The College Council announced decisions regarding funding for certain student organizations on Grounds this week. The Council provides full or partial funding for student research, faculty-student interaction projects and organizations on Grounds.
The expense-based funding is intended to aid projects which foster and strengthen student-faculty, student-alumni and student-student relationships in the College. These projects include CIO events and engagements, as well as faculty sponsored events, such as the opportunity to dine with a professor, take a class trip or hear a guest lecturer.
The funding application process — which ended last week — is relatively simple for individuals and organizations, but it must meet the requirements and goals of the Council.
Council Treasurer Nick Masters said the projects must be both beneficial and relatable to the University community in order to eligible for funds.
“[The program must] represent the needs and interests of College students — serve as peer academic advisors, foster student/faculty relations, strengthen College identity and solidify relations between the College of Arts and Sciences and its alumni,” Masters said. “Any club or CIO that meets those requirements is welcome to apply.”
The Council meets weekly to review applications and decide which organizations or individuals to fund. College Council Secretary Mackenzie Karnes said the application process is comprehensive of all issues pertaining to funding including a description of the event, the nature in which the money will be spent and a line-item-specific description of the budget.
“The application is presented to the College Council at our weekly meetings,” Karnes said. “The members discuss the event and its relevance to College Council goals. The Council then votes and funds the event respectfully.”
Take Back the Night and Shakespeare on the Lawn have both historically received funding. College Council provided $6,000 for TBTN events and approximately $4,000 for Shakespeare on the Lawn this past term. However, smaller efforts and cultural organizations are granted money as well, as long as their event is open to all students.
“We have funded cultural groups such as India Student Association, small interest groups like the Cryptography Club and even huge events like Take Back the Night and Shakespeare on the Lawn,” Karnes said. “The funding ranges based on attendance of these events and the nature of the event.”
Additionally, the Council provides funding for Student Research Grants. There is a separate process for awarding these grants in which each application is reviewed by the Executive Committee of College Council and by a panel of faculty, advised by Asst. Dean Sarah Cole. The Council grants multiple awards for Student Research, including The Minerva Award and the Semester Scholars Award, which are applied for separately.
Fourth-year College student Lindsay Palmer received a grant this spring for a project focused on campus safety.
“Preliminary data in our labs showed that when compared to male students, female faculty and female students feel less safe on grounds, less safe at night, less willing to work in our labs and libraries,” Palmer said. “Recent tragedies have intensified these concerns.”
The $500 grant will fund research on the causal effects of campus safety on student’s academic engagement and cognitive performance.
The money for the funding and grants comes from the Student Activities Fee students pay through their tuition.
“The money you spend to be a part of this community can come back to [students] through CIO co-sponsorships and FSIGs,” Karnes said.
However, if an organization only uses part of the money the Council allocates to them, it is returned to the Council to be re-allocated.
“Funding is reimbursement based, so if we fund a program $6,000, and say they only use $4,500, the rest of the money remains with College Council, where we use it for other funding,” Masters said.
Correction: In a previous version of the article, it was incorrectly stated that Shakespeare on the Lawn received a total of $2,000. The correct figure, $3,960, is now reflected above in the article.
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