The A.S. Finance Committee voted to allocate funding for several student organizations Tuesday, though their recommendations did not meet the amounts originally requested.
Phi Delta Epsilon, CSUN’s Model United Nations Club, Alpha Phi Alpha, CSUN’s American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Joint Advocates on Disordered Eating were given recommendations for funding by the Finance Committee during the meeting, with the final numbers to be confirmed by the Senate.
“Typically, we almost never give an organization the full amount they request” because of restrictions in their policy, said Dave Knecht, A.S. director of finance. “It’s not because we don’t want to,” he said. Meals and t-shirts are among the items the committee can’t provide funding for, but they are in the process of making changes to their policy, said Knecht.
Phi Delta Epsilon, an international medical coed fraternity, originally requested $3,800 to cover costs for convention attendance, a professional speaker event and various social events, but received $1,700.
John Siritaranukul, a sophomore biology major and vice president of finance for Phi Delta Epsilon, said the group did not expect to receive the entire amount they requested.
“We’re a non-profit organization (? and) a big fundraiser for Children’s Miracle Network,” an organization that helps pay for the medical expenses for children with diseases such as cancer, he said. “We just thought we’d put whatever we thought was reasonable, and if $1,700 is all they can give us, that’s great.”
MUN was allocated $2,200 to cover entrance fees and other expenses to attend the student-run West Model United Nations Conference in Las Vegas. The group originally requested $6,497. Of the allocated amount, $600 would go to conference fees, which is the maximum amount for conferences that can be given, said Knecht. Because the group is travel-based, the committee made an official recommendation of the maximum, with an unofficial recommendation of the remaining allocation to cover other necessary fees.
Malte Humpert, head delegate of MUN and a graduating political science senior, said he, too, did not expect to receive their full requested amount, and the $2,200 was “a good start (?), I think it’s reasonable to give funding for a club that actually produces results.”
Last year, the finance committee recommended $0 for funding because there was a conflict of interest with the then-director of finance being a member of MUN, but the Senate “bumped it up” to $3,600 after seeing that the committee was not in the position to recommend funding.
ASME was allocated $2,800, with $600 to cover travel expenses and the remaining amount to cover equipment and other needs to compete in the Human Powered Vehicle competition. Originally, the organization requested $6,148 for travel and lodging, entry fees and funding for the purchase of more efficient, lighter materials to be used in their vehicle design.
Alpha Phi Alpha, an academics and community-service focused fraternity, requested $1,575 to cover recruitment costs during rush week and received $700. Since many of the group’s members will be graduating in the spring, the fraternity will have little time to devote to recruiting new members, said James Hermon, a member of the group. The fraternity will have better opportunities to recruit “quality” members this fall, Hermon said during the finance meeting.
Knecht said that they were given their allotted amount because rush week is already in progress and the money will not get approved until next week, eliminating “the first couple of days” that the fraternity would be able to apply the funding to recruitment.
JADE requested $505 to cover costs to attend the two-day National Eating Disorder Association Conference in San Diego, but received $300, which is the maximum amount for a single person to attend a conference. The peer education group operates through University Counseling Services and gives presentations to students about the symptoms and treatment of eating disorders.
Cheri Kaczmarek, a nutrition major and member of JADE, said that they plan to include information from the conference into their presentations in order to better inform students.
“Some (money) is better than none,” said Kaczmarek.
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