Club Budgets

Aimee Lawton
Special to the Critic

Where the 94 dollar student activity fee goes.

If you ever wondered about how your $94 student activity fee is used, you need not wonder any longer.

This fee, paid by every LSC student at the beginning of each consecutive school year is used to fund the many clubs and organizations offered on campus. Each year, a student activity fee budget is developed, and smaller budgets for the clubs are developed from there.

Half of the overall budget goes to the Student Government Association (SGA), who distributes the money to themselves and the other clubs. The other half is given to the Campus Activities Board (CAB) to make bus trips, movies, guests, and their many other fun activities possible; both on and off campus.

You may now be asking yourself how a budget is determined for a club. Every year, each club makes specific requests for funding based on supplies and expenses that need to be paid for to keep them running. These requests are then reviewed by SGA representatives, and modified if necessary before the final budget is published.

Clubs are allowed to request additional money not specified within their budget if unforeseen expenses appear.
“Anyone can come to SGA meetings on Wednesday nights and request money,” President Andrew Chapin said, “You do not have to be part of a club, or a club that is published in the budget.”

There are four clubs that have been added to the SGA since the budget was published at the beginning of the year: Rotaract, Students for Global Change, Assist, and the Lyndon Strikers. Even though these clubs do not have a set budget, they are still allowed to request funding at the meetings.

Chapin said that they take advantage of this opportunity. In addition to this, there are also scenarios in which requests for funding are made by individuals on a personal basis if they plan to host an event or activity that could benefit others on campus. The money for these requests comes from a general fund containing money left over after budgets have been completed.

Of course, fundraising is always an option as well. All clubs are given several opportunities to host and participate in various fundraising events both on and off campus to earn their own money. Some clubs are also required to pay dues, which are used to pay for other things not listed within their budget.

“As far as club membership goes, we do not have exact numbers for you yet,” Chapin said, “We are currently in the process of collecting this information.”

Chapin said that it is tough to obtain membership information at this point in the year because some clubs are seasonal, such as High Society, and have not yet kicked in to action. Since the budgets for clubs are developed before membership is counted, it is evident that the money is not distributed based on a membership ratio.

There are 23 clubs published in the budget for the current school year. The projected budget totaled $200,000.00, while the requested budget totaled $211,852.21. Aside from CAB and SGA, clubs such as hockey and AMS are receiving some of the greatest funding, while clubs such as RPC and LPC are receiving little to no funding at all.