When it comes to running a student organization, one thing that must be taken into account at all times is funding. Money talks, especially in today’s world, and student organizations hoping to establish a presence at UTSA are no exception.
To help alleviate the stress of securing funding for student organizations, the UTSA Student Government Association (SGA) operates the Leaderfund program. This program is designed to reimburse student organizations at the university for various operating costs they undertake. These costs can include those associated with hosting events, leadership training costs or costs related to learning opportunities for members or other students. All registered student organizations can be reimbursed up to $750 per academic school year and all funds are allocated at the discretion of SGA’s finance committee.
However, this semester, SGA has unsurprisingly run into multiple issues with the disbursement of Leaderfund money to student organizations. Multiple student organizations have reported that their withdrawal requests for Leaderfund funding have either been denied or left pending.
SGA President Zachary Nepote claims that with the SGA Treasurer position being vacant, the responsibility of dispersing the Leaderfund money was undertaken by the UTSA Student Involvement Center. However, there has been no clear timeline as to when the funds may be dispersed. This is a complete failure of communication for both SGA and the university.
The President of the Secular Student Alliance, Clara Clasen, reported problems with the organization’s request to withdraw funds to send officers from the group to a leadership conference this June. With the registration deadline approaching in April, and no answers in sight regarding the status of their funding, members of the Secular Student Alliance may miss out on this opportunity due to a bureaucratic slip-up.
Additionally, both the Secular Student Alliance and Women in STEM also reported issues accessing funds the organizations helped raise during BestFest. Requests to withdraw this fund were allegedly denied, and both organizations have not received a date as to when they will be able to access these funds.
Student organizations at UTSA rely on funding from the university through SGA’s Leaderfund program to continue offering their essential services to students on campus. The fact that these organizations cannot access this funding due to SGA being unable to fill the treasurer position and having to shift the responsibility to the UTSA Student Involvement Center is a failure on SGA’s part. This vital position — essential to the function of SGA — should have been immediately filled after it was vacated. As students, we cannot let SGA fail our student organizations under the pretenses of a bureaucratic mistake. SGA needs to take action and ensure all student organizations can access the essential Leaderfund funding.
To voice your concerns about this pressing issue to SGA, complete the SGA General Feedback Form.
