Allocations Committee cuts back, way back

On Tues., Nov. 9, 2010 the Allocations Committee, after several hearings and receiving the approval of Student Senate, released the amount each organization will receive for the 2011-2012 academic year. 

There were a few changes in the allocations process this year which included The Board of Trustees changing the time of allocations from the Spring semester to the beginning of the Fall semester for the first time."I know it's difficult to predict a year in advance," stated Allocations Chair and Student Senate Treasurer Devin Bell, "but it was a decision made by higher-ups."    

Reactions to the amount Allocations distributed to each organization this year were mixed.

"There's never 100% satisfaction," said Bell, "but generally they [each organization] got right around what they asked for." This statement was quite a stretch, as the committee is allowed to say how much they gave, but not how much each organization actually asked for. 

The time of the allocations process was changed so that the University could get a better idea of how much it will spend on student organizations, so that more financial aid can be provided to students. While many students may be excited about the possibility of receiving more financial aid, they may be disappointed with the cutbacks organizations on campus are going to have to make.

While 100% satisfaction is improbable, if not impossible, allocations did not seem to "generally" give each organization what they asked for. In fact it seems that with the budget certain organizations were allotted, they may not have enough to continue regular operations.

One of these organizations is PSU Poets and Writers. This is the organization on campus that provides the community with the literary and art magazine Centripetal along with numerous open mic events every year. 

"To be completely honest, we are sincerely disappointed with the result of our allocations request and have lost faith in the ethical decisions made by the allocations committee. We feel our trust in the committee has been betrayed, particularly since the committee asked for budgetary honesty, received it from us, and then allotted us inadequate funds anyway," said Co-Presidents Haley Sciola and Kristen Russell.

Poets and Writers was told in the past by certain PSU organization leaders, along with other members of the community, to ask for more money than the organization needs so that when allocations "cuts" the budget, they will still receive what they need. "Both in foresight and in hindsight, we believe Poets and Writers took a risk by presenting at the allocations hearing -- for lack of a better term -- a no-bullshit budget," said Russell and Sciola.

Because of their honest proposal Poets and Writers may not be able to function next year as they have in the past. "As Co-Presidents, we find it frustrating that after employing this honesty in the monetary needs of our organization, we ultimately received about 7% less than what is necessary for general operations," said Russell and Sciola.

In the spreadsheet of allocated funds, each organization was given a reason why they did not receive what they asked for. Poets and Writers reasoning was that they need to generate more revenue. However this may be easier said than done, as it is extremely difficult to gain more revenue when the organization did not receive enough for general operations, like producing its magazine, the biggest component of the organization.  

All of the other media organizations on campus, with exception of The Conning Tower Yearbook, were also victims of cutbacks this includes WPCR and The Clock. These organizations all provide important services to the PSU community and now they will be challenged to keep up general operations with a slashed budget, just like Poets and Writers.

Even some academic organizations on campus did not receive essential funds for maintaining their organization next year, unless the students pay for the majority of operations themselves. One of these organizations is PSU's Debate Team, an organization that participates nationally in Lincoln-Douglas style debates. 

Debate team requested $12,045. This may seem like a great deal of money to some, but to members such as Debate Team President Michael DiTommaso, these funds are essential for the organization to function while enhancing the team's competitions and experience. 

Due to a late allocations application submission last year, Debate Team was unable to receive funds for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. This has left the team's new coach, Scott Maltzie, paying out of pocket for the one tournament the team was able to attend at St. Anselm this year. 

The team received $3,500 for the 2011-2012 academic year, leaving the team with about 70% less than what they asked for. This significant decrease in funding is surprising after the organization has had 2 members, for the past two years, qualify for the National Forensics Association Final Tournament, a highly distinguished, collegiate competition across the nation. These members were not able to attend these tournaments though, due to a lack of funding.

There were, however, some organizations that were pleased with the allocations process, such as PSU's Dance Team. "I was actually very satisfied with the way allocations went this year compared to last year. It was a lot smoother than last year as well. Everyone was nice," said Dance Team President Erin O'Connell.

However even organizations such as this, that were content with the process, realized that they would still have to make cutbacks with the budget they were allotted. "We want to give our team items to have that represent who we are as Plymouth State Dance Team members, but we also want the girls for next year to have money," said O'Connell.

In their release email, the Allocations Committee stated, "The committee took all aspects of your budget request into consideration. The following amount came highly recommended from the committee which was then voted on and accepted by the Student Senate." The email neglected to state that senate did not vote on the individual amounts given to each organization. Senate actually votes on the total amount that all student activities and organizations will receive as a whole for the next year, which really takes the student elected representatives out of the picture, as far as each organization goes.

Organizations that received cutbacks or lower amounts than they requested were told that they could appeal by Fri., Nov. 12, 2010. This will give students a full two days to put together an appeal for the allocations committee to "consider." 

The committee also recommended that organizations make use of Conference, Event, and Activity (CEA) funding, which can give an organization half of the funding they need for an event they partake in. Then, of course, there is always fundraising, which seems as though it will be absolutely necessary next year for many organizations.

To find out more on how to get money for your organization, please visit the Student Activities webpage and click on the tab "Money Matters" at www.plymouth.edu/hub/sao. If your organization would like to appeal your allocated amount of money for next year, please email Devin Bell, at dlbell@plymouth.edu.