SGA’s reserve fund is nearly depleted, which could change the culture of club funding. 

For the past four years, SGA has allocated all of its club funding in the fall semester. Because of this, SGA has created a habit of reallocating from their reserves in the spring semester to continue to fund clubs, according to Director of Student Engagement Noelle San Souci. 

San Souci noted that SGA can continue the pattern of reallocating from reserves in the spring for one more year before reserves are gone. 

At the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, the Carry Forward Fund, SGA’s reserve fund, sat at $289,263.03. At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, it had decreased to less than a third of that, at $77,255.29, according to San Souci. In Jan. 2025, SGA voted to reallocate an additional $20,000 from its reserves, according to previous reporting from the Scribe.  

San Souci estimated that the Carry Forward sits at around $57,000. She said the Carry Forward Fund must maintain a $30,000 emergency fund, meaning around $27,000 of the fund can be reallocated with how the fund stands right now. 

The Carry Forward Fund accumulated during the pandemic. With clubs not able to hold in-person events, there were fewer funding requests for things like catering and travel, according to Brad Bayer, executive director of student life and assessment. Bayer says that after the pandemic, SGA’s goal was to spend the reserves, giving the money back to clubs and organizations.  

According to San Souci, spending the reserves ensures that students get to use the money before it potentially gets taken away. “Sometimes, the administration comes, and they can wipe some of those reserves,” she said. “You’re not always entitled to just keep the money you didn’t spend.” 

BAC and Carry Forward Fund History 

Until the 2024-25 school year, SGA had been gradually allocating less to the Budget Advisory Committee, the committee who hears and approves funding requests from clubs. 

For the 2018-19 school year, SGA allocated $175,000 to clubs. In 2023-24, this number had decreased to $83,474.12. 

While the amount of money budgeted to clubs decreased between 2018 and 2024, the amount of money available to clubs after reallocations stayed consistent, except for a dip in the 2023-24 school year. 

San Souci said the decision to allocate less to clubs in the initial budgeting process came from competing priorities and declining enrollment. The Student Activity Fee (SAF), which funds SGA, also helps to fund a variety of other programs on campus, including Clyde’s Cupboard and Mountain Lion Connect, according to San Souci. 

The SAF supports several student employment positions across campus, positions in the Student Life Office and recognition for SGA members, which is the money students are gifted for serving on SGA. 

In addition, decreasing enrollment has contributed to how SGA budgets since the organization receives a fee per student. 

In Spring 2024, the student body voted to almost double the Student Activity Fee beginning in the 2024-25 academic year. The fee was raised from $16.06 per semester to $30.40 per semester, according to previous reporting from the Scribe.  

San Souci said the decision to allocate less to clubs in the initial budgeting process came from competing priorities and declining enrollment. The Student Activity Fee (SAF), which funds SGA, also helps to fund a variety of other programs on campus, including Clyde’s Cupboard and Mountain Lion Connect, according to San Souci. 

The SAF supports several student employment positions across campus, positions in the Student Life Office and recognition for SGA members, which is the money students are gifted for serving on SGA. 

In addition, decreasing enrollment has contributed to how SGA budgets since the organization receives a fee per student. 

In Spring 2024, the student body voted to almost double the Student Activity Fee beginning in the 2024-25 academic year. The fee was raised from $16.06 per semester to $30.40 per semester, according to previous reporting from the Scribe.  

Because of the increased SAF, SGA was able to allocate $150,000 to clubs for the 2024-25 school year, the first time since before the pandemic that clubs were allocated more than $120,000. This same number will be allocated to clubs for the 2025-26 school year, according to previous reporting from the Scribe. 

While SGA reallocated money from reserves to fund clubs this year, they reallocated less than half of what they had reallocated in the previous three years. 

The future of BAC and club funding 

With the nearly depleted reserves, Jordan Vasconcellos, who will start as SGA’s director of finance in the fall, said that SGA needs to set its budget and stick to it. 

“My major goal for the year is to stay under budget to where we don’t have to pull funds from unnecessary sources,” Vasconcellos said. 

One-way Vasconcellos hopes to stay under budget is by encouraging members of BAC to be more critical of funding proposals coming in from clubs. “Everyone just votes yes,” he said. “No one ever votes no against [proposals].” 

Another way Vasconcellos said he plans to combat the decreasing reserves is by looking into fundraising opportunities to generate additional income for SGA. 

As the landscape of club funding continues to change, Vasconcellos encourages students to reach out to a senator if they have questions about club funding or anything else. “If you ever have issues, talk to your senators,” he said. “We ultimately work for you.” 

Senators are required to hold office hours weekly. Office hours for senators can be found on the SGA office door in the Student Life Lounge or on SGA’s website.  

Photo via The Scribe archives.