The Student Government’s change in club funding is without a doubt a controversial decision. Absorbing unused funds to make changes for other parts of the university is something that will create a divide in opinion among students. Many students however, specifically those who are frequent club members, are outraged by this.
Absorbing leftover funds from university clubs because clubs saving the leftover money can be considered “poor accounting practices” and using that money for other resources around the university that students may not use or need is a questionable decision, to say the least. Many clubs use that money to cover future events or to plan programming to benefit the wider campus community.
Even though students have been told there is a possibility that money can still possibly be saved for a big future goal (like a major trip), what are the chances this is guaranteed? In addition, what about the funding for future events that clubs would like to initiate for the student community?
Many clubs participate in many small events, whether it’s for fundraising or to benefit the Wilkes community. These include events like Trunk-or-Treat and cookouts. Events such as these can only happen with the money that clubs are able to save, which may require using funds saved from previous semesters.
Without this financial security, events like this could dwindle as club officers choose to be even more selective about which events to support. Ultimately, this can cause more stress for club leaders who must choose whether to support more general events or to save their funds for more club member-specific activities. They may also try to make up for the loss of money by hosting even more fundraising events, which could saturate the student environment.
Clubs should not have to be put under this scrutiny because they are told saving money from previous years is “poor accounting practice.” If anything, splurging and making sure the money is gone before it can be absorbed is a poor accounting practice. This can be a bad example for students trying to budget themselves, which is especially important in a college environment.
Fundraising events are crucial when it comes to Wilkes clubs and will become even more vital due to this funding change. Clubs will have to put what money they have left, whether it’s from Student Government or even out of their own pocket to develop an event that could raise more money.
This becomes a challenge to students outside of clubs because not only are clubs asking for more money, but students may try to budget both college funds and other personal dues. This could make club fundraisers more challenging. Even if a club fundraiser does well, clubs will have no choice but to spend all of the money raised because that money will not be secured in the following year. Each year, clubs will go back to square one.
Overall, this recent decision to absorb unused club funds is a poor choice because it will not only teach students poor budgeting skills, which is ironic given the reason for this decision, but it will also add on to the stress that students are already feeling in college.
Now they will have to be increasingly selective of what to spend their money on and when.