Student orgs deserve more from SAFAC

By: Editorial Board

Posted: 5/9/08

"It is important to remember that SAFAC is a subsidizing funding source and exists to help student organizations meet some of their financial expectations. SAFAC should never be depended upon as financial means for any student organization to exist. We strongly encourage student organizations to look at other funding options such as fundraising, soliciting donations, and collecting dues if they are not satisfied with their SAFAC Allocation," Joseph Gonzalez, advisor for the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee, wrote in a letter to The Triangle.

While it would be absurd to think that SAFAC could please every organization that requests money, there is a collective concern with the way things are run. The undergraduate population of the University has been growing rapidly, as has the number of student organizations. Over $2 million was requested by students this year, but SAFAC only had $1 million to distribute. Furthermore, the organization itself claims that student organizations can no longer rely on it for funding.

The expectation is for 120 Drexel student organizations to conduct their own fundraisers to support themselves. There are simply too many mouths for SAFAC to feed, even though every student pays $150 to the pot ($50 goes to the expansion of the Daskalakis Athletic Center).

We feel it isn't reasonable for every single student organization to conduct its own fundraisers. A student organization should be able to expect support from the University. Student organizations are the driving forces for the campus environment and have a huge effect on how students feel about their University. The Triangle Editorial Board, administrators and the Undergraduate Student Government Association, has said it before: Students who are involved in campus life are happier and receive a more rewarding college experience.

Maybe the answer is raising the Student Activity Fee, as Gonzalez alludes to in his letter, but we also need to look at how the organization is currently managed.

For example, according to the SAFAC bylaws, the base salary for the SAFAC advisor is paid from your $150 student activity fee. Why is the money for student organizations being used to pay a University staff member's salary?

Since SAFAC money is at such a premium, perhaps students should have more input into how their activity fee is used. Students should have the ability to decide where a portion of their money goes.

Accountability and transparency are what we ask for from SAFAC. To outsiders, allocations often seem random and without explanation. According to several organizations we've interviewed, when they were not given the funding they asked for, it was without clarification. We would like to see SAFAC release public documentation on each student organization that includes how much money they have requested, how much money they received, and the reasons why.

According to Gonzalez, "The [allocation] process totaled 20 plus hours between two days."

Most student organizations put more time than that into planning a single event. How can "20 plus" hours of allocation planning determine a whole year's worth of campus life?

Student organizations deserve an explanation.

Editor's note: The Triangle is a registered student organization; however we are independently funded through advertising dollars. We do not apply for or receive any SAFAC funds.