This year club allocations were expected to be announced Oct. 1, but due to an error in the format of the list of clubs and the money they received, they were held, according to Mercedes Warren, chair of AU Club Council. This held up funds for student clubs, affecting the programming of some.
"The list of clubs said 'account number, club name, and first allocation' instead of 'fiscal year allocation,'" Warren said. "So for instance, a club who received $900 for the whole year believed that they were going to receive $900 for both the fall and spring semesters."
Student Activities was also confused by the misprint, according to Warren.
The AUCC allocates funds to University clubs every fall semester. Money is given to a student group based on whether it is an association or club, which depends on factors such as the group's size and longevity. Clubs can receive up to 5 percent of the AUCC budget and associations are able to receive up to 10 percent, according to the AUCC Web site.
Warren spoke about reasons for the over two-week delay.
"It's not necessarily a lack of help from Student Activities," Warren said. "It's a lack of time due to large amounts of work."
Allocations are determined on a club-by-club basis, Warren said. Issues such as how much rollover a club had from previous years, or how active a club affects how much money it receives. Also, each club is required to fundraise 10 percent of what they are given.
Evan Wagner, last year's AUCC chair, pointed out that in the AUCC bylaws, each club must be notified within five days of the last budgetary hearing of their allocations. In Article VI, Section 3, it says, "The notification shall convey the allocation process, the allocation (if any) and the rationale for the allocation."
Wagner said that the AUCC has a process to govern its operations and that changes to the bylaws made "a very clear, very brief process for how these things are supposed to happen."
Some clubs were given their allocations this year, such as the College Democrats, who were given $2,300 and College Republicans, who were reportedly given $4,100, according to the presidents of those clubs.
However, student groups were mistakenly told allocations, according to Warren, and the real allocations may differ from the amount they expect to receive.
"Allocations will not be announced until the AUCC gets everything squared away with Student Activities," Warren said.
However, this is disrupting their plans for the semester.
"We need our budget as soon as possible, particularly because we are a political club," said Mike Inganamort, president of the AU College Republicans. "With the elections now two weeks away, we need the money for programming ... The AUCC told us that our budget would be finalized last Friday and now we will be waiting a week just sitting on our hands."
Greg Wasserstrom, president of the AU College Democrats, feels that the delay in the allocation process is an inconvenience for the Democrats, but not that big of a deal.
"We have pretty extensive fundraising and a built-in type of membership," Wasserstrom said. "I feel bad for the smaller groups who have to wait to put on programming ... That's not very fair."
However, for some groups, like Chi Alpha, the Christian Fellowship group on campus, the delay hasn't had much effect.
"For us, the delay in the allocations is not a big deal, since we have some rollover from last year," said Rachelle Wilson, president of Chi Alpha. "We take up a collection at every meeting, but it is hard to plan for future events this year."
Other religious groups on campus, such as the Methodists, have been wondering when their allocation would be announced.
"The delay is definitely affecting us," said Mark Schaefer, Methodist Chaplain. "We have been unable to make plans and have been in the same holding pattern as everyone else."
Despite the difficultly so far, Warren said she expects the final allocations to be released by the end of the week.
The AUCC is independent of the Student Confederation and Graduate Leadership Council. Last year, the AUCC allocated about $110,000 in the fall semester to student groups.
- Staff Writer David Hodges contributed to this story.
