Cultural Clubs Seek Communication in Fund Allocation Process

Despite the university’s efforts to allocate student activity funds equitably, some cultural organizations say they feel underfunded and underserved — particularly regarding event planning and space reservations. 

A part of the Student Development Fee is allocated to the Student Activity Fund, which is managed by the Allocations Committee of the Student Government of Loyola Chicago, The Phoenix previously reported. 

The Chinese Cultural Association experienced issues with funding, according to the organization’s Campus Activities Network Representative and third-year neuroscience major Lily Foster. She said while most funding requests have been approved, the denial of a budget request for $161 prevented the organization from holding a game night. 

Foster said the organization mainly relies on a mix of startup funds and university-provided support, but delays in communication made planning difficult. 

In one case, for an event planned for late March, unclear funding status a few days before the event led to miscommunication with a caterer. 

“It was just a little bit of an awkward situation because we use them for Lunar New Year as well, and we didn’t want to mess up the relationship,” Foster said. “It was unfortunate for the company because they had made all the food, and they were planning on bringing it.”

The Hellenic Student Association encountered similar issues when preparing for its annual Oxi Day event, which typically draws 150 to 200 attendees, according to president and fourth-year finance major Daphne Kritikaki.

Although Kritikaki said the group submitted its budget request by the end of September for the celebration Oct. 29, the purchase order approval remained uncertain until the week before the event.

“My treasurer and my budget person are fully aware with the whole deadlines budget wise, so that’s not a problem,” Kritikaki said. “It was just one of those things where we were waiting, didn’t get a response, and then we have to tweak the request — tweak it immediately, and it would take days for them to respond.”

The delay created issues with catering — a central part of the event, according to Kritikaki.  Each year, the organization partners with a restaurant from Greektown, but with the late approval, there was a chance the restaurant couldn’t fulfill the order in time for the event.

“So I took a risk and put my own card on hold with the restaurant,” Kritikaki said. “Thankfully, they’re owned by a Loyola alum who was willing to work with us.”

The university gave no reimbursement guarantee for the nearly $2,000 catering purchase.

Kritikaki acknowledged this was a rare situation and even said the HSA has mainly had positive experiences funding smaller events. However, she said the experience highlighted the importance of responsiveness and transparency between HSA and the university.

“I would definitely say, over the last few years, by using the funding more, we’ve had a huge increase in student involvement, ” Kritikaki said. “Those issues were in the moment very stressful, but other than that we’ve used the resources to our advantage.”

Third-year biology majors Lauren To and Jennie Truong are on the e-board of the Vietnamese Student Association. They said one of their flagship events, called Sing and Sip, was impacted this year after funding for boba tea — a central part of the karaoke-based event — was denied due to budget limitations.

The organization also struggled with logistical hurdles, including difficulty submitting activity request forms, and Truong said the Office of Student Engagement must approve these forms before promoting the events.

“It’s been frustrating because the purchase request will be approved, but the ARF won’t be,” Truong said. “Especially last semester, most of our events weren’t approved until the day before, so we couldn’t post until the day before and then there’s less people coming to events because no one is aware.”

Despite challenges, many representatives of the organizations said they felt their experiences with insufficient timing was difficult given a lack of staffing with CSE. Indian Student Association representative and fourth-year psychology major Sarah Savani said her experience working with the Campus Activities Network and three other e-boards has led her to empathize with the frustrations of student leaders and with the CSE. 

“We have hundreds of RSO and hundreds of events and purchase requests being processed all at the same time and it can be really difficult to complete these requests,” Savani said. 

Savani said the funding process can confuse new student leaders, especially without prior training. While her experience working with RSOs has helped her become familiar with the system, she still tries to help members learn more about the application process, which she feels has proven beneficial.

“I think watching someone complete SBR or complete a spot is so much more helpful than just writing it down on a piece of paper and, like, posting it on LU community,” Savani said. “It’s better when you’re watching someone do it, maybe even, like, posting a YouTube video or, like, an Instagram reel could probably be really helpful.”

The head of the SGLC Allocations Committee Falak Choudry said the funding process runs in three main cycles. RSOs initially start by submitting a Semesterly Budget Request, typically the semester before receiving the intended funding. 

Students can also apply for a spot cycle for gatherings occurring within the same semester, allowing a limit of up to three events. A Rolling Funds cycle is also available for six to seven weeks for emergency or late funding.

The Allocations Committee is responsible for approving the initial requests for funding, according to Choudry. However, once that’s completed the Center for Student Engagement takes over to handle actual purchases and approvals. 

Three times a year before each funding cycle, Choudry said she hosts a workshop to guide students through the funding process. The workshop includes a slideshow and instructs attendees on filling out necessary forms. 

“What I really want to see from the SGLC and the Allocations Committee and also the students is engagement,” Choudry said. “We can throw as many of these workshops as we want, but if we only have four people coming it’s not gonna make a huge difference.”

Preston Reilly, director of CSE, said the university prioritizes equitable rather than equal funding distributions across its more than 200 student organizations. 

“They prioritize things like events being open to all students and collaboration between multiple organizations,” Reilly said.

Every registered student organization is eligible for up to $250 in startup funding annually, while more considerable sums must be applied for in-semester budget requests, according to Reilly. With a $20,000 cap, these applications can fund up to three events per semester. He said disparities often come down to incomplete applications rather than intentional oversight from the center’s staff members.

Along with funding concerns raised across campus, Reilly said one of the biggest complaints from all student organizations, including cultural groups, is space.

“I’ve been at Loyola for just over a year now, and I know we took Centennial Hall forum offline right before I got here,” Reilly said. “That was a big programming space, so that not existing has definitely impacted our student organizations.”

Reilly said the CSE works to distribute funding as fairly as possible across all organizations. If one group receives funding for 20 events while another only gets two, it creates an imbalance, which is why there is the three event limit. 

Regardless of an organization’s mission, Reilly stressed all funding requests are subject to the same criteria, including cost, scale and proper documentation. He said he confirmed RSOs don’t receive additional weight in funding decisions and have equal access to the student activity fund.

Further information on budget deadlines and allocation can be found in the Budget Deadlines and Resources page.

“If organizations are having trouble getting funded, come stop in and see us and we’ll help walk you through the application process and what that looks like,” Reilly said. “I’ll say it can be a little bit of a daunting process. If you’ve never applied for $1,000 before, what does that look like?”