Senate approves FAC funding distribution

Club sports could see more money as a result of Student Senate's recent approval of a change in the dispersal of money by the Funds Allotment Council.

The FAC had previously allotted 73 percent of its budget to FAC requests and 27 percent to Intercollegiate Activities requests. Student Senate approved the proposed adjustment Sunday, and FAC now allocates 65 percent to FAC requests and 35 percent to ICA requests. A two-thirds vote in Student Senate was required to approve the percentage adjustments.

FAC Senior Chair Jackie Bloom said the reason for this adjustment was an increase in ICA teams requesting funds. The fact that the Student Athletic Fee is not going to the organizations it was promised to be factored into increased ICA requests, Bloom said.

The deadline for applications comes up early in the semester so it's too late for organizations to apply for funding for the spring semester, Bloom said. Once the FAC has received the applications, it sets up hearings with each of the applicants.

"They come and talk to us, and we go over their application," Bloom said. "We can help give them advice on how to revise their applications."

Bloom said applicants then get a week to revise their applications before the FAC meets to determine which applicants get funding and how much is allotted. Despite the redistribution of funds, all but two of the FAC groups that applied received funding, she said.

"The only groups we didn't fund were those that went against our constitution," Bloom said.

According to documents the FAC submitted to Student Senate slating the spring 2009 allotment of funds FAC received 19 FAC requests totaling $42,615.72 and 11 ICA requests totaling $44,336.15. Bloom said after deliberations, FAC saw the distribution of funds was off from the percentages in place and went to Student Senate to suggest altering the distribution to better fit what had been requested.

The FAC had $51,849.78 to allot to organizations for the spring 2009 semester, Bloom said. The allotment of funds has been slated but it has not been finalized.

Senior Jess Mierkowski, treasurer of the women's club soccer team, said the team has received money from the FAC in the past but did not this year because it did not apply for funding last spring. Mierkowski said FAC funding can be very useful.

"We actually just qualified for nationals … and it could have been a huge benefit to have that money," Mierkowski said. "There are large expenses that come with entry fees and traveling."

Mierkowski said the team's only source of income is dues collected from players and small fund-raisers the team hosts. Money from the FAC would provide more opportunities for club sports and also get Truman's name out more, she said.

Senior Jenny Dix is an affiliate member of the FAC and was formerly the FAC Chair. Dix said more ICA teams have been applying for funding in recent years because more teams have become chartered student organizations.

"With more equal amounts of FAC groups and ICA groups applying for funding it's been pretty typical that we have redistributed our funds to accommodate all groups that apply," Dix said.

Dix said that in the past, the FAC has considered splitting the funding 50/50 for both groups. This semester was not as drastic as prior semesters have been, she said.

Bloom said the slate for next semester's allocation of funds will be available to the public Tuesday, Nov. 18.