The 27 clubs and organizations on campus were the guinea pigs of a new funding process established by the Student Activities department and the Student Government Association.
In previous years, all of the money available for funding clubs was divided equally among them. This year, funding is part of a registration process.
To be recognized as a campus organization, the clubs must be registered. After registering, a club can apply for the amount of funding the wish to receive. Student Activities along with SGA reviews the information.
In order to be considered for funding a club must be open to everyone and have at least four members. The club should be “purposeful” and “benefit the Cabrini community” according to Amy Hecht, assistant director of student activities.
The president for the Council of Exceptional Children, Amy Gaylord, senior special education major, did not have to request funding from Student Activities. Instead, the club asks its members to pay a due of $3. This year when it came time for their annual Divine Providence Dinner, a big event for the group, they were short $200.
Gaylord could not turn to Student Activities for money because the group collects dues and therefore cannot be funded. Instead, they had to turn to another education club who gave them the money for their dinner. Even though the group collects dues, it is not mandatory that each member gives the $3, they can’t force their members to pay. Gaylord wishes that they could have turned to Student Activities for the money they needed.
“That’s what they’re there for. I really didn’t like having to ask another group for money,” Gaylord said.
Cabrini’s Dance Team also had a difficult time with funding. Coaches Kendall Neil, junior communications major, and Alicia DelPizzo, junior internet computing major, were told that the team would be funded by Student Activities. They were instructed to keep track of their budget and that they would be reimbursed for their expenses. A week later, they received a phone call informing them they no longer could be funded by student activities because they held tryouts and had cuts and therefore were not open to everyone. “No one ever told me that if we had cuts we couldn’t be funded,” DelPizzo said.
Kate Dintino, president of both the sociology club and Alpha Kappa Delta, doesn’t know what to make of the new funding system. “All that I can say at this point is that the funding system is very confusing to me,” Dintino said.
Jason Bozzone, director of student activities, recently sent out an e-mail to the entire Cabrini community. The e-mail congratulated student leaders and advisors for registering their organizations on time. The e-mail also served as a way to inform students about the clubs available to them. Of the 27 registered clubs, two are new this year, Students Against Dangerous Decisions and the cheerleading club. Anyone interested in starting a new club should see Student Activities for information.
Posted to the web by Angelina Wagner
