Penn’s Office of Student Affairs has introduced new policies for student group registration and funding in a move it says makes the process more efficient and equitable.
The changes follow nearly two years of collaboration between student leaders and administrators, according to Katie Bonner, the executive director of OSA. In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Bonner said that the updates were made in response to longstanding frustration among students with regard to the distribution of funding.
“The primary motivation for the change was from student feedback over many, many years, about a frustration with a funding system at large that felt like it didn’t equally serve all student organizations,” Bonner said. “We kept adding things on … but maybe it was time to just really rethink how we were doing this.”
According to Bonner, student organizations must first register with OSA to be eligible to apply for funding through the Student Activities Council. Those approved by OSA will receive budget codes to manage all financial transitions.
In a written statement to the DP, Penn Outdoors Club board members noted that the new funding rules have left them unable to plan major trips and events, with their budget cut to a fraction of past levels.
UPOC wrote that new contingency requirements and “lack of communication and transparency” have caused event delays, including the cancelation of its annual Labor Day trip and various general body meetings. It added that the sudden transition has created stress and uncertainty for the club as it prepares for the semester.
“SAC’s new funding structure has directly impeded our ability to hold GBMs, host trips, and plan other events that are core to UPOC’s mission,” UPOC wrote. “When we disputed the budget cuts at last semester’s SAC GBM, we were informed we would no longer receive our full budget because the board didn’t trust us to run trips independently.”
OSA has also eliminated the “SAC-recognized” status, meaning that clubs now only need to register with OSA to receive funding. The organization will take over funds previously managed by Penn’s Social Planning and Events Committee, the Intercultural Fund, and Undergraduate Assembly contingency funds.
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Funding decisions will be made using a rubric that evaluates how activities align with organizational missions and the appropriate use of University funds. The overhaul comes as the UA approved a budget of more than $3 million for student organizations in 2025-26, a 2% increase from last year.
SAC received $1.03 million from the budget — about 12% more than it requested — and took on funds previously allocated to the SPEC “fully planned” fund and the UA contingency fund, in line with the new consolidated funding model.
Marissa Prager, the Penn Glee Club’s finance manager, wrote in a statement to the DP that the organization relies heavily on SAC support to cover the costs of running a 70-member group, often needing contingency funds beyond its annual award.
Prager added that while the Glee Club received more than $14,000 in total support last year, its award this year was cut to less than half that amount.
“I’m anxious to see how much of our contingency request will be approved, especially since the new model essentially shifts everything to contingency funding rather than a full-year award,” Prager wrote. “That said, I do appreciate the shift toward a rubric-based process, even though the transition was messy at first. The new system feels more transparent and hopefully will lead to a more equitable approach to funding student organizations.”
The first round of funding applications is in progress, with results expected on Sept. 18. Bonner acknowledged that the transition has not been without its challenges.
“Even though we felt like we had planned and prepared for these changes, it is [a] large-scale change for hundreds of organizations,” she said. “We did go into this fully anticipating that there would be some bumpiness. … But come next year, we won’t all be on such a learning curve.”
The funding rollout has coincided with frustrations from student leaders across the University over the University’s handling of this fall’s Student Activities Fair. In August 2025, several club representatives criticized OSA for its last-minute scheduling and unclear communication, with one leader calling the process “stressful and uncertain.”
At the time, OSA acknowledged the scheduling error and said it extended deadlines after student requests, but many groups said the delays strained recruitment efforts and added to the challenges of navigating the new funding and registration system.
Bonner emphasized that while not every group will receive all the money it requests, the goal is to center student voices and create clarity in the process.
“Our hope is that this is a system that works for students,” she said. “And if there are people out there who feel like it is not, we want to know that, because we want it to be effective.”
Despite their frustrations, UPOC wrote that it sees potential in the new system over the long term.
“Overall, we believe that the new system run by a large committee will help make the process fairer and more streamlined in the future but as of now, the dramatic and sudden transition has caused immeasurable stress and uncertainty regarding how our club will manage this semester,” UPOC wrote.
