The Student Government Association allocated $30,500 among 60 student organizations at its semiannual budget meeting on Wednesday.
The organizations that received the most funding this semester are the Asian Student Organization, the Indian Culture Association and the International Student Association, which all received more than $2,500.
If organizations were disappointed with the amount they received, they had the chance to lobby for more money at the budget meeting. Each organization is represented by an SGA senator, who proposes an amendment to the budget bill. The senator makes a case for their organization, and all SGA senators vote on the amendment.
Seven amendments were proposed to change the budget meeting bill; however, only three passed.
Midnight Worship lobbied for an extra $40 by taking $10 from the Pickleball Club, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Chess Club and the International Justice Mission.
Hilltop A Cappella also received an extra $40 by taking 80 cents from each organization, and the American Marketing Association requested $1 from each club.
The four organizations that requested money but did not receive it are the ACU Pre-Law Society, the American Society of Interior Designers, Women Leading Finance and the Founder’s Club.
“My word of encouragement is to reach out to us, and we will see how we can help you,” said SGA President Tamil Adele. “Reach out to departments, and if we don’t know the answer, we’ll find the answer.”
For student organizations to receive funding, they must meet with SGA Treasurer Clayton Jones before the budget meeting. Jones, senior finance major from McKinney, goes over each organization’s needs to determine how much money will be allocated.
“First, we have the one-on-one budget meeting so we can meet with every student org and know what they need and what our goal is for them for this semester,” Jones said. “We have the official budget meeting, so the senators know what’s going on and they can approve the budget.”
The SGA constitution allows for up to 60% of its funding to be allocated to organizations.
“More than half our budget goes to student organizations, so it’s important that we have SGA Senate approve that,” Jones said.
The SGA website explains that “SGA receives money from a variety of sources. The salaries budget is donated anonymously, the operations budget is allocated by the university through the general operating budget, and the remainder is obtained through a percentage of the student activity fee.”
The budget meeting also informs student organizations about the resources SGA has for them.
“In recent years of SGA, the director of student engagement and recruitment position was added, and it was for four main reasons: to connect student orgs more in a way that wasn’t monetary,” said Adele, senior criminal justice major from Midland.
SGA offers fundraising help, equipment rental, marketing and social media assistance to student organizations. Ava Morris, a senior marketing major from Cedar Park, serves as SGA’s marketing director, and she holds branding sessions that any organization can sign up for. Morris offers help with design and advertising strategies to promote student organizations on campus.
The full Spring 2025 budget is linked below.
