SAC to allocate 20 percent less money next yr.

The Student Activities Council gave funding to 127 organizations. The Student Activities Council will allocate a total of $329,722 next year to the 127 student groups it funds, a nearly 20 percent decrease from this year. SAC attributes the decrease to a smaller number of groups seeking funding. "Allocations went much more smoothly in terms of fairness to groups," SAC Chairman Jay Haverty said. The Wharton and Engineering junior said the SAC executive board ensured that allocations were fair by establishing strict budgeting guidelines and adhering to them. The groups had collectively requested more than $800,000 from SAC. Before allocations were made, SAC had originally intended to allocate just $270,000 because at the time, that was all the money the group had to give. In order to provide enough funding for its constituent groups, SAC had to take $60,000 from their reserve fund, effectively emptying it. "The reserve fund went down because we felt groups deserved legitimate funding" Haverty said. SAC received a total of $494,345 in funding this year from the Undergraduate Assembly, up by approximately $50,000 from last year. But 20 percent of that -- $98,869 -- will go into the group's contingency fund, and another $120,000 will cover administrative costs. An additional $50,000 of SAC's UA funding will go to technology and maintenance expenses. Exactly $30,000 of that is being invested in the groups' online budget tracking system. Scheduled to premiere in the fall, the system is meant to help SAC groups have immediate access to all of their financial records. While there is approximately $10,000 left in the reserve fund, Haverty explained that the money could not be allocated because it serves as a "safety net" for organizations who may go into debt. The fund will be replenished at the end of the school year when SAC groups return the unused portions of their money to the group. The estimated amount to be returned is $60,000, but it will probably all go towards paying off SAC groups' debt. The group voted to tap into its reserve fund in February after their contingency fund emptied out. There was $80,000 in the reserve fund -- which contains money unused by other SAC groups at the end of each school year. In February, $20,000 was allocated in contingency requests after the fund was opened and the remaining $60,000 has gone towards this year's allocations. SAC will hear the 10 budget appeals it has received -- down from last year's 24 -- at next week's meeting, but it cannot offer more than $5,000 total to these requests. If groups feel that the $5,000 limit will not satisfy appeals, SAC members will have to vote to open up its contingency fund. Doing so would jeopardize the amount of money that will be available to student groups in the future. According to Haverty, changes have been made to budgeting guidelines this year to ensure fair and efficient allocations. Advertising standards have been modified and SAC will not grant groups money to advertise in The Daily Pennsylvanian. That will save SAC over $25,000. Performing arts groups also receive a standard allocation of $2,500. In previous years SAC had allocated money by estimating each individual groups' costs. Most group members said this standardized funding was sufficient.

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