At Monday’s Meeting the St. John’s Senate (SJS) examined the process in which clubs are allocated funds. Steven Pesavento, presenting on behalf of the Speech/Debate team, expressed concern regarding the process.
“The idea behind Co-Funding Board is to help how clubs want to work campus. This isn’t being accomplished,” Pesavento said.
Pesavento went on to explain how the club paperwork goes through “so many hands” and that the Senate auditor faces too much pressure in trying to organize every club’s funds.
As a result of these issues, the process of applying for funds can get messy.
“Due to minor technicalities, such as an adviser not getting a signature in on time, 20-30 clubs aren’t eligible to get a budget next year,” Pesavento said. “These clubs are very active and beneficial on campus. When a third of them can’t get funding, that’s a problem.”
The Senate disagreed with some of the points made.
“When there is no adherence to rules, it leads to issues. It is in the interest of the community to maintain consistent standards in the future,” Senator Lund said.
He also went on to suggest that the clubs request spontaneous funding when the needs for funds arise.
Senator Glynn agreed.
“Where does the Co-Funding Board say, at a point, that we can’t accept this anymore?” Glynn said. “As unfortunate as it is, the foot has got to be put down at some point. The clubs can get spontaneous funding.”
During the meeting, concerns about the cost of the St. John’s meal plan were also expressed by sophomore Nick Schuller.
“I did some research with how much a punch costs, and it’s ridiculous,” he said.
The Senate stated they will continue to work on the issue and encouraged Schuller to take up the issue next year if not resolved in the remainder of spring semester.
A motion to allocate $1,000 to the Outdoor Leadership Center (OLC) to be used for grand prizes for Fruit at the Finish was passed.
Additionally, Kunihiro Shimoji and Courtney Kimball requested $3,500 to help pay for expenses to send students to the Japan America Student Conference.
“This conference has a long history; it started in 1934 with a focus on United States and Japan relationships,” Shimoji said. “It is really significant for us to attend this conference. Now Japan has been facing a lot of difficulties. CSB/SJU students should go to Japan and work-hands on in Japan this year.”
The issue was tabled as the Senate requested more information on how the funds would be spent.
The motion to amend the SJS Constitution and By-Laws was also passed, requiring SJS members to serve full terms and eliminating split-tickets, excluding students studying aboard from elections.
Additionally, qualification guidelines regarding the expectations of a SJU Senator was heavily discussed. The Senate focused on whether academic or disciplinary probation was sufficient to dismiss a Senator. The motion passed 8-5 in favor of requiring Senators to maintain academic and disciplinary standards.
Tags: SJU Senate