Student Association is discussing changes to how it allocates contingency funds to student organizations requesting money in order to attend trips to professional conferences.

The SA contingency fund is an annual budget of around $10,000, which allows student organizations to request additional money for their club activities if a need arises outside the club’s annual budget.

The contingency fund was $5,490 at the conclusion of the March 5 SA meeting.

“Contingency funds are for payments or wanting to use monetary funds that [clubs] don’t have but you feel is very important and only off by a couple hundred dollars,” said Senator Matthew O’Donnell, SA rules and judiciary committee chair. “It’s just there as a backup in case you don’t have enough funds to go do something, if you absolutely need it.”

Student organizations in need of additional funds send representatives to present their request before SA. The presentation is to explain the amount of money the club is requesting and the purpose of the funds. 

Often, funds are needed to close the gap between the money the club has, including annual budgets, fundraising efforts and club member contributions, and the money the club needs for the activity.

SA then drafts a bill, the club meets with the SA finance committee, and the bill is introduced to SA, where it is debated and potentially amended. If passed by a majority of SA, the approved funds are transferred to the club account.

They discussed changes centered around student organizations requesting contingency funds to attend professional conferences, which are often overnight trips to other cities and states.

These conferences are typically focused on a specific professional field or industry where people in those fields network and share information within that professional community. 

Students attending would get an opportunity to join that community and create connections that could help them get into graduate school, internships or careers after graduation.

SA, which is responsible for using the annual contingency fund for the benefit of the Oswego State campus community, is reevaluating how it treats contingency requests for funds to attend these conference trips.

“We want the contingency fund to be used for events that all students can benefit from,” SA Vice President Edward Kelly said. 

Students attending these conferences is valuable, Kelly and O’Donnell said, but mainly valuable only to those attending and therefore less beneficial to the campus as a whole.

“If there was an unforeseen cost [for a campus activity], like the cost from last year changed, and it wasn’t in the [club] budget, [senate] will come in and we’ll cover it,” Kelly said. “But conferences as a whole are kind of in a gray area.”

The contingency is drawn from the student activities fee all Oswego State students are required to pay, Kelly said. Club organizations requesting emergency funds to attend relatively pricey trips for the benefit of only a few students will have to face a higher level of scrutiny for access to those funds.

“The contingency fund is so limited, and oftentimes, conferences are expensive,” Kelly said. “That’s not fair to other students.”

If clubs wish to attend professional conferences, Kelly said they should request those funds as a part of their annual budgets and fundraise rather than request funds from the limited contingency funds.

While SA will hold conference requests to a higher level of scrutiny, there is consideration for attending conferences where student organizations compete and represent Oswego State on a larger stage, Kelly said.

“If you’re going to a conference that you are competing at, and you’re representing the college, the college as a whole is going to benefit from that,” Kelly said. “Then we’re going to look at that in a different light.”

Kelly and O’Donnell said they are looking into changing the bylaws to better define the term “conference.”

“Some sports teams call their national competition ‘a conference’ and we say ‘Oh, well that has the name conference in it, is that going to be a problem because it has that word in it?’” O’Donnell said. “Having a distinction will benefit everyone as a whole.”

O’Donnell, as chair of the rules and judiciary committee, will meet with his committee and investigate if a change of SA bylaws is necessary. He said he expects to bring the issue to a vote in the SA assembly after spring break.

Photos by Kassadee Paulo | The Oswegonian