2008 Woodie Awards
The BAC Money Trail
Sumner Ellsworth
Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: News
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There are more important things in the world than money, but as any student group on campus knows, funding is absolutely essential when planning an event. The Budget Allocations Committee (BAC) is a facet of the Student Government Association (SGA), and deals with distributing money to student groups who demonstrate a need. The six members are appointed to the committee by the SGA. The committee is headed by the SGA Treasurer, who oversees and directs the process, but does not vote on funding decisions, except in the event of a tie.
At the beginning of every year, approximately $300 of the tuition paid by each student goes into the student activities fund for the year, which is then divvied up between the two semesters and put under the care of the BAC to distribute.
When an SGA recognized student group wishes to access and use these funds for an event, they must go before the BAC and petition for money.
"There are three criteria by which we fund," SGA Treasurer Ryan Trow '05 said. "First of all, whether the event furthers the mission statement of the organization - we look at the proposal and we look at the mission statement and we say 'hey, does this make sense?' We look for consistency between what they want to do and what they actually are supposed to do. Criteria number two is if it serves the Colgate community ... is it something that all students can benefit from; that's the most difficult one, that's where we have to make decisions. Number three is just the nuts and bolts: is a room at the Colgate Inn really $125, is a taxi from Hancock Airport really $80 - just looking at whether the costs are just or not."
Once the proposal is approved, and the group gets their funding, BAC members have another, unofficial job.
"We have unofficial and duties," said BAC member and Senator first-year Rob Sobelman. "Basically, with unofficial you want to go to a lot of events, you want to see what groups are doing, you want to talk to people, find out what they want to see on campus, you want to talk to a diverse group of people, diverse interests, what there is going on on campus, what's worked, what hasn't."
At the beginning of every year, approximately $300 of the tuition paid by each student goes into the student activities fund for the year, which is then divvied up between the two semesters and put under the care of the BAC to distribute.
When an SGA recognized student group wishes to access and use these funds for an event, they must go before the BAC and petition for money.
"There are three criteria by which we fund," SGA Treasurer Ryan Trow '05 said. "First of all, whether the event furthers the mission statement of the organization - we look at the proposal and we look at the mission statement and we say 'hey, does this make sense?' We look for consistency between what they want to do and what they actually are supposed to do. Criteria number two is if it serves the Colgate community ... is it something that all students can benefit from; that's the most difficult one, that's where we have to make decisions. Number three is just the nuts and bolts: is a room at the Colgate Inn really $125, is a taxi from Hancock Airport really $80 - just looking at whether the costs are just or not."
Once the proposal is approved, and the group gets their funding, BAC members have another, unofficial job.
"We have unofficial and duties," said BAC member and Senator first-year Rob Sobelman. "Basically, with unofficial you want to go to a lot of events, you want to see what groups are doing, you want to talk to people, find out what they want to see on campus, you want to talk to a diverse group of people, diverse interests, what there is going on on campus, what's worked, what hasn't."