The SGA allocated more than $30,000 to student organizations at its annual budget meeting last week with the most funds being allocated to FilmFest.
The total amount requested for the spring 2024 semester by the student organizations was $83,000, and the average requested was $1,100. The amount that SGA has for requested allocations is $30,750. In the spring of 2023, the organizations used 80% of their budgets and 99% of their budgets in the fall of 2023.
“My main task and role are to be able to assign the budgets to the student organizations,” said Hayden Porman, treasurer of SGA and senior finance, accounting, and information systems major from Buffalo Gap. “I meet with about 70 different student organizations on an individual basis and figure out their individual needs. Then we go through and allocate how much money we have with SGA, and we try to match them as best as we possibly can.”
Porman also manages the expense reports with the help of the CFO and has individual events such as a campaign week called Improve ACU, where they give around $500 to the best idea to improve ACU. It is a way for students to get involved on campus while also generating ideas for the senate to improve ACU. He hopes for it to become a campus-wide opportunity. Last year, there were 200 ideas submitted.
“One of my biggest responsibilities is being the connection point between the administration, faculty, staff, and the students,” said Alli Dimmitt, president of SGA and senior political science major from Naples, Florida. “I advocate for whatever legislation is passed by the elected representatives in the senate to admin, and I work with admin to achieve both what the senators want and what the student body wants.”
Dimmitt is also in charge of planning and executing campaign weeks, which are event weeks SGA has on campus to use the student fees they pay well and give back to them in the form of tangible items.
“With the incoming freshman class, we had an influx of African American students, and we want to match the energy of the events to the students we have,” said Tyla Thompson, representative of the Black Student Union and sophomore psychology major from Killeen. “The money would be great to provide quality events for them and to give them a home and a community so they can have fun, enjoy themselves, and relax.”
In addition, there were a total of seven amendments that were submitted by the senators. Five of them passed, and two were denied.
