The Student Fee Allocation Committee (SFAC) is in the process of determining the budget for every Laramie County Community College club.
The SFAC committee is made up of 11 voting members, each of whom is students. Of the 11 voting members, 10 are students from each division, (Workforce; Business, Agriculture and Computer Technology; Health Sciences; Education, Natural and Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities), each handpicked by the respective deans.
The 11th member is the Student Government Association treasurer, Tycee Mohler, who is the chair for the committee. There are also four nonvoting members: two advisers, a facilitator and a compliance official. This committee decides how to allocate the student fees paid by all students for all the campus’ clubs. The clubs must be recognized by the campus starting in January 2013 and submit a formal request for funds. Each club asking for SFAC funds makes a five- to 10-minute presentation to the committee on why it needs the budget submitted.
The committee looks at how competitive and educational the club is along with how the club affects the college’s image.
There was a significant drop in the available budget for SFAC this year. In the 2012–2013 school year, the total for all the clubs using SFAC money was $446,959. Danielle Saulsberry, the SFAC compliance official, said because of a decline in enrollment, SFAC will be able to distribute only $410,000. This will be a blow to some clubs, as the total for all the requests submitted is $485,103. According to the information given by the committee, 28 clubs have submitted requests for funds from SFAC, with only a few new clubs. Six clubs, including Across All Lines, did not submit a budget. Not submitting a budget request does not mean that it is no longer a recognized club, but it is choosing not to rely on SFAC funds. Some 21 clubs have decided they need an increased budget. They have raised their request for the 2013-2014 year from their budget from the previous year. Only seven clubs have lowered their requests, with all the other clubs requesting the same budget from the past year or submitting for their first budget ever. These requests explain why the total is $75,000 more than the available budget. Funds are set aside for emergencies. Zeke Sorenson, administrative assistant from Campus Living and Learning, explained that 8 percent of the student fees are saved for a contingency plan for the clubs that find they are in need of more funding. For example, if something is more expensive than the club planned in its SFAC request or if students qualify for a national competition, the club is given some of the funds from the contingency fund.
“In my three years here, I’ve never seen anyone be denied funding completely,” Sorenson said. He explained the club may not receive the full budget requested, but it will get something. Each club submission must include what the money will be used for. Sorenson used the example of a club asking for money for a competition and money for pizza. SFAC will grant the money for competition, but it will not receive that pizza. With this overall cut of about $40,000 from last year’s budget, it does not look like anyone will be getting pizza.
The SFAC committee is made up of 11 voting members, each of whom is students. Of the 11 voting members, 10 are students from each division, (Workforce; Business, Agriculture and Computer Technology; Health Sciences; Education, Natural and Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities), each handpicked by the respective deans.
The 11th member is the Student Government Association treasurer, Tycee Mohler, who is the chair for the committee. There are also four nonvoting members: two advisers, a facilitator and a compliance official. This committee decides how to allocate the student fees paid by all students for all the campus’ clubs. The clubs must be recognized by the campus starting in January 2013 and submit a formal request for funds. Each club asking for SFAC funds makes a five- to 10-minute presentation to the committee on why it needs the budget submitted.
The committee looks at how competitive and educational the club is along with how the club affects the college’s image.
There was a significant drop in the available budget for SFAC this year. In the 2012–2013 school year, the total for all the clubs using SFAC money was $446,959. Danielle Saulsberry, the SFAC compliance official, said because of a decline in enrollment, SFAC will be able to distribute only $410,000. This will be a blow to some clubs, as the total for all the requests submitted is $485,103. According to the information given by the committee, 28 clubs have submitted requests for funds from SFAC, with only a few new clubs. Six clubs, including Across All Lines, did not submit a budget. Not submitting a budget request does not mean that it is no longer a recognized club, but it is choosing not to rely on SFAC funds. Some 21 clubs have decided they need an increased budget. They have raised their request for the 2013-2014 year from their budget from the previous year. Only seven clubs have lowered their requests, with all the other clubs requesting the same budget from the past year or submitting for their first budget ever. These requests explain why the total is $75,000 more than the available budget. Funds are set aside for emergencies. Zeke Sorenson, administrative assistant from Campus Living and Learning, explained that 8 percent of the student fees are saved for a contingency plan for the clubs that find they are in need of more funding. For example, if something is more expensive than the club planned in its SFAC request or if students qualify for a national competition, the club is given some of the funds from the contingency fund.
“In my three years here, I’ve never seen anyone be denied funding completely,” Sorenson said. He explained the club may not receive the full budget requested, but it will get something. Each club submission must include what the money will be used for. Sorenson used the example of a club asking for money for a competition and money for pizza. SFAC will grant the money for competition, but it will not receive that pizza. With this overall cut of about $40,000 from last year’s budget, it does not look like anyone will be getting pizza.