The pandemic’s effect on SAC funding

Trombone Day Spring 2021. Photo courtesy of Lucas Borges.

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in The New Political’s Summer Magazine: “Coming Home.”

Ohio University saw significantly fewer events during the 2020-2021 academic year due to restrictions set in place to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Consequently, the Student Senate’s Senate Appropriations Commission (SAC), responsible for allocating funds to student organizations, distributed about $40,000 in the spring of 2021 compared to the $270,000 given out in the fall of 2019.

According to Brogan Speraw, vice commissioner of SAC operations, there had previously been a limit on how much money student organizations could request from SAC within one bi-weekly funding decision. But since there were so few events held during the fall semester, SAC removed this limit for the spring 2021 semester.

Despite the limit being removed, SAC only gave out an additional $2,900 in the spring of 2021 compared to the fall of 2020.

Based on SAC funding decision records, during the fall semester of 2019, the last semester before COVID-19 hit, organizations on average requested $1,387 from SAC. In spring 2021, after the cap was removed, the average request was $1,861, about $500 more.

In contrast with the fall of 2019, however, SAC gave out nearly two times the amount of funds per request during the spring of 2021. 

“We (SAC) got less events with higher price tags,” Speraw said in a Zoom interview.

While unused SAC funds are able to roll over into the next year, the cap was removed in an attempt to get more money back into the hands of the student body during the trying times of the pandemic. 

According to Speraw, student organizations took full advantage of SAC’s changes. Since the monetary cap was lifted, larger requests were made, detailed in the SAC funding decision records.

“Effectively, you could ask for however much money you could possibly use,” Speraw said.

The normal application process requires the student organization president and treasurer to attend a SAC training workshop, then apply for funding via Orgsync. Due to COVID-19, organizations seeking funding only had to receive approval from the university and devise a COVID-safe plan for their event.

Speraw said these additional requirements rarely hindered student organizations from receiving funding. Generally, organizations took care of the necessary precautions before requesting funding for on-campus events.

According to SAC funding decision reports, student organizations were typically denied funding when the price of the event was improperly documented in their request, the event was not open to the public or the request was not essential to the success of the event or organization.

The main reasons for denying funding during the 2020-2021 academic year were almost identical to those from the previous year. During the 2019-2020 academic year, however, many requests were also denied for sustainability reasons, which can be attributed to the fact that all events were held in person.

During the spring semester, SAC saw a larger push for organizations to host virtual events featuring speakers, Q&A panels and other interactive presentations in order to meet safety requirements while still getting large groups of people and university outsiders together.

Organizations such as the Ohio University Trombone Society (OUTS) had to move events that were typically in-person to online formats while having to find ways to keep attendees excited and engaged.

Each year, OUTS hosts their annual Ohio University Trombone Day, which they use to showcase the musical talent of the students and guest artists as well as to recruit high school students across Ohio.

According to Emily Justice, the former president of OUTS, OUTS did not request funding from SAC for past events and instead found funding through donations and fundraising. In 2021, however, OUTS requested $700 to fully fund Ohio University Trombone Day.

“Because of COVID, we were completely reliant on that (SAC funding) for this event,” Justice said in a Zoom interview, “It was not only convenient, but the university has it, so why not take advantage of it.”

According to Lucas Borges, an associate professor of trombone at Ohio U and the faculty advisor for OUTS, the online nature of the event made hosting it cheaper and easier. In previous years, OUTS had to spend money and time on paper fliers and posters, welcome packages and getting rooms ready the day before the event. There were also fewer variables to worry about, such as performers getting sick or keeping track of instruments.

Additionally, because the event was online and the cost to hold the event was reduced, more people were able to attend. 

Borges said when the event was in person, attendees had to pay $5 for early registration and $10 for on-site registration. Holding the event over Zoom not only made the event free, but it was accessible to anyone from anywhere. People from Central America, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan and Norway participated in Trombone Day.

“Usually we have about 40 to 45 people, which is a very large number. We had over 100 (this year),” Borges said in a phone interview, “And the cool thing was that there were people literally from all over the world.”

Borges added, however, that while the online format opened up new possibilities, he missed the physical aspect of the event. 

“As successful as it was, it was not nearly as fun,” Borges said.

While future OUTS events may be held in person, Borges said the organization will be including a virtual aspect to continue making their events accessible to all.

Leading into the next school year, SAC may see more organizations including a virtual aspect in their funding requests, allowing events to have increased and widespread involvement.