Student organizations should use a tier-like budget system
Being able to fund clubs and organizations is necessary for schools to grow.
Student organizations currently use an account pooling system to fund their activities. However, The Equinox feels that the system could use some revision.
Full Disclosure: The Equinox is the only budgeted club/organization left and this has been acknowledged when writing this editorial.
Truthfully, it is not “fair” for smaller community clubs like the nursing club for instance to be pulling from the same pool as larger clubs like club hockey. These two clubs call for extremely different needs in funding and the fact that they are pulling from the same pool could very well cause more harm than good for each organization.
If a smaller organization is pulling from the same pool as a larger one, it could result in a lack of funds being obtainable for the smaller club that only needs to fund supplies for campus events such as Pumpkin Palooza or Winter Celebration. On the other hand, specifically for sports, if the teams had a budget, planning games would be easier, because the teams would not have to apply for funding in order to travel to games. However, there are ways to make it work.
The Equinox believes that a tier-like system could be more effective in aiding funding for student organizations . Smaller organizations that do not require major funding could pull from one ‘pool or account because their operations and activities largely do not depend on exterior equipment. However, in the case of organizations like The Equinox, WKNH, The Kronicle, Student Activities Council and club sports that require more funding, having an allotted budget would streamline financing the organizations and would allow the organizations to continue operations even if a major piece of equipment breaks. This approach would provide the larger organizations with the funding they would need and would not pit smaller organizations against larger organizations for funding.
Another approach that may work is grouping organizations into pools. The pools could be split into media organizations, athletics, academic clubs and other organizations such as Greek Life. These pools would have funding allocated to them proportionate to the needs of the organizations within the pool.
This system could work better as it is aware of organization differences. Each organization would be able to apply for funds and have conversations with other organizations that understand the needs of other organizations sharing the accounting pool. For instance, WKNH and The Equinox both reach thousands of readers and listeners.
The new pooling system introduced by the school seems like a way for the school to exert more control over student organizations instead of helping them. Under this new system, the school would have a more direct say over what funds can and cannot be used for. It is also easier for the school to just say “no” to certain organizations when the organization applies for funding. This could lead to organizations being in a state of limbo where there are no real changes in new member interest.
Ultimately, the introduced plan of one big accounting pool is not the most effective way to divide up funding, but changing the system even a little bit to specific pools would allow organizations to receive funding easier and give each organization a chance to grow on and off campus.
