Although the persistent rain has been making summer feel far away, and next fall even further, ASUP elections for the upcoming school year begin Wednesday morning.
In addition to electing ASUP leaders, students will also be voting on a resolution to change the ASUP budgeting process. The ASUP Senate unanimously approved the resolution earlier this month.
Resolution 17-02 would remove the Campus Traditions Fund (CTF) in order to reduce the number of avenues clubs and other student organizations need to pursue for funding, according to ASUP Financial Director Angela Hudson.
The CTF was implemented in Fall 2015 to pay for events that promote campus traditions or community, like Riverboat, Luau and International Night. It replaced the Major Project Fund, which used a portion of ASUP funds each year to support a large capital investment.
But since ASUP created another funding stream this year - the Opportunity Grant System - members of ASUP feel the CTF has become less relevant. The opportunity grant allows clubs to apply for a large chunk of funding outside the normal club budgeting process to pay for additional events that are open to the entire UP community, including things like Luau.
“With the implementation of the Opportunity Grant System this semester, we believe that having three channels that clubs can receive funding from and having to submit budget requests/applications just wasn't efficient,” Hudson said in an email to The Beacon. “There is a lot of overlap between the purpose of the CTF and Opportunity Grant System that it's just not effective to have both in place. A lot of clubs also don't know what the CTF is and with the OGS being more fluid as an application process that can be applied for throughout the semester, we can better advertise it as a funding option when needed and a lot of clubs have already been really responsive to it this past semester.”
If the resolution passes, the money previously applied to the CTF would be folded back into the ASUP budget to be used toward club funding and the OGS.
Voting in the ASUP election will be open from 8 a.m. on March 22 through 8 p.m. on March 24, and will be available on PilotsUP and at voting booths throughout campus.
