The Indiana University Kokomo Student Government Association (SGA) continues following newer guidelines to better the process of funding student clubs and organizations. 

In the past, funding for clubs wasn’t done in a certain way that followed particular guidelines, and so now student leaders must prepare.  

SGA President Mary Hogsett says the process of approving budgets begins with the question, “can we fund this?”  

Then, it must be determined whether the club requesting funding is going to be beneficial for IU Kokomo students based on the SGA guidelines (which are posted on the IUK Life website). 

The SGA Senate votes on the funding of registered student organizations during the bi-weekly meetings hosted on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The meetings are open for students to attend, member or not. 

Many clubs that have been present on campus for years have recently faced budget cuts, including The Correspondent. But this isn’t due to anything other than the fact SGA is implementing a new, more consistent system.  

The Cougar Choir was also recently funded under a revised budget—which also focused more on the needs based around the SGA guidelines and bylaws.  

One of the main reasons older clubs face budget changes is since IU Kokomo is growing, and with that growth comes more new, diverse clubs also requesting funding.  

Newer and older clubs alike must submit budget requests to SGA so they can figure out how to best distribute the allotted funds.  

This semester, 16 budget requests were submitted (much higher than in the past, according to Hogsett) and only eight are submitted so far for the upcoming spring semester.  

“If we are able to fund it when following our bylines, then we will.” Hogsett said. 

SGA must also evaluate how reasonable the budget requests are, especially focusing on who they impact. 

Additionally, SGA plans on revising the bylaws to improve the procedure further. 

“We want the process to be as easy and transparent for students as possible,” Hogsett explained. 

Hogsett said that SGA plans on working with a graduate intern through Tess Barker, IU Kokomo Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, but this is something that will be “voted on and worked on” for the future.  

“We are here to serve the student body, as all of our decisions have students in mind.” Hogsett said.  

To request funding, student organizations must register online for the Office of Student Life through IUK Life and then submit a budget request form to the SGA’s legislative branch, Senate President Andrea Mendez-Rodriguez ([email protected]), or Student Activities Treasurer John Wasmuth ([email protected]). 

The SGA constitution and bylaws are available to be viewed at https://iuk.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/sga.