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The University of Michigan Central Student Government has not yet passed a budget. This comes after the election of 23 representatives from the SHUT IT DOWN party, whose platform aims to stop all CSG activity until the University administration divests from companies profiting off the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Without a budget, CSG is unable to provide funding for more than 1,700 U-M student organizations. In the absence of a CSG budget, the University has provided a temporary route for student organizations to obtain funding, sponsored by the Dean of Students.
The new Student Org Funding website allows student organizations to apply for funding directly through the University, rather than the traditional method of applying through CSG’s Student Organization Funding Committee. Previously, the organization funding committee awarded more than $500,000 to student organizations every academic year. It is currently unclear if the University plans to adhere to this precedent or provide a different amount.
Hayden Jackson, a CSG assembly Rackham representative and vice director of the CSG Student Organization Committee, explained his role in the University’s temporary funding infrastructure and the way the system works in an interview with The Michigan Daily. He said they built the University’s temporary funding system to be similar to CSG’s.
“The application system is exactly the same; the deadlines are exactly the same; the requirements are exactly the same,” Jackson said. “I even have organization leaders still referring to it as CSG funding because there’s not really a meaningful difference from there, and that’s by design. It’s not intended to be this entirely new structure.”
Jackson noted that the University’s temporary funding program will be repaid with the $11.19 fee on every student’s tuition, once the CSG budget is passed.
“The intent is that the money is going to be funded with the student fee,” Jackson said. “That said, currently we’re not pulling directly from the student fee. We’re pulling from funds that are being used to make sure that this program is operational while CSG finds itself. Once we do get back on track CSG-wise, then the intent is that everything’s going to be, accounting-wise, balanced out.”
Club sports typically receive CSG funding through U-M Recreational Sports, but that method of funding is currently on pause. LSA senior Sanil Mittal, co-president of the University of Michigan Fencing Club, told The Daily that not receiving funding decreases the accessibility of club sports.
“A lot of funds actually go to just making sure that we have enough equipment for all members because we don’t require people to buy their own equipment, as a way to make sure that people don’t feel that they have a barrier to try fencing out,” Mittal said.
Mittal said the lack of funding has created uncertainty about whether the team will be able to compete at the same number of competitions that they have in previous years.
“So far, we’ve been using what we have from last year, but it’s been pretty difficult trying to plan for future tournaments,” Mittal said. “We had a tournament (at the) end of September that we could not go to just because of the funding issues.”
Mittal said in addition to uncertainty, the lack of funding places an increased workload on the executive board members of the club.
“The executive board members have had to spend a lot more time than they were intending to plan for the club because now we have to devote more time for not just planning out practices, planning out social events, planning out tournament travel, but we also have to now plan out fundraising, reaching out to sponsors, doing other outreach events, just so that we can compensate for a lot of the funding that was lost,” Mittal said.
LSA sophomore Alison Kisiel, treasurer for Léim Irish Dance, said in an interview with The Daily that the organization typically requests funds from CSG following their winter showcase, so the delays associated with the budget have not really affected them. Kisiel plans on requesting funding again in the winter through the University if CSG has not approved a budget, and she expects to operate just as the club has in past years.
“We don’t always get (funds), but we always like to try,” Kisiel said. “We were going to try again this year in the winter once we have the receipts.”
Jackson said despite the change in the funding process, there has not been a significant decrease in funding requests. Jackson said he does not know when the University will stop providing the temporary funding infrastructure, but it remains available to support student organizations for the foreseeable future.
“There is, to my understanding, not an end date on when the University is going to say we’re not going to do this temporary funding infrastructure,” Jackson said. “As soon as CSG figures things out, then that’s what’s going to happen. … I don’t have a whole lot of confidence at this point, based on what I’ve seen at meetings and everything. And that’s unfortunate, but you know, it’s where we are and until then, we’re going to just keep chugging along with this funding.”
Daily Staff Reporter Grace Schuur can be reached at gschuur@umich.edu.
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