USAC unanimously allocates reduced SOOF funds to groups

The undergraduate student government allocated about $20,000 to student groups this quarter – less than half the amount distributed during winter quarter last year.

On Tuesday, the Undergraduate Students Association Council voted unanimously to approve allocations to student groups from its Student Organization Operational Fund, or SOOF.

During last winter’s SOOF allocations, councilmembers gave out more than $50,000 to student groups, averaging about $600 per group.

This quarter, nearly 100 student groups received about $200 on average from SOOF, marking the second consecutive quarter that student groups have seen their SOOF allocations decrease.

In the fall, the fund decreased after more student groups than usual applied for funding and USAC members used money from SOOF to pay for their stipend increases, said Jacob Ashendorf, the USAC budget review director.

About $35,000 that would have gone into SOOF was used to pay for the USAC stipend increase, which further added to the strain on the USAC fund.

Ashendorf said the drop in SOOF funding prompted him to allocate about 80 percent of SOOF money in the fall, leaving less money for the second round of allocations in winter, when fewer groups typically apply.

The Bruin Duelists’ Association, which formed in November, applied to SOOF for the first time this winter and received about $200.

The decrease in student group funding affects the group because it is new to campus and lacks established funding sources, said Jake Kohlhepp, the acting president of the Bruin Duelists’ Association and second-year political science and economics student.

Kohlhepp added he thinks SOOF allocations are more important for newer student groups, because they often do not have as much money and need funds to advertise and establish legitimacy on campus.

Since the group did not have a chance to apply for SOOF in the fall when average allocations were higher, he said he wishes the USAC Budget Review Committee had distributed SOOF funds more equally between fall and winter quarter.

USAC President John Joanino said he is glad more student groups are applying for SOOF, because the fund has typically been underutilized. He added that he thinks SOOF needs to be more closely monitored so USAC can determine how to best allocate money among its multiple funds.

Almost all student groups that applied for SOOF this winter received about $200 to equally distribute the money left in the fund this school year, Ashendorf said.

“I gave all groups about the same amount of money on purpose,” Ashendorf said. “There is no point of giving out allocations of less than $100, since there isn’t too much they can do with that little of money.”

Unlike some groups, BGreen Consulting did not see a noticeable decrease in SOOF funding from last year. The group received about $250 this winter and in fall 2012, when it last applied.

BGreen Consulting Internal Vice President Suhas Shekar said SOOF allocations are an important source of funding for his group.

The group’s main events, a job fair and case competition, are funded by private donations and sponsors, but any additional events and supplies are usually paid for by the group’s SOOF allocation, Shekar said.

Low levels of funding can reduce BGreen’s ability to advertise and to continue the growth it has seen in recent years, Shekar said.

“A lot of that money goes toward things that help grow our organization,” Shekar said.

This winter was League of Legends at UCLA’s first time applying for SOOF funding, so the $167 it was allocated is beneficial, said fourth-year physiological science student and president of League of Legends at UCLA Dana Lee.

“This funding puts us in a better funding spot than we’ve ever been in,” said Lee. “But with more money we could definitely put on better quality events for our members.”

Lee said the decreases in student group funding have forced her group to be more self-reliant and seek more outside donations. However, outside donations can be hard to secure because of the nature of the League of Legends club, said Lee.

Joanino said he thinks student groups need to be more educated about how to use their SOOF allocations so the groups will spend all of their money and use it effectively the year they receive it.