Correction Appended
AU student organizations, including the Debate Society, came up short in this month’s AU Club Council budget cycle, with no additional funding from AUCC for the rest of October or November.
The Debate Society was one of five groups that did not receive funds, also including the Accounting Club, the Model UN Conference, Phi Alpha Delta and the UN Foreign Policy Association.
The clubs with the highest four budgets for this upcoming month are:
• AU College Democrats with $3,500 • Pep Band Boosters with $1,500 • Student Peace Alliance with $1,410 • AU Rationalists and Atheists with $1,368
AUCC Chair Katelyn Hurley said the Debate Society did not get the $3,500 they requested for this month because last month’s $3,000 allocation for the Debate Society should adequately cover this month’s expenses as well.
Student Activities Coordinator of Governance and Leadership Andrew Toczydlowski said the club will also be receiving some outside funding in the near future.
“The tournament they have coming up will be held at AU, so other [debate] teams coming to AU for the conference are paying them to be here,” he said.
Hurley said the Debate Society’s lack of independent fundraising last month was another factor that influenced her and other AUCC members to reject their request for $3,500 this month.
Toczydlowski noted that there was a discussion last year over whether or not the Debate Society has “outgrown its club status.” A few people think the club would work better as an organization sponsored by an AU office or academic department, such as the Office of the Provost.
“That way, someone who’s more academically inclined can help them not just with funding but also with their debating skills,” he said.
For example, the Residence Hall Association is a student program under Housing and Dining. They get their funding strictly from Housing and Dining and are not affiliated with the AUCC, according to Toczydlowski.
Hurley said restrictions for clubs are less onerous than they were under AUCC’s old budgeting system.
Under last year’s (and all the previous years') budget system, clubs only got 50 percent of their allocation until they fundraised 10 percent of the total allocation.
This year, clubs no longer have a fundraising requirement, but they have the option of participating in a fundraising match program created by Hurley.
The AUCC will match independent fundraising activities such as sales of food or T-shirts.
The AUCC has already transferred $200 into the account of a club that fundraised $400 through pizza sales.
Hurley said she has not heard significant negative feedback from other clubs about the new budget system. She looks forward to working with groups in the future to make sure they understand everything about the monthly budget system.
“We’re just trying to figure out how to work through it,” she said.
jryan@theeagleonline.com
Correction: An earlier version of this table showed that Phi Alpha Delta did not receive any funds in September. In fact, the group received $500 in September.
