Student clubs undergo budget allocation hearings for 2024-25 academic year
The SGA will appoint funds to each club in the coming weeks.
With the end of the academic year quickly approaching, the Bethel College Student Government Association (SGA) has begun to prepare for the fall semester. One of the actions that the SGA completes before summer is establishing a budget for each student club that is sponsored by the organization so that a set amount can be charged to students at the start of the following academic year.
For clubs, this means attending budget allocation hearings, which were held this past Saturday, so that their representative can petition for their desired budget.
“This allocation process is important since it’s funded by students for students,” said Hayden Wallace, junior from Moundridge and President of the SGA. “By charging students at the start of each semester, we can ensure clubs are able to host fun activities and other events as well as projects inside [the] SGA such as [Individual Scholarship Requests] and special projects.”
Similar to other years, Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) were asked to fill out a form detailing how they’ve been active in the student body over the fall and spring semesters, including what plans and successes they’ve had. Each club is responsible for sending a representative to the meeting and defending their request. If a club fails to do so, they will not receive a budget to work with.
A group from the SGA made up of the Secretary of the Treasury and a small group of senators will take this information and from it decide how much money is allocated and where it goes.
“The only change this year is that [the] SGA will be setting aside a new fund simply referred to as ‘big ticket items,’” said Wallace. “These items can be new washers and dryers, new shower heads and curtains, etc.”
Earlier in the semester, club budgets experienced some shuffling due to the Budget Deficits Act passed by the SGA earlier this semester, which was a result of lower-than-expected retention rates at Bethel. However, next year’s budget should not be affected by these recent events. With the new RSO manual, inactive clubs will be penalized, but longstanding and active clubs will not experience much change.
“Our goal for this process is to fairly distribute money to clubs that are most active and engaging,” said Wallace. “The student body should expect clubs that are successful to continue to be successful. And for clubs that are just getting started, they will continue to grow as they get attention from the student body.”
Results of — and decisions from — the budget allocation hearings will be revealed in the coming weeks so that clubs can begin to prepare for the upcoming school year.