New funding guidelines from Penn’s Student Allocations Commission have sparked confusion among student groups as they navigate the start of a new academic year.
Updates are made to SAC’s funding guidelines annually. The rollout and communication of this year’s changes, however, have drawn particular scrutiny.
Office of Student Affairs Executive Director Katie Bonner described the new guidelines as an effort to “steward funds” and “efficiently support the most groups possible.”
“No targeted funding cuts were made to specific categories of groups, though we understand that changes to the guidelines can have impacts on organizations,” Bonner wrote in a statement.
According to a board member of Onda Latina, Penn’s premier Latin dance troupe, funding and logistical changes were discussed during the Student Organization Summit on Aug. 24.
While the board member said there were some “pros” to the new model — including a new committee dedicated to arts and performance — they highlighted potential complications for student groups.
Singers, Musicians, and Comedians Council Chair and College senior Zoe Champ said she was initially “concerned on behalf of the performing arts groups that I represent.”
“I don’t think that the way that the funding is currently laid out is very sustainable for a lot of the performing arts groups given the fact that they’ll have to pay more and receive less of their revenue,” Champ said in an interview.
According to Champ, SAC will now grant the group a broader allocation intended to cover the entire academic year rather than dedicating funding for specific shows. She said that the change could force groups to make tradeoffs between different production costs.
“Now you have to pick and choose,” she added. “If you want a really impressive set, your group maybe wouldn’t be able to buy a new piano for the pit.”
Champ said that the changes could disproportionately affect newer clubs or those that “don’t have enough funding to move forward.”
“We already have to give up some ticket revenue in order to fund SAC, so I hope that they would support us in return and make sure that performing arts is well supported,” she said.
A board member of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition similarly cited a “continuing trend of delays” from OSA, which distributes SAC funding. Requests for the 2026-27 academic year were due March 29, with fall funding distributed in four stages ending Sept. 13, Oct. 4, Nov. 1, and Nov. 22.
According to an internal APSC email viewed by The Daily Pennsylvanian, the group canceled its annual CelebraAsian event due to “continued uncertainties with our SAC budget approval.” Before pulling the plug, APSC announced a tentative rescheduling of the event as a result of the “budgetary constraints.”
“The motivation for canceling this event is working with the present knowledge that we have on what our budget allocation is, which at the current moment, is on record as zero,” the board member said. “APSC is disappointed that it has had to come to this.”
Still, they emphasized that they were willing to extend “grace” for OSA given the “very busy time” of the year.
The Onda Latina board member emphasized that while changes are expected, Penn must “ensure that support does actually reach student groups” during times of transition.
“We just want to make sure that we have that support while we navigate through the changes,” they said.
