Every year, each student enrolled at Carnegie Mellon pays a student activities fee that is used by the Student Senate and the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) to fund campus organizations. Typically, the student activities fee is increased each year by the same percentage as current inflation, which is usually around 2 percent. For 2004-2005, though, the activities fee was raised by 5 percent, because last year, many organizations saw their budgets drop significantly which prompted them to call for an increase in the student activities fee.

However, the additional 3 percent won’t weigh heavily on students’ pocketbooks. The total amount more this adds from the standard two percent increase is only $8. Combined with other student-related fees, such as the Port Authority stickers, students will be paying $235 for all of their “student activities” as announced by the Board of Trustees. On average, over $800,000 is amassed yearly from the student activities fund. This fund is used to finance dozens of student organizations on campus.

“I like the idea of the student activities fee,” said sophomore economics major Andy Butler. “It lets us have concerts, comedians, and movies, and in comparison to other schools with fees of over $100 [a semester], I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

On March 20, the Joint Funding Committee (JFC), a committee of nine (eight from Senate and one from GSA), will receive budgets from all student organizations requesting funds from Senate and GSA. Organizations must first be recommended by Senate's Funding and Recognition Committee (F&RC) to have non-funded status, and then can be recognized as funded by the F&RC. In both cases, approval of the F&RC’s recommendations is done by Senate and GSA. General qualifications for receiving funded recognition include interest from students in the club, involvement by the club on campus and/or in the Pittsburgh community, and a degree of self-funding.

After the JFC closes budget submissions, they review each proposal carefully. The JFC takes into account both what the previous year’s funding was used for, and their own estimates of how much will be needed in the following year. Once they’ve analyzed all of the budgets and finalized their recommendations, the committee submits the proposed budgets to Senate and GSA for approval.

“Theoretically, that one night they [Student Senate and GSA] could redo the entire budget,” joked sophomore chemical and biomedical engineering major Nicholas Scocozzo, the chair of the JFC. The likelihood of that occurring though, he says, is very slim.

Only organizations on campus that are educational, scientific, or cultural in nature can apply for funding from the student activities fee pool. Social, religious, and political groups must apply for special allocations from the F&RC. Events or projects that either didn’t qualify for JFC funding or weren’t planned until after budget submissions also are often funded by special allocations. These funds, like the JFC funding, also have to be approved by the general body of the Senate.

“Special allocations are given out a little more liberally [than the JFC’s funding],” said sophomore political science major Daniel Papasian, a member of the F&RC. “We’ve helped to fund everything from bringing Dave Attell and Jurassic 5 to Carnival to helping a group of students plant a garden near the printing and publications building.”

Recently, an amendment has been added to the Senate constitution that states that funded recognition cannot be given to organizations that have not had non-funded recognition status from the F&RC for at least two semesters. According to Megan Flocken, chair of the F&RC, this was primarily a reactionary move to the recent approval for funding of groups that were only recognized as non-funded organizations this past fall.

The newly-formed Paintball Team was awarded funded recognition recently by the F&RC.

“Paintball is a very expensive sport,” explained senior EHPP major Flocken.

Two other groups given “early” funded recognition from the Senate were Students for Independent Media and The Tartan, which have both been active on campus for many years. Two years ago, The Tartan elected to become independent of the JFC process. The vote to allow The Tartan back into JFC funding was especially controversial because, according to Senate minutes, the organization has over $90,000 in debt.

Next month, the preliminary budget recommendations from the JFC will be released. If a particular organization doesn’t receive the amount that it was hoping for, it can appeal the decision or plan to apply for a special allocation. On April 28, Senate and GSA will vote on the JFC’s recommendations.