By Jeff Powalisz
Guidelines were set for officially funding food for student group events at Tuesday’s Budget Review Committee (BRC) meeting.
Pending approval by the Student Affairs Board (SAB), the 6-1 vote would allow groups to request one food event per semester. The group also agreed not to enforce a cap on how much money groups can request for food in their events.
Food must be integral to a group’s event, such as a cultural event, to be eligible for funding, the BRC said in its decision. They also agreed to fund food used in conjunction with a visiting lecturer or entertainer or as part of a contract. The BRC, with the authority to disapprove or approve any proposals, will not fund food for general meetings for student groups.
For competitions and conferences, the BRC will continue its policy of not funding travel and transportation. The group agreed that off-campus conferences generally benefit only those going to the conference and not the general student body.
Registration fees will be funded, with only up to two people allowed for conferences (and one conference per group in one year) while the minimum of necessary people in competitions will be funded. Like conferences, only one competition per year will be allowed in each student group.
“Today, the Budget Review Committee completed one and a half semesters of work in reviewing two major components of its funding policy for next year, pursuant to my executive order ordering funding food this year and encouraging the committee to fund food next year,” said BRC Chair Michael Benson.
The BRC also voted on a reallocation proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.
A 6-0-2 vote allowed the Council for University Programs (CUP) to transfer $300 in entertainment and $135.50 in conference registration to supply funding.
NU ‘ Improv’d, a group on campus that creates comedy-based improvisation and meets regularly for performance and practice, was the night’s lone funding proposal.
The group was invited to the Boston International Comedy Festival at Nick Comedy’s Stop April 28, the second largest comedy festival in the world. The group asked for $300 in transportation, $530 in various props for performance, $746 in promotional material and $1,500 for 150 $10 tickets (which the group had lowered from $14 dollars each).
The tickets would be distributed for free, while the transportation would be five hours of Northeastern University busing from Ruggless to Nick’s Comedy Stop. In this way, no matter how long the event runs, transportation would be available for students attending the event.
Director of Student Activities Todd Shaver, who sits on the committee, said he had concerns with funding an event that occurred during summer break, with the entire freshman class done for the semester, and many students home for the summer sessions.
Based on the outcry of funding an event in a university intersession, Benson first asked the group to vote on allowing intersession events. With a tied vote of 3-3-2, Benson, as the committee executive, issued the final vote in favor of allowing intersession funding.
“The BRC debated to allow requests to take place during intersessions,” Benson said. “The committee tied and my duty as chair was to break the tie. After more debate and discussion, I decided to vote in favor.”
The BRC then discussed each section of the proposal, and ultimately voted in favor of the group’s props and tickets, but decreased the promotional funding to $197, and disapproved the transpiration funding.
After these stipulations, a 6-0-1 vote approved the NU ‘ Improv’d’s proposal.
The BRC will hold its final meeting of the year Tuesday.
