width="838"]
Seton Hall’s Photography Club requested money from the finance committee in 2016.
Photo courtesy of Laura Colantonio[/caption]
Rishi Shah, Student Government Association Treasurer and a sophomore majoring in finance and economics, said that the Student Life committee allocated funds yearly for clubs’ budgets. This year Student Life allocated $160,000 total.
Shah described the method for determining budgets, which changes on a yearly basis. The formula used for this school year is 45 percent of a club’s previous year’s spending plus 20 percent of their fundraising money. Originally, the formula for this year decided in May 2017 included only 40 percent of the club’s previous spending, but this number increased due the amount of funds available this year.
Shah explained that this formula is a change from last year, which used a formula of 50 percent of a club’s previous year’s spending and only 10 percent of fundraising. The change was a matter of available funding; however, it has also put added pressure on clubs to fundraise.
The Secretary for Seton Hall University College Democrats Seva Tsivgas, a sophomore majoring in diplomacy and international relations, said the College Democrats budget increased by 20 percent from last year. However, “there is a lot of pressure to fundraise,” Tsivgas said.
Other clubs are feeling the pressure, as well.
Laura Colantonio, president of the Photography Club, a senior double majoring in marketing and interactive design/multimedia, agreed that there is significant pressure to fundraise.
“There is an emphasis on fundraising, but funds received in upcoming years are barely impacted by fundraising. Fundraising therefore does not seem to be as practical as a way to make money for an organization,” Colantonio wrote in an email.
Colantonio said, “To attain money from SGA, from what I understand, it is best to request it on a case-by-case scenario using a form and present the reason for need of such funding in front of finance committee. Photography Club met in front of finance committee last year and they were more than generous by providing us with our full budget request.”
Marie Leone can be reached at marie.leone@student.shu.edu.
Comments
