Changes in the student-funding guidelines may make Undergraduate Student Government allocations more efficient.

Treasurer Cameron Shulak, a junior from Louisville, Ky., studying aviation, said the alterations ensure fair funding and include prioritizing umbrella groups, creating four submission periods and limiting certain allocations. The guidelines were passed last semester, and most of the changes went into effect immediately.

Umbrella organizations, or groups that support other RSOs, will now have their funding needs met before non-umbrellas.

Shulak said umbrella organizations on campus include the Student Programming Council, the International Student Council and the Inter-Greek Council.

Requests for operational allocations, previously known as spring allocations, are due at the end of February. USG President Adrian Miller, a junior from Carbondale studying political science, said the new process is much easier.

“Instead of making spring allocations — essentially allocate almost all the money like it has been in the past — it will now only be used to allocate for operational budgets,” Miller said. “The event aspect of RSOs is an addition to what the operational budget needs are.”

Once applications are in, organizations meet with the Student Funding Board. The board consists of Shulak and six other USG members who make recommendations to the Senate for approval.

“The question that a lot of those groups, the non-umbrella organizations, are going to have is, ‘When do we get the chance for our money?’” Shulak said.

Student Funding Board member Ashley Ulferts, a sophomore from Rockford studying philosophy and paralegal studies, said operational allocations are now offered to just umbrella organizations.

Non-umbrella groups may submit applications by the end of March for events Aug. 1 to Oct. 15, which is the first application deadline for the next fiscal year. Ulferts said there are four different periods for applications, requiring RSOs to plan ahead.

The second deadline, for events taking place from Oct. 16 to Dec. 31, is in the end of August. Third-period applications for events Jan. 1 through March 15 are due in the end of October, and the final period, for events March 16 to May 31, is in the end of January.

Shulak said having time periods makes the process of approving and allocating funds smooth and just.

“That way instead of looking at an entire pool of hundreds of events, and a hundred applications for the entire year, we are sort of splitting it up into chunks,” he said. “We think it will be a lot more fair that way.”

Applications must be submitted to the USG office by 4:30 p.m. the day of the deadline. If the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, applications must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on the last business day prior to the deadline.

The Student Funding Board meets with groups within one month of receiving the application.

Miller said prior to the change in guidelines, USG accepted applications within 30 days before an event. He said in previous years about 15 RSOs received funding each year.

“We’ve been able to expand the number of RSOs who have access and opportunity to receive funding,” he said. “We’ve gone from about 10 RSOs getting funded a year to over 70.”

The new guidelines also put a limit on allocations. Umbrella organizations may receive no more than $20,000 per fiscal year or $10,000 per semester. Non-umbrella organizations may receive no more than $10,000 per fiscal year or $5,000 per semester.

The guidelines state allocations are limited to $500 for food, $500 for advertising and $2,500 for honorariums.

Organizations may request general funding or operational allocations at www.usg.rso.siu.edu or from the USG office.

Luke Nozicka can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @LukeNozicka, or 536-3311 ext. 268.