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Syracuse University’s Student Association hosted an Advance Allocations Town Hall Wednesday evening to explain financial issues stemming from over-allocation to registered student organizations in recent semesters. As a result of the overspending, SA must now operate with only a fraction of its anticipated reserve.

In its 68th session, the association has experienced major budget cuts, receiving $100,000 for the fall and $150,000 for the spring, SA President German Nolivos said. To mitigate the impact, SA pulled $250,000 in rollover funds — or money leftover from the COVID-19 pandemic — for advanced allocations, Nolivos said.

Despite these shortages, the association received over $800,000 in requests, Nolivos said — more than three times their budget. As a result, SA Comptroller Alexis Leach and SA’s finance board were tasked with conducting budget reviews and implementing fiscal adjustments.

“It is a moral and ethical question of how much time can money from students who have graduated stay in the (rollover) account?” Leach said. “The previous session was told to spend it.”

Nolivos said the finance board decided to let the SA assembly determine which organizations would receive a share of the $250,000 funding instead of restricting it to the board. After this process, the association learned that an organization hosting a major event had canceled, freeing up $30,000. These newfound funds have allowed previously denied organizations to appeal, Nolivos said.

This spring, semester allocations — separate from advanced allocations — were limited to $31,000 across all organizations. The money was allocated to 27 RSOs, but in the first few weeks of the semester, RSOs requested over $200,000 in general advanced allocations, Leach said. Advanced allocations, or pre-semester allocations, are restricted to large events and higher-tier organizations.

To prevent these situations going forward, the finance board has implemented a $60,000 per semester catering cap, along with tiered funding for different types of organizations, Leach said. Classifications are determined by the organization’s capital, or history of successful events, according to SA’s RSO handbook. All new organizations automatically become Tier 1 upon registration and can move up after 2 years on campus.

Tier 1 organizations are limited to requesting up to $1,500 for catering per semester, while Tier 2 can request up to $3,000. Tier 3 organizations are capped at $4,500, and Tier 4 can request up to $6,000, Leach said.

Ayah Abdel-Aziz, SU’s Arab Student Association treasurer, said she was frustrated by the catering restrictions. As a new Tier 1 organization, her organization can only request up to $1,500 per semester.

“Arab culture is so heavily centered around food,” Abdel-Aziz said. “Finding new ways to connect the Arab community has been a challenge.”

In 2021, SA’s fiscal codes prevented allocating funds for food, as there was no designated catering budget. Last year’s assembly revised the rules to permit more catering due to the significant funding available after COVID-19, Nolivos said.

Abdel-Aziz said that understanding SA’s rules and navigating how a new organization can succeed sometimes feels overwhelming. Similarly, Jennifer Mason, president of SU’s American Society of Mechanical Engineers, said the lack of funding has placed a financial strain on her organization.

Mason said she had to spend some of her own money on events last semester and found it challenging to attract attendees without offering incentives. She expressed disappointment over the lack of community within organizations that she says has resulted from the budget cuts.

Since ASME is a small organization, it didn’t qualify for participation in advanced allocations, Mason said. Instead, the group was only able to submit a potential budget for semester allocations.

Smaller organizations must wait for general semester allocations to create their budgets and receive funding, Nolivos said.

“My goal was to make a place that people could come together, socialize … and learn from each other,” Mason said. “Without a budget and any funding, it’s really hard to get people to show up.”

Published on February 27, 2025 at 12:55 am

Contact Madeline: mmgoodhe@syr.edu