With smiling faces and plans in mind, representatives from student organizations flowed out of the packed Glen Mahoney Room Tuesday night with extra money in their organizations' bank accounts.
Student Government appropriated $10,000 to 71 student groups in a bill that passed unanimously. The bill was fast-tracked to a vote immediately following explanations by each group for their desired funding.
The money comes from the student services budget committee and student government fundraising account, said Franklin Shulkin, English junior and internal financial director for SG. The SG finance committee and executive board members conducted interviews with each organization, he said.
"We hope to develop long-lasting relationships with the organizations," Shulkin said.
Last fall, more than 100 requests for funding were approved by SG, according to The Daily Texan archives.
The amount given to each organization varied along with the reason for funding each group. Some organizations, like the Vietnamese Students Association, needed the appropriation funds to cover extraneous costs incurred from special events.
"We got $200 for speakers' media equipment," said Henry Yue, finance junior and external vice president for the association.
The task of funding events like a speaker series can be daunting for groups that are just getting started on campus. In this sense an appropriation may provide what little an organization needs to transform an idea into something the UT community can experience.
"We requested $75 for T-shirts, flyers and speaker gifts for out-of-town speakers," said Michelle Foshat, neurobiology senior and vice-president of Synapse, a neuroscience research group new to UT.
Other organizations stood out with specific requests.
"We needed money for robot parts for our Region Five competition next semester in Kansas City," said Matthew Wanninger, electrical engineering sophomore and president of the Robotics and Automation Society. "We can probably get a couple things like a speed controller or some spare aluminum."
Every student organization that made proposals at the meeting was approved for their desired funds. The appropriation bill went unchanged after the proposals.
"It's always humbling to see the amazing organizations on campus," Shulkin said. "This is the SG's chance to help all of them."
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