Student groups are asking for more money from the University as outside funding is drying up because of the economy.
The Student Congress finance committee will begin its review of funding for student groups today, cutting an average of two-thirds of each group’s requests to fit this year’s budget.
This year, organizations submitted requests for a total of about $945,000. Student Congress has a budget of $365,000 to fund requests for the year.
Some of the funding requests:
College Republicans
-$25,000UNC Ballroom Dance Club
-$5,850Cellar Door
-$8,904Carolina Cycling
-$6,960Carolina Students for Life
-$5,393.13
“I feel really bad that we have to cut, but there’s simply not enough money to go around,” said Dakota Williams, the speaker of Student Congress.
Last year, about $743,000 was requested, more than double the budget of $364,000.
But this year, more groups have requested funding because the struggling economy has caused decreased funding from outside sources, said Zach Dexter, Student Congress’ finance chairman.
This year, 163 groups submitted budget requests compared to only around 100 last year, Dexter said.
The finance committee will make cuts to the requests today. The full Congress body will vote on the budget bill on March 2.
“Some student organizations that receive outside funding have not been able to get that funding this year,” Dexter said.
“That especially applied to cultural and religious groups. We’ve definitely seen more money requested because of the economy this year.”
Some corporations are less willing to donate money, said Sanjit Misra, president of Sangam, a South Asian cultural group, which applied for $25,630 this year.
“Our not getting as much from bigger corporations means we have to apply for more from Student Congress,” Misra said.
Groups that do not receive funding will have to raise funds independently.
“I didn’t go in there expecting to get the full $25,000,” said Anthony Dent, the treasurer for UNC College Republicans and a member of Student Congress. “It just means College Republicans will have to fundraise to get the rest.”
This year’s increase might also be tied to Congress’ efforts to encourage groups to apply for annual budget funding and decrease subsequent appropriations requests, Williams said.
Subsequent appropriations occur throughout the year and are intended to give money for requests that were not known before the deadline for the annual budget.
Williams said there are advantages to avoiding the subsequent appropriations process, which has a budget of $50,000 per semester. He said the annual budget process provides more total funding.
“For bigger events, it’s better to apply for annual,” he said. “There’s no question there.”
Some funding requests were automatically eliminated because they conflicted with funding rules.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
