Miami University's student government is considering re-evaluating its funding process for student organizations.
Associated Student Government (ASG) wants to make the way it distributes funding to student organizations as efficient and equal as possible, according to Tom Foster, vice president of student organizations.
"ASG is evaluating the current process to make sure our dollars serve as many students as possible," Foster said. "We are looking at what students they serve, how they serve and if they serve as many students as possible."
According to Foster, this is not a response to particular problems but an attempt to ensure the system is working efficiently.
"Our current system works very well," Foster said. "We're just trying to make it stronger and show that ASG is fiscally responsible and taking Miami's budget issue very seriously."
According to documents on the ASG website, the current amount of funding distributed among general (non-Greek) student organizations is $490,414.
Foster stressed the equality of how ASG funds get distributed among student organizations.
"Every student organization has value on campus, whether it has 10 or 100 members," Foster said. "We fund all groups in an equal manner. If we fund a speaker for the College Republicans, we fund a speaker for College Democrats, too."
Mat Hall, president of Spectrum, Miami's alliance of GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and queer) students, said he feels satisfied with the current level of funding the group receives from ASG.
"We requested money for guest speakers, and we received a fairly significant portion of what we asked for," Hall said. "Cuts are to be expected during a university budget crisis. To me, it's all a matter of give and take."
Miami Junior Kimberly Schmitt, a member of the Miami Student Education Association (MSEA), said she also felt satisfied with the level of funding her group receives from ASG.
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"I think we got everything we asked for, but I know our budget is pretty small to begin with," Schmitt said.
According to Schmitt, the money MSEA receives is enough for them to accomplish their goals.
"The funding is sufficient and adequate for us to conduct our business," Schmitt said.
According to Foster, potential changes will not take place until fall semester 2011.
Foster said there have not been any discussions within the ASG Funding Committee about how the process is going to change, or if it is going to change.
"While the current system works well, we need to evaluate what we currently have because there's always some stuff that can be made better, and that's what we're doing," he said. "We're evaluating it very closely, and if changes need to be made we want to make sure we do it in a way that's fair to everyone."
According to Foster, potential changes would not take place until fall semester 2011.
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