- DSG allocated additional group funding for the next three years.
- Administration responded positively to the housing proposal resolution passed by the Senate three weeks ago, but a final decision has yet to be made.
- The Senate changed the Spring election due date for candidacy petitions to March 31, and the elections will be held on April 14.
Duke Student Government will use surplus money to increase student group funding by $60,000 for each of the next three years.
The DSG Senate passed a budgetary statute which will distribute roughly $180,000 into the annual budget over the next three years. The money was recovered after the Student Organization Funding Committee de-chartered many inactive groups during the fall semester. The statute was introduced by SOFC Chair Davis Treybig and DSG Executive Vice President Abhi Sanka, both juniors.
"Right now there’s so much money wasting in surplus," Treybig said. "Hopefully by using some of this extra money it will help students and allow us to fund more of the annual budget each year when we get a lot of valid requests but aren’t always able to fund everything."
The money, which would have gone to the surplus fund if not for this statute, will be used to fund student groups at the start of the next school year.
According to the text of the statute, SOFC usually receives approximately $600,000 in requests for the annual budget every year but is only able to give out about half of that. The $60,000 added to the budget each year represents a 20 percent increase in the amount of money SOFC will be able to give out over the 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.
“This is quite possibly the biggest reallocation [of SOFC funds] in recent history,” Sanka said.
In other business:
DSG President Lavanya Sunder, a junior, and Vice President for Residential Life Zach Gorwitz, a sophomore, reported that administration responded favorably to the housing proposal resolution passed by the Senate three weeks ago. They also reported, however, that a final decision has yet to be handed down by administration.
SOFC approved several group funding requests—$1,959 for the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, which is holding a charity concert for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; $3,675 for the Duke Fashion Exchange, which is holding a clothing exchange fair; $1,720 for the Duke Political Union, which is holding a panel to discuss marijuana legalization; $5,380.65 for the Nasher Student Advisory Board, which is holding a party to celebrate a new exhibit and a rebranding project; $2,298.85 for Sabrosura, which is renting a theater for a dance showcase; $1,500 for Spoon University, which is holding an arts-focused event in the Edge; and $1,985 for the National Panhellenic Council, which is holding a carnival showcasing Duke’s historically black sororities and fraternities.
SOFC also recognized the Democracy Matters student group which will attempt to further democratize American politics.
The Senate passed a resolution adjusting the Spring election time in response to last week’s failure to pass legislation restructuring the Senate. The new due date for candidacy petitions is March 31, and the elections will be held on April 14. These dates are two days earlier than they would have been had the legislation been passed.
The Senate passed a budgetary statute transferring $997.50 from the surplus account to replenish the legal services account. The statute was introduced by junior Nick Andrade, senator for Durham and regional affairs.
Junior Jessica Reese, senator for Durham and regional affairs, reported that the bus program she and freshman Gwen Geng, another senator for Durham and regional affairs, was used by 60 people in its first day of operation. The next day the service will be offered is April 4.
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