Now through Feb. 24, the University of Dayton Student Government Association is accepting applications from on-campus student organizations to secure funding for the semester.
SGA President Emily Kaylor, a senior political science major, explained that the SGA constitution requires at least 25 percent of the budget to be allocated for student organizations.
Kaylor said the application process is the best way for SGA to make decisions on who gets funding, and how much they get for what they want to do.
Their yearly budget comes primarily from the activity fee that each student pays as a part of tuition. Of the $700 charged to students as a ‘University Fee,’ SGA receives $12 per student. The remainder of the budget comes from SGA’s distribution of the student directories, Kaylor said.
“The student org funding definitely gets priority in our budget. It is student money that we receive, so we should be giving it back to the students,” Kaylor said.
Kaylor emphasized that this is only a minimum amount and that money will be adjusted in the budget, if needed, to meet the needs of the students.
SGA Vice President Megan Abbate, a junior English major, stressed that SGA has strict guidelines for how the organizations can use the funding.
According to the SGA website, requests for money to finance T-shirts, fundraising supplies, car rentals, alcohol or tobacco products, or anything else that goes against the mission of UD will be denied.
Kaylor and Abbate encouraged all interested student organizations to complete an application for funding.
“There is a maximum of $1,000 allowed for each organization,” Kaylor said.
Last semester, SGA received 57 student organization applications for funding, which was a record high, according to Kaylor.
Almost $45,000 was distributed to student organizations, Kaylor said.
“Only four organizations did not receive funding,” Kaylor said. “While the other 53 may not have received the full amount they applied for, the finance committee does their best to fairly distribute the money allocated in the budget.”
The finance committee, headed by Scott Bridwell, junior mechanical engineering major, meets to review the applications and looks over the requests to decide if the claims are valid and if they can provide the full amount that was requested, Kaylor said.
SGA is hopeful for another record number of applications as Kaylor felt that students have become much more aware of the process.
Students can drop off their applications outside of the SGA office in Kennedy Union 253 and will receive a response from SGA on funding shortly after February 24, Kaylor said.
