The phrase “Partially funded by the Undergraduate Student Fee” appears in small font at the bottom of many advertisements around campus because of the student-led Allocations Board, an organization that determines the funds available for use by various organizations and clubs on campus.
The AB, operated by the Student Activities Office, divided more than $190,000 Undergraduate Student Fee funds in December 2005 to fund 130 on-campus groups for the spring 2006 semester. The funds, which are allocated on a first-come-first serve basis, are split into categories based on their specific purposes, such as transportation or paid speakers.
Although on-campus organizations are approved to receive funding, they still must apply for funds two weeks before they are needed. The AB discusses the request and determines if the funds should be allocated to the organization, according to AB secretary Jennifer Davenport.
“We review funding requests every week,” the College of Arts and Sciences senior said. “That is happening constantly. The major decisions were last December. They were approved by the Dean’s office.”
Organizations ranging from cultural clubs and performing arts clubs to community service and academic clubs receive funding. These funds must be used appropriately according to the requests submitted by the individual groups. Some well-established organizations have received funding for many years.
“We’ve been receiving funding since our founding in 1999,” Debate Society president and CAS senior Dennis Reardon said.
According to the AB Handbook, requests made by organizations for funds are judged by specific information about the event, including the size of the expected audience, the event’s proximity to BU and the possibility that the event will present an educational or unique opportunity for the BU community.
“Board members consider the big picture and make decisions that will benefit the entire university community,” according to the AB Handbook. “Although the AB strives to help all student groups as much as possible, due to the limited amount of funds, it serves only to subsidize the cost of events.”
Club and organization officers say they have mixed feelings about how well the AB succeeds in fairly distributing funds.
Pre-Optometry Professional Society treasurer Elaine Chim said she supports the AB’s decisions.
“The Allocations Board’s distribution is very helpful,” she said. “As far as I know, we have been receiving the amount we requested during every funding period.”
Habitat for Humanity treasurer Jessica Saurman said she views the AB’s decisions by taking into consideration the need to divide the funds equally.
“I think Allocations does a good job,” the CAS senior said. “They have strict rules, but with so many clubs on campus it makes sense. It’s frustrating for any group because there is no way [the AB] can fund every event, but I think it is pretty fair.”
Other organizations were dissatisfied with the seemingly unfair distribution of funds.
“I understand that there are hundreds of clubs in BU, and the Allocations Board has been cooperative for the past few semesters,” Japanese Students Association president and CAS senior Kojiro Yagasaki said. “But I still feel there are too few amounts and too many limitations.”
There are no limitations about how much funding an organization may receive, but the AB can turn down organizations if the funds requested exceed the amount available. If the AB denies a club’s funding request, the club can appeal the decision to the Dean of Students Office.
School of Management sophomore Megan Falls said she applied for funding for a benefit concert by going through Student Studio.
“We were denied at first, but after reevaluating our request, they gave us enough money for the basic coverage of the costs of our upcoming concert,” she said.
Although most organization officers said they believed all on-campus organizations who apply to receive AB funds can receive them, some said otherwise.
“Any organization that is non-inclusive, that is, having limited memberships or selected memberships, may not receive USF funding,” Ages 8 ‘ Up president and CAS senior Ata Gurpinar said. “Fraternities and sororities are a great example of this.”
Organizations may apply for on-the-spot funding for unforeseen events, but this is only available twice per semester for each organization.
“We generally use our four allotments [per year] for large tournaments with expensive registration fees or travel costs,” Debate Society treasurer and University Professors’ Program senior Shanti Kelemen said.
The AB currently consists of 11 students who hold weekly Monday meetings.