Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

New Funding Arc Befuddles Leaders

A new Student Activities Commission funding system has left many club leaders struggling to adapt to a setup that requires planning for events as early as six months in advance.

The procedure, called the Programming Arc, was introduced last October, when group heads signed an agreement to abide by the new guidelines for receiving approval and funding for their events.

This semester, however, leaders have had difficulty understanding the agreement as they battle with SAC to get the funding that they had hoped to receive.

The Programming Arc system marks a break from traditional SAC funding practices. Previously, money was allocated on an event-to-event basis; under the new guidelines, however, clubs are required to submit a detailed outline of their planned events for the entire upcoming semester about two months before the semester begins. Leaders then revise those plans with their own SAC commissioner and an adviser from the Center for Student Programs.

After the outline is solidified, SAC leaders review it for approval and allocate a bulk sum of funding intended to last the club for the semester. Once the sum is received, SAC does not provide extra funding for expenses that might arise later.

According to SAC Commissioner Dalvin Butler (COL ’13), the new system aims to improve productivity in the organizations SAC oversees — and within SAC itself.

“This process allows for student organizations to effectively plan for their semester in advance,” Butler explained. “It [also] allows [SAC] to have shorter meetings.”

While more concise meetings may be beneficial for SAC, club leaders say that the programming arc has become more of a nuisance than an aid.

According to Carolyn Chambers (COL ’11), chair of the university’s NAACP chapter, programming guidelines prevent the groups from being able to add events when they crop up, which she said hurts organizations much more than early planning helps them.

“I think the whole concept for submitting something in October that will decide something for the next six months is a little ridiculous,” Chambers said.

Back in December, the NAACP chapter attempted to receive approval for a hip-hop concert to be hosted in March. The SAC committee denied them, however, because the event had not been included on their original outline, she explained.

“It stops people from being creative because you have to plan so far in advance,” Chambers said.

SAC Commissioner Ruiyong Chen (SFS ’13) said that the commission was still working out the kinks in the system.

“The Bulk Allocation model is only in its first semester of implementation and we recognize that it’s not perfect,” she said in an email. On the whole, however, she believes in the efficiency of the new system. She added that in a GUSA survey of SAC group leaders last year, the majority of student leaders favored the bulk allocation model over the event-by-event model.

“The system allows for much more flexibility and empowers students to take charge of their group’s finances for the entire semester,” Chen explained. “Group leaders will rarely need to come in to long SAC meetings on Mondays to present line by line finances for an event, which makes the entire process much smoother and less time consuming for everyone.”

Leaders remain skeptical, especially as SAC’s approval of the semester outline does not necessarily mean that each individual event has been approved. Instead, club leaders have to re-approach SAC leaders before every event they hold to confirm that the event has been given the commission’s seal of approval.

“Some groups think since SAC approved their Programming Arc, that they are simply free to go forth with a student activity, and that is not the case,” Butler clarified.

Though SAC’s new measures are not widely popular among club leaders, the commission enforces its guidelines with a stringent punishment policy. If groups do not abide by the measures outlined in the agreement that they signed, SAC has the ability to repeal events.

Chen said that she was aware of the concerns held by SAC – affiliated clubs.

“We are working right now to incorporate student group leaders’ input and address their concerns as we tweak the Funding Guidelines for the next academic year,” she said.

Correction: This article originally quoted Greg Napper (MSB ’12), captain of the men’s club soccer team, implying club sports are funded through the Student Activities Commission. Club sports are funded via the advisory board for club sports.

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