On Sept. 12, several student leaders of clubs under the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) received an email titled “Club Overage Notification” from Vice President of Finance Hannah Song. 82 USG organizations overspent by a cumulative $53,864 during the 2023-2024 academic year.
If no action is taken, clubs that overspent last year can expect a 40% cut to their mass funding requests in their spring semester funding. In an interview with The Observer, Song noted that there are various things organizations can do to reduce the anticipated budget cut.
“I wanted all the clubs that went over budget to send a plan of action to [the] VP [of] Finance of why they got the overage and how they plan to not make that happen again. And then after that, we’ll have those treasurers come to treasurer workshops,” Song said.
This time last year, former USG VP of Finance Marlee Yancey sent out a similar email to 76 clubs noting their overage status. However, the overspending cuts under Yancey started out at 20% and then reduced down to 5%. This meant, according to Song, “despite her plan, the overages weren’t decreasing … the amount of overages was similar and the amount of clubs that went over budget was also similar … Maybe this budget cut isn’t enough.”
As a result, Song stressed the importance of financial responsibility for organizations. She said, “You’re using school money, and if you’re using it, you should be responsible for how much you spend.”
The largest spender, Undergraduate Mock Trial, had an overage of $4,004, while the smallest overage, from the Toastmasters Club, was $11.27. The 20% cut will apply to all organizations regardless of the amount they overspent.
One president of a USG club with an overage in the middle of the range said, “It’s not fair we’re getting a budget cut,” emphasizing that the overage occurred under a previous club administration.
Third-year Alan Ly, the vice president of finance for Undergraduate Mock Trial, said, “Our true overspending amount was $90, but was calculated as $4,000 by USG. Unfortunately, that resulted in a $1,250 cut from our funding, which has impacted the events we can fund. We hope to work with USG and school officials to have a more transparent system that can better help our club and other clubs avoid issues with overspending.”
For clubs with similar issues, Song recommends that they check their ledgers periodically, noting that clubs who find transactional issues can speak to both her and the Director of Finance for Student Affairs, Todd Rasmussen.
This semester, 210 clubs were given $358,499 in funding out of a requested $638,895. The club financing system stems from the Student Activities Fee (SAF). Recently, USG enjoyed an increase in allocation from the SAF, most recently an 18% increase in 2023, though the spending problems remain.