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RUSA finalizes student organization budget allocations at last night's meeting

Nick Pellitta, chairman of the Rutgers University Student Assembly Allocations Board, takes last night’s meeting to announce the assembly’s allocations for student organizations in the coming year.  – Photo by Declan Intindola

On Thursday, the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) had its weekly meeting, where it saw budget presentations for the funding of student organizations during the next school year, and held its first round of internal elections.

The first presentation was given by the RUSA Allocations Board. It described the process of creating the Fall 2018 Semester budget, and some of the challenges it faced this year. After an initial extension to March 18, the deadline for organizations to submit allocation requests has passed. 

The Allocations Board approved the majority of budgets for next semester. Organizations that have funding questions can contact the committee or look into the appeals process. 

Nick Pellitta, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and the 2018 chairman of the RUSA Allocations Board, described how it chooses the amount of money an organization receives for an event. 

An organization would typically submit requests to the Allocations Board, asking for funding for up to four events per semester, he said. The board typically only funds two of these events per organization. It has limits on how much money it provides per event based on expected attendance, and has limitations on what materials can and cannot be funded. 

The Allocations Board also presented RUSA's budget, outlining how much money the assembly will get in order to fund its future meetings, events and initiatives.

RUSA has been allocated $154,000 for the coming year. This money goes to funding elections, venue rentals, office supplies and other expenses, Pellitta said.

More than $600,000 have been allocated to student organizations over the course of the Fall 2017 semester, he said.

The RUSA Elections Committee also presented and provided information regarding the Spring 2018 Elections Report Presentation.

Forty positions were filled, including a new president, vice president and treasurer, according to the election report. All representatives sworn in are now able to represent the student body, with yesterday's gathering being the first meeting of the new governing body. 

This year’s election reached more students than last year, with 7,225 students voting, which is a 44.9-percent increase from the Spring 2017 election, as reported by The Daily Targum

Also included in the report are recommendations from the Elections Committee, including a stricter sanctions system against candidates who violate the elections code, and increasing competitiveness between candidates through more transparent elections. 

After hearing the presentations and taking a short recess, the assembly began its internal elections process.

Internal positions, such as parliamentarian, secretary, committee chairpersons and other officer posts were considered. RUSA members voted on who they will appoint to these posts and the candidates with the majority of votes will be elected to the position. 

RUSA will convene for its final meeting of the spring semester next week on Thursday April 18, where it will elect the remaining four internal positions and adjourn until September. The assembly will reconvene on the first Thursday of the fall semester. 


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