Chris Banyas
Staff Writer
An adjustment to the way in which club funding works has raised not only financial questions but questions concerning the level of interaction the senate has with the student body.
At the Associated Students of Idaho State University senate meeting on Jan. 15 a vote was held to determine if the new policy for club incentive point checklists would be implemented.
The vote passed with nine senators for and eight opposed.
This new policy will impact clubs in several ways, all relating to funding.
There are three main types of club funding, each with their own intricacies.
The first type is the initial startup funding clubs apply for to get things rolling, which maxes out at $500 per academic year.
The percent of the maximum that a club receives is ultimately up to the senate and depends on things like the amount of funds available.
The second type is called matched funding and is based largely on how much money each club is able to raise through its own efforts.
“Right now the current ratio is for every three dollars a club deposits ASISU will match one dollar, and the maximum for the year is $600, and previous that was $1300,” said Tyler Liddle, ASISU financial technician.
The reason for the funding cut is largely due to significantly lower enrollment numbers for the current semester.
The third funding type deals with incentive points. There are certain activities which require the presence of a minimum number of club participants for the club to earn points, and others which do not.
Those activities requiring a minimum number include specific events held by the club, service events, both in the community and around campus, ISU athletic events and other ISU events.
Before the Jan. 15 vote held by the senate, clubs were required to only have four members present at these activities in order to earn points.
This number was raised to six. The total number of incentive points for certain events were raised, while others were lowered.
Activities requiring no minimum number of participants include homecoming, Springfest and an ASISU student organizations retreat.
“We’re trying to incentivize people to get involved,” said Vice President of ASISU, Taylor Jensen.
Considering that the minimum number of members a club must have to be officially recognized is 12, this change presents difficulties, especially for smaller clubs.
The Anthropology Club is one of these, with a membership around 20 students. Unlike some other clubs, the funds that this club receives go almost exclusively toward education-enhancing opportunities.
“Every single time one of us gets sent to a conference, that’s something that we get to put on our resume, which makes us ultimately more valuable, more employable, and basically helps us maximize our education,” said Dariah Van Doleson, vice president of the Anthropology Club.
It would be unrealistic to assume that any club or organization would be happy to receive less funding but the recent changes have raised questions beyond financing, dealing with representation.
An excerpt of the minutes from the Jan. 15 senate meeting discussing the new policy read as follows “Senator Hall is in support of this. It has been a semester in the works, and a lot of thought and time has gone into this. He feels that previous senates have been afraid of change. If this doesn’t work they can change it again.”
Further into the meeting this sentiment is echoed.
“Senator Pitcock has attended most of the finance meetings. The clubs will find out if they like it or not by trying it. Senator James would like to see it passed and then get responses.”
These excerpts may give the impression of trial and error decision making, one decidedly absent of student consideration.
However, as this was a unique issue, it called for a unique approach.
“I think it is a trial and error because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Jensen. “There might be clubs that don’t get any money; they might not apply for the incentive points. We’re really trying to encourage people to apply for these incentive points, to get involved, and we’re going to help you out when you do.”
Jensen does not believe that trial and error is common practice within the senate.
“I think it can happen but I don’t think it’s the norm.”
ASISU operates under a number of different commitments and obligations. One of the most important is making sure that the student body is informed.
“From what I can see there’s not a lot of communication that happens if there’s a bill or something that the senate is doing that’s going to affect how clubs run,” said Liddle.
“We feel like they don’t get club members’ opinions, or ask clubs, or sit down with clubs and say, ‘What do you think about this? How is this going to affect what you guys do?’ They introduce it to senate; it’s released from the committees, and the next week they vote on it and nobody knows what’s going on. Nobody has time to go up and discuss it, there’s no research done on it, it happens really fast,” Liddle said.
Jensen expressed that he spoke with students prior to the club funding change.
“We have talked to, I mean not every student but there’s been some students, I know I have, so I won’t speak for the senators but I talked to some students.”
Senator Tynan O’Neil of the Division of Health Sciences has served on the senate since the beginning of last semester and has a different opinion.
When asked if he was aware of any effort on the senate’s part to gather input prior to passing the club funding policy, O’Neil responded, “No. There has not been and it’s frustrating.”
O’Neil recalled an argument that was brought up during the incentive point debate dealing with the idea that the senators were elected to represent their constituents and because of this they did not need to consult them.
This argument is detailed in the minutes from the Jan. 15 senate meeting:
“Senator Hudson thinks that sometimes the senators don’t think about who they are representing. Senator Hall is opposed to going back to their constituents. They were elected to represent them and cannot get a vote from everyone for everything.”
“Me and Senator Fuller looked at each other like, ‘Did he really just say that?’” O’Neil said.
He explained that these types of situations do occur often in the meetings, and that he is usually outvoted on them.
“All I can do is vote and say that I’m not in favor of this but if the rest of the senate votes without representing their constituency, that’s fine,” said O’Neil.
Jensen agreed with O’Neil.
“I think we should always be trying to consult with students, because they did elect us in there.”
Jensen pointed out that there is not always time to touch base with the students, and that sometimes things either need to be taken care of quickly or end up being rushed through.
There are many ways for students to have their voices heard in regard to these issues.
“They can come into the ASISU offices any time. People are always here,” said Jensen.
Students are also welcome to bring their concerns before the senate during scheduled meetings, though speaking to their senator first can be very helpful.
Contact information for each senator is listed online along with their office hours.
Currently, Jensen says that senators have little accountability regarding whether or not they engage their constituents, or how often they do so.
According to the vice president, a bimonthly field hour has been instituted, which requires senators to go out and be with students for two hours a month. There is also an incentive program in the works.
“We’re incentivizing clubs to do more, and we’re trying to figure out how we can incentivize senators to do more,” said Jensen.
Minutes from all ASISU senate meetings are posted online at http://isu.edu/asisu/govinfo.shtml, and recordings of all senate meetings are available in the ASISU office in the Pond Student Union upon request.
The senate meets every Wednesday on the Pocatello campus at 7 p.m. in the Salmon River Suite located on the third floor of the SUB. The meeting scheduled for Feb. 5 will take place on the Idaho Falls campus.
