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USAC’s new portal to centralize student group funding applications

By Amanda Wilcox

Aug. 31, 2015 5:41 a.m.

The original version of this article said that the centralized application will be available by the beginning of fall. In fact, it will be available later in the year. A website with links to the current funding applications will be available by the fall.

Student groups will be able fill out one form and apply to multiple funding sources sometime in the next school year when the undergraduate student government launches a centralized student group funding application.

The website is expected to be running by the beginning of fall quarter and all student organizations registered with the office of Student Organizations, Learning and Engagement, or SOLE, which advises and assists about 1,000 campus organizations, will be able to apply for funding through the website.

The website will include links for the student group funding applications. Later in the year, the applications will be consolidated into a common application.

Currently, student groups applying for funding have to either turn in a physical copy of the application, email the application, fill out an online application or use a combination of these methods.

Heather Hourdequin, internal vice president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said she wants to streamline the process by creating a centralized portal for applications.

“I always get emails and texts from student leaders asking questions when they are trying to apply for funding,” she said. “The entire process is kind of an ambiguous dark hole for anyone who isn’t already extremely knowledgeable about how it works.”

Community Service Commissioner Zack Dameron said advisors must inspect both copies for applications that have to be submitted both online and physically. He added different funds also have different application deadlines, which may be confusing for students applying to multiple funding bodies.

The common application would reduce the time needed to inspect multiple applications and hopefully end the confusion by unifying application deadlines, he said.

Brandon Shih, a member of the Association of Chinese Americans, said that his association applies to most funding sources available and that a unified funding application would facilitate the process.

“It’s not complicated to apply to different funding sources but it’s tedious,” said the rising fourth-year chemical engineering student. “Most applications ask similar questions so we end up copying and pasting what we used in a previous application.”

The funding sources that are expected to be available in fall are the Contingency Programming Fund, the USA/ASUCLA Programming Fund, the Student Organizations Operational Fund and the Community Service Mini Fund, all of which are USAC funds.

In the fall, the website with a consolidated list of all application links will be provided. Student organizations will provide details about events they are planning and the application will help determine which funding sources they are eligible for. Hourdequin said she hopes this feature increases the number of funds students utilize.

She added SOLE advisors are currently undergoing training on how to use the website in preparation for its launch in fall. The new website will be advertised to student groups through flyers during the fall activities fair and also on the USAC website, she said. Student group liaisons will also be available to answer questions group leaders have concerning the website.

Hammie Truong, a member of Vietnamese Language and Culture at UCLA, said the current funding process is complicated because it’s difficult to determine which funding sources groups qualify for.

“Sometimes you get rejected because the purpose of the fund is different than how you want to use it,” said Truong, a rising second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student.

Dameron said the website may include more funding opportunities, including non-USAC funds, in winter quarter, depending on the success of the website during fall quarter and the outcome of meetings with a funding study group.

He added although the website will be running by fall, it is still in its first phase. USAC officers will be meeting with different funding bodies throughout fall quarter to receive feedback and move on to the next phase of the process by adding more funding bodies to the application.

Contributing reports by Nicholas Yu, Bruin senior staff.

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