Allocations requests down; most go to fund conference trips

Nicole Stempak

Few groups seek funds for programs

Nikole Keslar, business and finance director for Undergraduate Student Government, said she thinks allocations funding is slower this semester than last fall.

As part of her USG responsibilities, Keslar serves as the chair of the Allocations Committee. The committee is responsible for allocating money for undergraduate student groups on campus.

“I do feel like there has been a big lack of programming brought to the committee,” she said. “I’m not sure if it’s because of student schedules or what.”

Keslar said the committee has received a large number of conference requests, “so that’s what we’ve brought to the table.”

“We’re just not getting the forms,” Keslar said. “. Granted, there are other ways (events on campus) can be funded, but we just don’t have a large frequency of program requests.”

Keslar said the majority of the funding is used for conferences and on-campus programs.

The committee is supposed to meet weekly, but a number of those meetings have been canceled because of a lack of requests.

The committee began this school year with a balance of $156,974. A total of $94,437 has been allocated this semester. Keslar said the committee will hear at least one more request at this Friday’s meeting.

She said she is usually “in the dark” about requests until they have been put in the black box right outside the USG office. The only request she knows of for next semester is from the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.

Keslar said the committee tabled the request so members had a better idea of the balance before coming to a decision.

Contact student politics reporter Nicole Stempak at [email protected].