SA to invest $1.5 million in rollover funds toward student needs
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Syracuse University’s Student Association has roughly $1.5 million in its rollover fund, according to SA President David Bruen and Comptroller Nyah Jones.
The rollover fund consists of any revenue remaining from the student activity fee after registered student organizations and co-curriculars receive funding for the semester, Bruen said. The normal size of the rollover fund is anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000, but the fund ballooned when many events were canceled or moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The (amount of money dispersed) between our past two years because of the pandemic was like half of what we used to see,” Jones said. “Even last year, with a lot of the restrictions being lifted in the second semester and organizations kind of getting back to normal, it was still at a different pace.”
SA can use the rollover funds for initiatives that are not usually possible under the organization’s fiscal codes. Last year, it used the funds to provide free food for students at Juice Jam, Bruen and Jones said.
Bruen and Jones said they hope to use the money to increase investments in sustainability at SU and continue the menstrual products initiative. They also plan to to support on-campus food pantries as well as organizations that serve underrepresented students and student-athletes.
“This is probably going to be one of the best years of student programming we’ve seen in a long time,” Bruen said. “We’re also going to invest strategically in initiatives that are going to really support students’ lives for the next coming years.”
SA fiscal codes place organizations into tiers that determine the maximum amount of funding they are eligible to receive based on expected attendance and an estimated cost of $45 per student.
Tier 1 organizations can apply for up to $12,500 in funding, Tier 2 organizations can apply for up to $20,000, Tier 3 organizations can request a maximum of $40,000 and Tier 4 organizations have funding requests above $40,000, Jones said.
While SA leadership is rewriting the fiscal codes this year to improve clarity, Jones wants to ensure that smaller groups on campus that serve underrepresented students have access to funding for events, despite their size.
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Jones said many of these organizations don’t even reach the $12,500 maximum they can receive in funding.
“I was hoping the minority organization fund will fill that gap to allow (organizations) to really maximize their potential without being beholden to the cost per student,” she said. “If you see a really good event, you’re going to want to attract more people. But sometimes in order to have that really great event, it requires additional funding.”
Bruen said that even during years with normal rollover funds, SA is working to increase transparency with the process compared to previous years.
“We need to create an amazing student experience,” Bruen said. “It’s student money. It should be going to the students.”