The honor system will be promised $16,500 in funding each year if a new bill moving through Student Congress is approved next week.
Tuesday evening, the bill passed through the finance and rules and judiciary committees, and will be discussed next week during a full session of Student Congress.
The honor system needs at least $18,000 for operating costs, said Jon McCay, the undergraduate student attorney general. McCay said approximately 70 percent of the money goes to paper resources.
“Case files can be 50 to 150 pages long plus copies. It adds up,” he said.
He added that phone lines and student outreach efforts represent additional costs.
Zach De La Rosa, speaker of Student Congress, said the $16,500 is a flexible figure. He added that there will be a separate meeting next week to decide on the amount of funding.
“There are some pretty high stakes if we don’t get funding,” McCay said. “It’s crucial to the University and there is a strong interest in seeing the honor system fully-funded.”
Previously, the honor system had to reapply for funding every year because it was treated like a typical student organization, De La Rosa said.
Initially, members of the honor system wanted to create an additional student fee to fund the program.
