The manner in which student groups request funds for programming, supplies, conventions, promotions and even postage has received a face lift.

The man with the proverbial scalpel in hand is Michael Benson, the Student Government Association’s Vice President for Financial Affairs, and he is the first to admit that this transformation is his doing. And his motivation, he says, is to increase student involvement and decrease apathy among the student body.

“My overall goal is to see a dramatic increase in programming on campus,” Benson said. “So many people live on campus and don’t know what is going on.”

The form itself is much more in-depth than it predecessor, asking student groups to give a detailed explanation of the program’s description, exact expense totals for travel, postal, maintenance, promotional and entertainment fees, where applicable. Benson said the reason for the three added pages and criteria is to ensure that student groups are spending funds responsibly. He said he also hopes that the new filing system and protocol will foster fiscal responsibility among student groups.

With the newly reformatted Budget Review Committee’s Program Request Form, formerly called the Special Request Form, Benson said it will be easier for students to apply and obtain funds, allowing them to provide more programs to the Northeastern community.

Among other changes, filing for funds will be more flexible in terms of when student groups can apply for money. With the old system, groups could only submit special requests during the first three weeks of a quarter, now the requests can be made throughout the semester, so long as the filing takes place six weeks before the scheduled event.

Though there is no guarantee that if a student group applies for funds their request will be granted, Benson said he hopes to ensure that the BRC will be comprised of capable and impartial members.

The SGA Executive Board votes in the members of the BRC, which include; five SGA senators, three at-large senators and one special interest senator as well as the Director of Student Activities Todd Shaver and the Manager of the Business Office Deidre Fox. The SGA VP of Financial Affairs is the chair of the BRC.

This will be Benson’s second year as the chair of the BRC. He was the only incumbent to run and win in this year’s SGA elections.