The Undergraduate Student Government approved new regulations for club funding due to COVID-19-related guidelines, posted fall election candidate packets and approved its budget for the semester at its general council meeting Thursday, Sept. 17 via Zoom.
Club funding
USG approved changes to the criteria for requesting club funding. These changes include cutting funding for travel and limiting catering.
Executive Vice President and Interim Vice President of Financial Affairs Adam Revoir said these changes were not about conserving funds.
“It’s more about safety and making sure we can remain on campus,” Revoir said.
Funding will also be denied for any in-person meeting that exceeds the campus-mandated capacity limits on the meeting space, up to 25 people. This number will fluctuate in accordance with statewide mandates.
Director of Campus Life and USG adviser Margaret Cahill said that clubs can re-apply for more funding later in the semester if needed.
“The request process through Tommie Link really allows for a lot of flexibility,” Cahill said.
Fall elections
USG posted candidate packets for the upcoming elections on its website on Sept. 16. The packets are due Monday, Sept. 21.
Open positions include Vice President of Diversity, Vice President of Financial Affairs and first-year class president.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Tiaryn Daniels said COVID-19 regulations will impact how potential candidates will get election information.
“So many people are online that we’re really all working through word of mouth,” Daniels said.
Voting will start Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 8 a.m. and end Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. Results are expected later that night.
2020 budget approved
USG unanimously approved a $110,000 budget, which will be used to allocate funds to clubs and contribute to USG-sponsored events.
Revoir hopes to have USG events this fall that are similar to last year’s.
“In the past it was USG coffee carts,” Revior said, “but it might be some variation of that.”
Annie Terry can be reached at terr2351@stthomas.edu.