By Michele Bills
The Student Government Association has approved allotments to student organizations and activities totaling nearly $125,000.
This year’s budget of $124,764 is being distributed to 16 organizations, the Cultural Series, the student activities coordinator and to athletics. The total is up 3.5 percent from last year’s $120,489.
Cory Tomasson, SGA advisor and coordinator of student activities, said the increase is due to new organizations which did not receive any funding last year and to increases granted to some organizations.
"A lot of the new groups their first year do not receive much," Tomasson said. "They must prove themselves and become active members. Once that is done, their allotment can increase."
Organizations that are receiving funding for the first time this year are Focus on Fitness, Student Educators, and Students in Free Enterprise.
Allotments to other student groups either increased or stayed the same. Three groups that lost funding, Agriculture Club, Animal Science and CLEAN, did not request funds.
Funding for the two organizations that receive the biggest allotments, the SGA and the Apache, stayed the same. Tomasson said the SGA has tried not to raise their budget in order to give increases to other organizations.
The biggest allotment, $56,414, goes to athletics. Tomasson said that money helps to support four men’s and four women’s sports, activities that all students at IVCC can participate in either as players or spectators.
The activities budget comes from a standard fee paid by every IVCC student. For every credit hour, students pay a $7 fee of which $2 goes into the activities budget.
Each spring, organizations fill out budget request forms. Over the summer, the SGA reviews the requests.
"Based on the group’s past and potential activities, their own fundraising attempts and the number of students in the club, the SGA officials make suggested allocations," Tomasson said.