The Student Activities Commission denied an appeal from the Ohio University Program Council for more funding on Friday.
We need to respect what the committee decided and there was no overriding reason to (reverse the decision)
Student Activities Commissioner Chauncey Jackson said.
The council appealed SAC's decision to cut its funding by 30 percent, or $42,125, claiming that some of the committee members were uninformed.
UPC President Catherine Gignac said although she was disappointed, the appeal was a success because it started a dialogue about uneven funding.
The appeal asked the commission to give UPC an additional $19,600 from a quarterly distribution pool.
UPC's goal is to make events cheap or free for students, Gignac said, adding that with the drastic decrease in funding, the council will need to cut expenses and some programming.
The weekend movies at Baker University Center cost more than $20,000 to run, and likely will be affected, she said.
SAC allocates the majority of its budget to three primary programming groups - UPC, Black Student Cultural Programming Board and the International Student Union. The commission's budget this year is $536,000, a $100,000 increase from last year.
UPC programs incorporate current popular trends. BSCPB and ISU hold various cultural programs during the year.
While UPC and BSCPB saw decreases in overall funding, the commission increased the amount of money in a quarterly distribution pool, hoping to encourage joint ventures between the main organizations.
I don't see that as an incentive for collaboration Gignac said, adding that she was unsure why SAC increased the pool for quarterly-funded programs.
The commission reported this quarter that some quarterly funded programs had misused funding, leading the commission to take the money back, Gignac said.
SAC takes back money when a quarterly funded program does not use the money or when the funding is used improperly, Jackson said, adding that misuse of funds is uncommon.
In most cases, the organization cannot raise the remainder of the money for a program, he said.
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Caitlin Bowling
