Donald Keough, News Editor–
A draft of a plan, (officially called the Comprehensive Financial Restructuring (CFR) Act), was presented by chair members of the Denison Campus Governance Association on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Seeking to improve previous issues organizations have faced with financing, the plan is designed to lessen funding restrictions and allow for easier reallocation of funds throughout the year, while being aware of a dwindling reserve fund.
As of now, the plan will divide the year into three phases for organization funding, which help layout what funding DCGA prioritizes. The first phase is the budgeting period for organizations who are managed by full-time staff, such as club sports. Phase two and three are for any other organizations seeking funding. If this drafted plan is approved by DCGA, then all organizations will be expected to submit their budget proposals, (Phase 1, 2, and 3), by Feb. 21. These proposals will be different then in years past because organizations will not have to submit itemized lists, but instead request funds in more general categories.
“The purpose of the [new] system is to get organizations the money that they want, which is why we’ve been taking a lot of input from student organizations,” said Evan Snively ‘24 .
Snively was the previous finance chair for DCGA and now is the current president of DCGA. Last year, Snively alongside another member of DCGA evaluated thousands of items individually, and Snively believes there’s a better approach .
“Our goal is to make things easier for us, which in turn will make things infinitely easier for organizations,” Snively said.
Along with the strain from the workload, DCGA has collected feedback from clubs that has shown other issues with the current budgeting system. A main issue that organizations have been facing is the strict set of limits on what you can get financed for, such as organizations not getting merchandise or lodging funded.
“We’re trying to take the feedback that we heard from students and take away some of those very specific parameters and open it up so that organizations could think more broadly about what is essential.” Dana Pursley said.
Pursley is the director of CLIC, and has been working with DCGA members on the new plan to change the budgeting system. She says that throughout the process, herself and DCGA have worked to align the purchasing policy for club organizations with what Denison’s purchasing policy is.
“The goal with the new rules is to take some of that subjectivity away to be more objective in what we fund,” Pursley said.
Pursley also said that the plan is focusing on “transparency, clarity and simplicity”, with the intention of being more clear of what’s prioritized and avoiding getting caught up over the minute details. Pursley has also noted that the plan was worked to recognize that Denison has over 160 organizations, with about 100 of these organizations receiving funding each year.
“[We’re] trying to think about how organizations prioritize what is essential, and we have to ensure that we’re doing it in an equitable way,” Pursley said. “We’ve had so many incidents where we’ve said, ‘no over the years, you can’t do this. You can’t do that.’ I’d rather say, ‘submit the budget request and let’s see how we can make that vision a possibility.”
Another major change in the proposed plan is the way clubs can reallocate their funds. If the new system is put into place, organizations will be able to reallocate the funds that they receive more easily.
“We’re more or less abolishing the reallocation system by allowing reallocations freely,” Brennan Kelley ‘26 said during DCGA’s meeting on Jan. 23. “The end goal of the system is designed that if a new event comes up and takes precedence over a planned event you can reallocate your funding.”
Kelley, the finance committee chair of DCGA alongside Co-Governor Alex Pan ‘24 are the sponsors for the new plan. While designing the plan, Kelley and Pan have considered that the freedom of reallocation comes with some trade offs.
“We’re going to trade stability for freedom, although we lock you in with some percentages,” Pan said during the meeting on Jan. 23. “We want to make sure that organizations know what is available when they’re requesting money so there’s more transparency, more access, and more of an opportunity to take resources.”
The mentioned percentages are planned to summarize which section of organizations receive how much of the annual budget, so organizations will know how much money is available.
Currently, the annual budget for organizations is $800,000, however this budget is eligible for an increase in the fall. Last year, DCGA spent $982,000 for organizations, with this extra money coming from a reserve fund that has been built up over the years. At this current rate of spending, this reserve fund is expected to run out in the next three years. Currently, there isn’t a way to increase this fund.
“The Financial Committee said that our fund got too big, and that’s why they stopped letting it grow,” Kelley said. “They’re currently running it down at the financial risk. Under the wrong circumstances it could be considered profit by the university.”
Currently, the plan is trying to avert this overspending by potentially shaving budgets given to organizations, with the hope that organizations can reallocate the rest of their funds and can efficiently spend their money.
“Rather than hide behind the system, we’re being more transparent by basically openly admitting this is what we prioritize and that if we need to cut something, an organization can reallocate it and best use it as they want,” Kelley said.
The reserve fund has helped fund various projects on campus, such as the renovation of BSU’s space, the haircare product vending machine in Slayter Union and the Huffman community space. But, even though the reserve fund is running out, receiving additional funding from the university has become more plausible.
“If students and the student government want to continue to use [the reserve fund] for capital expenses or big renovations or big projects, I see that as a good use of funds,” said Pursley. “I think as we continue to demonstrate 100% spend, then I can justify asking for additional funds.”
The plan is expected to be voted on soon, so that a new budgeting system can be put into place in time for the budgeting season for student organizations.
“We’re ensuring that the funding we can provide to organizations will help students and student leaders move their mission and their goals forward,” Pursley said. “To contribute to not only Denison but Granville, Licking County and all the different communities that we have here on campus.”